I am frequently asked for advice on getting grants and getting funding. I’ve been president of one important foundation and been the sole executive on several others. I’ve created several foundations worth many $millions.
I’ve personally never received a grant, I’m proud to say.
One of my friends, regularly seeks my advice on grants. Everytime we talk I tell him to start his project, somewhere, anywhere. Start in a school, a church, any non-profit, start anywhere; in a garage, in a backyard. Grants are most likely given to something that is in existence, is happening, is alive. Grants are rarely given to ideas that someone wants to try.
That is a pretty simple idea. I have been saying it since 1970 and said it most clearly as the first law of money in my Seven Laws of Money: 'do it, if you are doing the right thing money will come'.
Don’t forget the 5th and 6th laws of money. Money is never a gift. Expectations always go along with the money and you had better be prepared to live with those expectations.
Roger, in the title, has been calling me for 15 years, always with this great idea and often with drawings. In the meantime an entire field has opened up, grown to significant proportions, is funded by the largest foundation on the horizon, the Bill Gates Foundation; but Roger who has always been stuck in the ‘conception’ phase is not part of the field.