Donor research, concept notes and applications for nonprofits without a development department — including outside the United States.
A small nonprofit rarely loses funding because the work is weak. It loses because nobody has three uninterrupted days to find out which foundations fund this exact thing, which ones accept unsolicited requests, what each one asks for, and when their window closes. That research sits below programme delivery on every list, so it never happens.
That's the part I do. You keep running the programme; I bring back the funders who are actually a match, in the order worth approaching them, with what each one requires.
| Piece of work | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Donor map | Foundations and programmes that fund your specific theme and country, each with the amount range, the deadline or rolling status, whether unsolicited requests are accepted, and the reason it matches you — plus the ones I checked and rejected, with why. |
| Concept note | The two-page version funders ask for before a full application, written from your own answers rather than a template. |
| Letter of inquiry | The short approach letter, addressed to a named person at a named programme. |
| Full application | Written to the funder's own form and word limits, with the budget built line by line and checked against their rules. |
Researched funding sources for a museum the organisation plans to found. The founder, R. V. Nagaveni, put her assessment of the work in writing on 25 July 2026. Read the case →
Started with a map of twenty funders for maternal health work. That led to a full application to The Pollination Project Daily Grants Programme: project concept, budget and narrative worked through together. The organisation submitted it on 5 August 2026, with the referee form completed alongside.
Eleven funders mapped with the reasons each fits, plus six checked and rejected with the reasons why. Followed by a concept note for the Global Fund for Community Foundations and an approach letter to the GEF Small Grants Programme.
What you do, where, who it serves, and roughly what a year of it costs. A few paragraphs by email is enough to start.
Funders matched to your theme, country and size — with amounts, deadlines and requirements, and the rejected ones listed too.
Concept note, letter of inquiry or full application, in the funder's own format. You review every line before anything goes out.
It fits badly if the organisation has no registration, no bank account in its own name, or no one who can answer questions about the programme. Funders check all three, and no amount of writing gets around it.
Right now, nothing. I take a limited number of nonprofit projects at no charge, because I am building a track record and references matter more to me than fees at this stage.
When the free slots are taken, I'll say so plainly rather than quietly raise a price on you.
A few paragraphs about the work, and I'll come back with who funds it.
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