Frequently Asked Questions
Will foundations get more unwanted grant applications?
Actually, a common application is likely to reduce the number of applications foundations receive. Currently, since all funders are public organizations and their grant applications are open-ended, anyone can submit an application to any foundation at any time, irrespective of its guidelines. With the common application, funders offer nonprofits a powerful inducement to follow a standardized process. Moreover, since funders can set screening criteria and filters to only allow applications that fit their parameters, the common application becomes a much more controlled process and dramatically reduces the number of unwanted applications.
Is it unfair to charge nonprofits to apply for grants?
Not really. The common grant application is a service – any nonprofit can always choose to submit a paper application, or apply to each funder separately, for free. Nonprofits can make their own rational business decision as they do every day, when organizations hire grant writers, purchase donor lists or pay transaction fees for online donations. Bottom line: it’s totally optional.
What about funders that already have their own online application?
First, most funders don’t already have their own applications. Research shows that only 2,500 funders (out of 70,000) have such applications. A 2003 Council on Foundations survey found that only 14% of foundations have online applications, of which 2/3 are custom-built.[1] Custom solutions are expensive to maintain, and given that the majority (2/3) of foundations have no in-house IT staff, the expenses are beginning to rack up after the first few years of use. Second, as in the current paper-based common applications in use by RAs, foundations can continue to accept their own applications as well as the common application. This was also the case in the education sector, and did not preclude adoption.
Why not wait until all foundations agree on a single national grant application?
It is unclear how long it could take to get agreement on one national standard– it could be as short as one year, or it could take five years. The only way to get there is to get started by meeting funders where they are at today, and demonstrate the value of the common application. Given that 14 RAs already have common applications in place, and 620 foundations have already agreed to accept these, this is a good place to start. Over time, more and more foundations will realize that they are all asking for basically the same information and the consensus for having a universal application will grow.
[1] “Trends in Grants Management Software”, Foundation News & Commentary, May/June 2003