5 Ways to Reuse That Grant Application — and save yourself time!

If you’re anything like me, you hate seeing things used once and then discarded. I’m all about recycling and repurposing to get as much mileage as possible. 

🍲 Last night’s dinner

🎨 a shoebox turned diorama (I was a crafty kid)

📄 Or that recently crafted grant proposal

Content repurposing helps your nonprofit communicate with constituents and grantmakers without constantly recreating the wheel and stressing you out. Nonprofit employee burnout is a real thing, so, let’s do what we can to minimize that. Beyond the time-saving aspect, there’s another compelling reason to repurpose your grant application content: ensuring a consistent message on all your communication channels. You want your constituents to receive the right message, clearly, and consistently.

The most common way to repurpose a grant proposal is to apply to a different grant opportunity by taking this information to answer questions in a different funding opportunity. While each funder is different and each funding opportunity may have its own questions, guidelines, and format, there are common questions asked to help grant makers determine if they want to fund your program or project. (Just one of the many reasons why I’m totally in support of a Common Application for grants). 

But that beautiful grant proposal you poured hours into to make your case for support, it can be used for SO. MUCH. MORE. So, instead of keeping that content hidden on your SharePoint or Google Drive until you apply for that grant next year, here are five ways you can reuse that content:

1. Develop a prospectus/one-pager

A prospectus is a one-page document highlighting your organization. For-profit businesses often use a prospectus to provide a snapshot of their expertise and services. Nonprofits can use a prospectus too! Think about the number of times a grant funder or community partner has asked you to share about your organization’s programs or successes. It’s not always easy to do succinctly and you might often feel like critical information needs to be left out when crunched for time. Or maybe, you want to give a primer on your new program before a meeting so everyone is up to speed. Think of the prospectus as a one-page impact report highlighting who you are, who you serve, what you do, and what outcomes you’ve reached or aspire to in the current year. You can pull all this information from your grant proposal and use your favorite design program to format the content into an easy-to-read snapshot.

2. Craft phrases into social media posts

Your social media channels are a great way to get more mileage from your grant application. You can adapt the proposal language into bite-sized posts to inform and connect with your constituents. Pull stats from your needs statement to communicate why your organization’s mission is critical. Draw from your program summary and outcomes sections to highlight how you address the need. Make it less about your organization and more about what your constituents’ support makes it possible for your nonprofit to do.

3. Spice up your website 

Your organization’s website is a 24/7 billboard for your mission so it’s the perfect place to highlight your work and impact. So, why not post that research you’ve compiled and cited in your proposal where constituents (current and prospective) can see it? I don’t mean make your website data-heavy (you don’t want to scare some visitors away). Instead, sprinkle stats and data to show how your organization is making an impact, the goals you are working on, and the community you serve. You can use infographics and bulleted lists to highlight key facts. Incorporating this data onyour website is a great way to increase transparency.

 4. Email content

What better way to connect with your constituents than to drop right into their inbox? With permission, of course. And if you are trying to figure out what to say in an email or shift your monthly emails to weekly emails, your grant proposals might offer some content to combat that writer’s block.

5. Corporate solicitations and donor appeals

Grantmaking organizations are one piece of your stakeholder pie. Communicating your message to individual donors and local businesses is a critical element of a well-rounded funding strategy. Again, you have gold at your fingertips: key phrases, data, and program information all from your grant proposal.

Whether you’re a small shop or a larger nonprofit organization, you can streamline this process by building and maintaining a content repository that includes a Universal Grant Application (aka boilerplate language), constituent quotes, data, and research. This way, your organization always has information on hand to develop proposals, appeals, social media content, or to share with board members as they serve as ambassadors for your mission.