Finding the right grant for your organization takes time, but if you know where to look, this process can be much easier. In our grant funding blog series, we’ve provided tips and insights to help you and your organization through the grant process.
In our last two posts, we talked about how to identify your telehealth grant funding needs and provided an overview of the four main types of grant funding sources. Now that you’re equipped with the correct information, your organization can begin a more informed search for telehealth grant funding opportunities.
Many resources exist, both paid and no-cost, to help you uncover potential funding sources and refine your search for the best alignment between grant program goals and your project. The following 17 points illustrate key grantor search resources available to help your organization find telehealth grant funding.
1. Search for grantors using paid grantor search services
Today, certain software platforms offer paid access to their sources for grantor searches. These platforms, such as Pivot or Foundation Directory Online, perform much of the data collection, sorting, and analysis you need to identify potential grant funding sources.
While these services save considerable time and legwork, they often come with a hefty price tag — especially if multiple providers will be using the platform. Determine whether you’re going to be looking for grants frequently and consistently enough to justify the expenses for those paid services.
2. Hire professional grant writers
Hiring a professional grant writer could mean an investment in finding more and better-aligned funding sources. Grant writers perform these tasks regularly and may have access to and experience with multiple platforms for grantor searches. Particularly for larger or more complex telehealth projects, it may be more cost-effective to hire a professional grant writer with the experience and skills to handle the grantor search for you.
3. Contact your local library
Some libraries have access to grant-seeking sources and other information that they make available to the community. These sources may guide you to funding opportunities and data sources for your applications.
4. Reach out to local community foundations
Local community foundations may be able to offer insight into corporate resources and regional funding opportunities through foundations, either their own or others in your area. They may also have limited knowledge or access to programs at the state and federal levels. Not all communities have community foundations, but they can be a valuable source of information and connections if yours does.
5. Research funding sources of peers and competitors
Through online searches of your peers and competitors, you can take a closer look at who has supported them financially to give you ideas about potential funding sources. Make contacts within your networks and gather and share information about what other providers have done to see what was and wasn’t successful.
6. Network with large, regional companies operating in your area
If you’re considering corporate sources of funding, one easy way to begin your search is by researching large, regional companies operating in your area. These companies may offer their own funding programs or partner with a foundation to award funds to healthcare projects.
7. Research active philanthropists in your area
Active philanthropists who are living in or are invested in your community or region could be valuable grant funding sources. Other local foundations and philanthropic organizations may list these individuals as donors on their websites.
8. Look at peer organizations’ listservs
Many peer organizations have listservs, and you can read through their updates about their telehealth projects. If their project seems to align with your interests and goals, join these listservs and start conversations to find out how and where they source funding for projects. This research can provide information on potential funding trends in the more focused areas you want to approach.
9. Check out resources and opportunities from local and national professional organizations
Both local and national professional organizations often host webinars and provide other information about funding opportunities. Some of these organizations may even help you connect with other individuals or organizations that have implemented or funded comparable projects.
10. Research state agencies relevant to your telehealth needs and patient populations
State-level agencies, particularly those in the realm of healthcare, telehealth, and the patient populations you serve, can offer support to your grantor search. Contact officials at those agencies and monitor their websites regularly for information, changes, and past featured projects. This research can give you insight into how you could design your project to meet what those grantors want.
11. Regularly check Grants.gov for federal grant funding opportunities
When searching for grant funding opportunities at the federal level, Grants.gov offers a wealth of information, but it requires you to allocate adequate time to utilize it most effectively. Be strategic in your searches by registering the agencies and type of project you are interested in, then narrow down your search to find the best grantor matches for your telehealth project.
12. Utilize no-cost sources of information relevant to your needs
For some areas, other no-cost grant sources of information, like the Rural Health Information Hub, regularly post grant funding opportunities–some quarterly, monthly, or even weekly.
13. Browse college and university databases
Colleges and universities may have access to some of these for-fee grantor databases that you might be able to use, particularly if you have a professional connection to the institution.
14. Research regional grantmaking centers
You can search online for regional grantmaking centers or grantmakers organizations for information about funding opportunities in your area.
15. Prepare a common grant application
If you decide to pursue and prepare a common grant application, you can obtain a list of grantmaking organizations that use the common grant application to expand your search further.
16. Contact financial institutions in your area
Financial institutions in your region may have departments that handle private foundation funds or donor-advised funds, which could be a source of funding and grantor information.
17. Speak with vendors of the telehealth equipment and software applications you need
Research and contact vendors of the types of telehealth equipment and software applications you’ll be using. They may offer information about other projects implemented in the past and how those projects received funding.
Most of these resources are free and accessible to any provider, but you need to allocate adequate time to utilize these often comprehensive resources. With persistence and consistent effort, you can find an array of potential grant-funding opportunities that align with your telehealth project goals.
Where Iris Telehealth fits in
At Iris, we’ve always got our eyes open for new grant opportunities and share what we find in our monthly newsletter the Iris Messenger. If you’d like to sign up, you can check out this page for more information.
Marian Chambers is a Grants Consultant at Professional Grant Writers, a full-service grant writing agency that works with nonprofit organizations to identify and apply for grants to fund their programs.
