Tips for Writing a Letter of Inquiry

Tips for Writing a Letter of Inquiry
Focus on what the project will accomplish.
Accomplishments impact people and communities. Building a new building is not an
accomplishment in itself. The building is only a tool for accomplishing some bigger goal for the
community—helping homeless people leave the street or reducing juvenile crime by providing a
safe environment for children after school.
Explain how the Foundation’s grant would complement the organization’s usual sources of
operating revenue.
The grants made by all U.S. foundations compose less than 10% of all nonprofit revenues.
Grants should complement the usual and customary revenues that support the organization’s
annual operating budget. For example, a start-up grant may help a program operate in the first
few years as it strives to acquire those usual and customary revenues. In evaluating such a
proposal, a Foundation looks both at the needs for a new program as well as the plan for the
program to attain those planned revenues.
Letters of Inquiry should summarize fully developed proposals.
From time to time, grant seekers submit Letters of Inquiry that summarize ideas for proposals
rather than fully developed proposals. Such letters create the impression that the writer wants to
test an idea, and if the idea receives a positive response, a full proposal will be developed.
This approach has two problems. First, the most compelling letters are ones that summarize full
proposals because such letters convey a sense of depth and knowledge about the project. Testing
an idea with a Letter of Inquiry usually results in a presentation that lacks such depth. Second, if
a Letter of Inquiry fails to fully answer some key questions, staff will often call the organization.
If the letter is based upon a fully developed proposal, then the organization usually has a good
answer to the question(s) raised. If the letter is only testing an idea, follow-up questions usually
create more questions because the organization hasn’t fully developed the proposal.
Letters of Inquiry must provide timely contact information.
When you mail your Letter of Inquiry, your greatest hope is that the Foundation will respond
positively to it. So as you complete your Letter of Inquiry, ask yourself if the letter clearly
identifies a contact person for follow-up questions or for scheduling a site visit or an office visit.
Staff will usually contact the person who signed the letter if there is no other contact information
provided. That may create a problem if the Letter of Inquiry is signed by a key volunteer that
cannot be contacted through the telephone number(s) provided on the letterhead.

Preferably the last paragraph of the Letter of Inquiry should provide the contact information. In a
small, volunteer-run organization this might be a board member. Organizations with staff should
provide contact information for the executive director and/or the development director.
Submit your Letter of Inquiry as soon as possible, but not before the project is ready.
Grant requests may be turned down or deferred if it appears that it is too early in the project for
the Foundation to pursue a grant. Grant seekers can improve their chances if they follow three
guidelines:
1. Capital campaigns should achieve a substantial percentage of goal (often 40% to 50%)
before writing to a Foundation. The Foundation wants to know that the project has local
support.
2. If the project hinges upon a key commitment, be reasonably sure that commitment is in
place before writing a Letter of Inquiry. Such commitments might be a large grant from a
major foundation or a major government grant.
3. Fully develop the vision for what the project will accomplish. Building a building is not
an accomplishment itself. The building is only a tool for accomplishing a larger
community good.
Be prepared for your reporting responsibilities.
The first step to your next grant is your reporting on your current grant. When you receive a
grant, make sure that you plan for update reports to all donors. The narrative should outline both
the progress toward the program objectives outlined in your formal application and an update on
the budget submitted with the formal application. Reports should be made at least every six
months until the project is completed.
Remember that your budget is only a plan.
While budgets are important, they are only tools for understanding bigger issues. Your Letter of
Inquiry should outline the problem/opportunity your organization wants to deal with and how it
plans to approach the situation. Naturally, that raises the question, “What resources do you need
for this project?” A budget is a tool for answering that question.
In addition, no budget is complete without an income portion. This portion of the budget
explains how you plan to garner the resources you need for the project. Often this is the most
difficult portion of the budget.
Letters of Inquiry only need to summarize the budget information with figures such as total
project cost, the plan for raising needed resources, and a request for a specific amount from the
Foundation.