Tool 12: The "Study the Prepared" Exercise

Supports Habits 6 and 10 of Ten Habits of Great Grant Writers.

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Choose three or four organizations you admire, at least one outside your field. For each, spend twenty minutes as a stranger:

1. Read the website. Can you find their capacity numbers in under five minutes?
2. Look them up (ProPublica, IRS, GuideStar profile on Candid). Filings current? Consistent with the website?
3. Join the mailing list. Over the next quarter, notice what they send and how often.
4. Note one thing that convinced you, one thing that worried you, and one thing you are stealing for your own organization.

Then turn the lens around: run Tool 11 on yourself and compare.

A running list of example organizations, funder resources, and sites to study is maintained on this site: see Examples.