blueprints

226 | toolkit: hammer, saw, and nails
the organization’s website to see what it has funded before and which programs
it highlights as being particularly representative of its work and values.
This will help you find the right pitch to make. For example, arts organizations
generally fund poetry making and presentation directly, and humanities
organizations tend to fund only discussion or discourse about and around
poetry. Other organizations might be most interested in programs that are
connected to education or explicitly work to strengthen their communities.
Do not expect an organization that supports education to give you money
if you haven’t shown that your mission has a strong educational component.
In other words, do tailor your application to the organization’s mission. That
said, do not misrepresent what you are planning in order to fit into an agency’s
agenda. Rather, think strategically about how to highlight the things
you plan to do that most fit in with the agency’s mission. In addition, though
you never want to add a programming element just to get a grant, such
research might give you ideas about programming elements that fit with
your mission and values, that you want to do, and that you might be able to
get funding help for either now or down the line.
Granting agencies generally require you to show on their applications
how you are going to match any funds you receive with support from other
sources. Especially at the entry level, agencies often allow organizations to
use in-kind donations, such as donated space, staff time, etc., to match cash
grants, but this isn’t universally allowed or may be allowed for only a portion
of the match. Often, you can use a local grant as a match for a state
grant, but you probably won’t be allowed to match funds from one state
agency (such as the arts council) with those from another state agency (such
as the legislature or governor’s office) or funds from one office within the
arts council with those from another. Make sure, before you begin to write
your budget, that you know what the limitations and requirements of each
granting agency are.
Finally, be as meticulous as you can in your budget section. If you count
a space donation as in-kind funding, make sure you know what your partner
actually charges when it rents the space, and get a written statement
from the partner saying so. Be careful in estimating the costs of honoraria,
plane tickets, and similar expenses. You can easily find the going rates for all
of these things online. Most organizations know that plans change and budgets
can shift for all kinds of reasons, but you want your budget to be both
as accurate as possible given the information available to you and consistent
with what you plan to do. Though much of this is guesswork and some of