Last week, I wrote about the question I keep hearing from nonprofit leaders across the country:
Where’s the money?
It is a legitimate question.
Funding is shifting. Competition is increasing. Long-standing sources of support are changing priorities. And nonprofit leaders are trying to figure out how to sustain organizations while the needs in their communities continue to grow.
But there is another question we need to ask.
Do we really have a grant problem—or do we have a funding strategy problem?
There is a difference.
And sometimes the distinction becomes clear when you look at how your organization actually pursues money.
You Start With the Grant Instead of the Strategy
A grant announcement hits your inbox.
It looks interesting.
Your organization appears eligible.
Someone forwards it to the CEO with the familiar question:
“Should we apply?”
And now everyone starts trying to figure out how the organization’s work can fit the opportunity.
I have seen this happen more times than I can count.
But the order is backwards.
Your strategy should determine which funding opportunities you pursue. Funding opportunities should not determine your strategy.
Before the grant announcement ever arrives, leadership should already understand what the organization is trying to accomplish over the next 12, 24 or 36 months—and what resources will be required to accomplish it.
Then, when an opportunity appears, the question changes.
Instead of:
“Can we apply for this?”
you ask:
“Does this help finance something we have already decided is important?”
Those are two very different questions.
Your Funding Calendar Is Really an Application Calendar
Take a look at your organization’s funding calendar.
What is on it?
If it is primarily a list of grant deadlines, you may not have a funding calendar.
You may have an application calendar.
A real funding strategy should include much more than submission dates.
It should reflect relationships that need to be developed, funders that need to be cultivated, contracts that should be explored, corporate partners that should be approached, government funding cycles that should be monitored, financing conversations that need to begin and decisions leadership needs to make.
Some of the most important activities on your funding calendar may not involve asking anyone for money at all.
They may involve having coffee.
Making an introduction.
Attending a meeting.
Sharing an impact report.
Inviting someone to see your work.
Learning what a potential partner is trying to accomplish.
The application may come much later.
You Pursue Money Because You’re Eligible
Eligibility is a very low bar for determining whether you should pursue money.
Your organization may technically qualify for dozens—or hundreds—of opportunities.
That does not mean you should apply for all of them.
Every application has a cost.
Staff time.
Leadership time.
Data collection.
Budget preparation.
Reporting.
Compliance.
Relationship management.
And if you receive the money, there is an entirely new set of costs associated with delivering what you promised.
That is why one of the most important words in funding strategy may be:
No.
No, this does not align with our priorities.
No, this does not cover the true cost of the work.
No, we do not currently have the capacity to manage it.
No, this opportunity would pull us away from our mission.
No, we should not create a new program simply because someone is willing to fund it for twelve months.
Being eligible for money does not automatically make it the right money.
Your CEO Only Gets Involved When It’s Time to Ask
This one is important.
If the CEO’s role in fundraising begins when someone says, “We need you to meet with the funder,” the CEO is entering the process too late.
Funding strategy is not just a development-department responsibility.
The CEO has an external leadership responsibility.
Who knows your organization?
Who understands your vision?
Who understands the problem you are trying to solve?
Who would take your call?
Who would make an introduction on your behalf?
Who would mention your organization in a room where you are not present?
Those relationships are built long before an application opens.
One of my favorite exercises with CEOs is what I call the Calendar Test.
Look at the last two completed weeks on your calendar.
How much of that time was spent developing relationships with people who can fund your organization, introduce you to someone who can, become a strategic partner, advocate for your work, create a contracting opportunity or open a door you cannot open yourself?
There is no magic percentage.
But if diversifying or increasing revenue is one of your organization’s biggest priorities and relationship-building is almost invisible on the CEO’s calendar, there is a disconnect.
Your calendar often reveals your real priorities better than your strategic plan does.
One Lost Grant Can Create a Crisis
Here is another sign worth paying attention to.
What happens if your largest funder says no next year?
What happens if a government contract is reduced?
What happens if a foundation changes its priorities?
What happens if a corporate partner changes leadership and your program no longer fits its strategy?
If losing one source of revenue immediately creates an organizational crisis, the problem may be bigger than replacing that particular grant.
It may be revenue concentration.
It may be a lack of diversification.
It may be insufficient reserves.
It may be that the organization has become dependent on a funding source that was never guaranteed to be permanent.
Replacing one grant may solve the immediate problem.
A funding strategy should address the larger one.
You Measure Success Only by How Much Money You Raised
“We raised $2 million this year.”
That’s important.
But I want to know something else.
What did the $2 million allow you to do?
Did it strengthen the organization?
Did it expand impact?
Did it improve infrastructure?
Did it allow you to retain talented staff?
Did it create financial stability?
Did it help you build reserves?
Did it diversify revenue?
Did it position the organization for the next stage of growth?
Or did you raise $2 million and still enter the next fiscal year wondering how you are going to keep the doors open?
The amount raised matters.
But funding is a means, not the mission.
The real question is whether the resources you secured moved the organization toward what it is trying to become.
Your Board Knows How Much You Need—but Not the Strategy for Getting It
Ask your board a simple question:
What is our organization’s funding strategy?
Not the annual fundraising goal.
Not the development director’s target.
Not the amount in the budget.
The strategy.
Where will revenue come from over the next several years?
Which sources are growing?
Which sources are vulnerable?
Where are we overly dependent?
What new relationships need to be developed?
What opportunities are emerging?
What investments do we need to make now to access different types of capital later?
A board does not need to manage fundraising.
But it should understand the financial strategy supporting the organization’s future.
Grant Seeking and Funding Strategy Are Not the Same Thing
This may be the simplest way to think about it.
Grant seeking asks:
What money is available?
Funding strategy asks:
What are we trying to accomplish, what resources will it require, and how will we assemble those resources?
That second question is bigger.
It forces leaders to think beyond the next application deadline.
It connects money to strategy.
It connects relationships to revenue.
It connects today’s decisions to tomorrow’s opportunities.
And it changes the CEO’s role from someone constantly reacting to funding opportunities into someone intentionally positioning the organization for them.
So, yes, keep looking for grants.
But every once in a while, stop searching long enough to ask:
If no new grant opportunities appeared in my inbox tomorrow, would we still know what we need to fund, where we should be looking, who we need to know and what we need to do next?
If the answer is no, you may have just discovered something important.
You don’t have a grant problem.
You may have a funding strategy problem.
On October 13, I’ll continue this conversation during Where’s the Money?, a CEO 360 Capital Lab workshop for nonprofit leaders who are thinking seriously about how their organizations access resources in a changing funding environment.
Because the goal isn’t to become better at chasing money.
It’s to become more strategic about positioning your organization to access the resources it needs.
For nonprofit leaders wrestling with these questions, Joy Johnson will continue the conversation on October 13 at MidTown Tech Hive in Cleveland during “Where Is the Money?!?” — a CEO-level discussion focused on finding capital, positioning for it, and preparing organizations to receive it. Learn more and register here: https://links.myceo360.org/events/beyond-the-grind-2026-10-13
With more than two decades of experience in community development, real estate strategy, and organizational leadership, Joy Johnson brings a seasoned, solutions-focused voice to the field. She is committed to helping communities and institutions avoid systemic pitfalls and build models that truly work. To reach Joy, call (216) 238-2415.