Let’s get right to it.

So one of the biggest ways I see many people waste their time with grants is applying for money that was never designed for their kind of work in the first place.

You can have the best idea and the most powerful mission, but if the alignment is missing, even the best-written applications will get denied. 

Grants are not about you. They’re about the funder’s priorities.

When entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders skip the step of making sure a grant actually fits, they waste hours, and sometimes weeks, crafting proposals that were never going to be considered in the first place. I see it all the time with hopeful, mission-driven leaders applying to grants that don't match their audience, budget, program type, or even sector. It’s like trying to fit a rectangle into a circle. 

This isn’t just an issue of wasting time, but it’s about missed opportunities and avoidable disappointment. That’s why I put together this checklist, so you never have to hit submit on an application that doesn’t serve you.

Let’s walk through the five key things every business and nonprofit should check before applying for any grant, especially if you want to stop chasing money and start attracting it with intention. Some funding facts I’m sure you didn’t know

1. Mission Alignment

Before anything else, you need to get clear on whether your core purpose aligns with the funder’s reason for existing. Their mission is not just a nice statement they put together. It’s the core of what they do and how they operate. And if your work doesn’t support that vision, it won’t matter how compelling your story is.

This is where 80% of people mess up. They try to stretch their story to fit a funder’s theme, instead of applying to the ones that naturally reflect their purpose.

For example, let’s say you own a wellness brand with a stress-relief program for working moms. You see a grant from a tech accelerator and think, maybe I can position this as a digital self-care platform down the line. But the funder’s mission is tied to machine learning in healthcare, and you don’t even have a digital product yet. It’s a no.

Or you run a local nonprofit feeding families in food deserts. The funder only supports international conservation work. Both are meaningful but not aligned. And that application would be a waste of time.

Reviewers scan your mission first on your application. That’s why the majority of the time, it’s the first question on the application or proposal. If it doesn’t vibe with theirs, your proposal goes to the bottom of the pile, if it even makes it that far.

2. Who They’ve Funded in the Past

Now the best predictor of future funding is past funding. People sleep on this technique, but you need receipts. Pull their 990s, check their grantee list, and stalk their annual report. Whatever it takes to get a sense of who they actually write checks to.

What you’re looking for:

• Organizations like yours

• Projects of similar size or scope

• Demographics or issues they consistently support

So you are running a product-based business focused on herbal skincare, and you find a $50K grant that says the wellness sector is encouraged. But their past grantees are all wellness tech startups, like apps, diagnostics, and remote patient tools. Your product doesn’t match their pattern at all, so no, I wouldn’t apply. 

Or you run a mental health organization and want to apply to a foundation that has historically supported youth arts programs. If you don't see any mental health orgs in their grantee history, consider whether your work really aligns or whether this funder just isn’t your person.

Funders usually have a rhythm. When your work mirrors their previous investments, reviewers are more confident that you’re a safe, aligned, and fundable choice.

3. Areas of Focus and Funding Priorities

Most grants have target audiences, issues, and sectors they’re focused on. You can ignore these at your own risk.

What to check:

• Industry or issue area

• Geography

• Eligible applicants 

• Demographics

• Type of project (pilot, scale, research, etc.)

You’ve been scaling a sustainable cleaning product line, but the grant you’re eyeing is for early-stage BIPOC tech founders in the Southeast. You’re in the post-launch stage, you’re not tech, and you’re not located in the Southeast. 

Is this a grant you should be applying for?  

Or you offer job training for adults, but the funder’s priority is college readiness for high school youth. Some would say that you could tweak your language to force it, but ultimately, it would be a mismatch.

Funder priorities are non-negotiables. They’re written in the guidelines for a reason, and if your application or proposal doesn’t check those boxes, it’s not going anywhere.

4. Program Description Requirements

The program description is not a suggestion. It tells you what the funder expects in terms of deliverables, timeline, structure, and impact.

• Do they want a one-year pilot or a multi-year program?

• Are they asking for scalable outcomes or localized work?

• Are there required outputs (e.g., # of people served, partnerships, trainings)?

The grant says they want to support the development of a new product from concept to prototype. You want to use the funds to market your already-built product. That’s not development, though; that’s growth, and it’s definitely not what they asked for.

As an organization, you propose a single-day community fair, but the grant is for multi-month programs that demonstrate long-term community transformation. Sorry babes, but that’s not you, and reviewers will clock it immediately.

Mismatching in scope or type of program is a quick way to rejection. Funders don’t just fund outcomes, but they fund processes that align with their strategy.

5. The Budget Has to Make Sense

A funder’s max award isn’t a target but more of a ceiling. And how you use those dollars says everything about your capacity, your strategy, and your understanding of the ROI.

What not to do:

• Ask for 80% of the total award just for a one-day event

• Budget vague things like admin costs or misc expenses with no explanation

• Inflate costs to get the most instead of showing strategic use

Let’s say you ask for $75K from a $100K grant to do a 2-day pop-up tour. There’s no plan for sustainability, and no breakdown of how that builds infrastructure. That’s a red flag.

Or you budget $90K for a six-month program without mentioning what will happen after it ends. You don’t include staff sustainability, you don’t have a funding plan, and you have no lasting outcomes. Reviewers will wonder: why should we invest in something that disappears next quarter?

Your budget isn’t just a spreadsheet the funder is asking for. It’s a reflection of your decision-making, your values, and your ability to turn money into measurable change.

Here’s your pre-application checklist:

✔️ Funders' mission = aligned with your mission
✔️ Their past grantees = look like you
✔️ Focus areas = match your audience or issue
✔️ Program requirements = reflect what you're actually doing
✔️ Budget = strategic, proportional, justified

If even one of those boxes is off, you don’t revise the grant; instead, you would revise your strategy.

You don’t have time to write grants that were never going to fund you. The goal isn’t just to submit more applications. It’s to submit better ones and the kind that stand out because they actually fit. And when you use this checklist, you start applying from a place of alignment and clarity. That’s when more approvals start coming in.

Your Next Step: Get Funding, Get Ready™ 5‑Day Challenge

If you want to move from guessing to strategic confidence in your applications, tickets for the Get Funded, Get Ready™: 5 Day Challenge are open.

Dates & Access:

• February 23rd–27th

• Live Access: 7 PM EST

• VIP Access + Q&A: 9 PM EST

Get Funded, Get Ready™ is a five‑day experience designed to help entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders build a fundable brand that attracts grants, donors, and partners. Most organizations do not struggle with funding because their work lacks meaning. They struggle because they are not fundable yet. The ideas you have are strong, the vision are big, and your heart is in the right place, but funders seek structure, clarity, and systems they can trust.

Over five days, you will stop guessing, stop chasing random grants, and start positioning your brand so that funders, donors, and partners actually respond to you.

This challenge is not another grant list or some quick win. It is about building the foundation that makes funding make sense.

🎟️ Get Funded Access — $97

• 5 days of live trainings
• Get Funded. Get Ready™ Workbook
• 60-day replay access
• Exclusive templates

💎 Get Funded VIP Access — $297

Everything in Get Funded Access, plus:
• Daily 60-minute live Q&A
• Bonus resources & templates
• 90-day replay access

More information can be found on Get Funded, Get Ready™

I cannot wait to see you there!

That’s it for this week.

Keep showing up for yourself, for your business, and for your organization. Let’s talk soon!

Laine Bradley