The Impact Issue #126: Give your proposal a supporting cast

73% of nonprofits surveyed report increased demand for their services in 2026, the highest since 2020, according to this year’s State of Nonprofits report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy.

At the same time, nonprofits are grappling with reduced government funding and the compounding impact of - for many - reduced foundation funding as well.

Nonprofits are looking for ways to stand out, and most grant proposals tell the same story: our organization, our problem, our solution. It’s a story that leaves out something funders increasingly want to see.

Many funders are prioritizing organizations that extend their reach, avoid duplicating effort, and strengthen the whole community.

Your partners, the collaborators you’ve cultivated to make the biggest impact in your community, can be a competitive edge that sets you apart.

Here’s how to put them to work in your application process.

Pitfalls and Pointers

Funders want to back more than a single organization. They want to back a community that gets results.

⚠️ Pitfall: Treating your partners as a footnote

• Burying the community beat. If partners only appear in a closing line or an attachment, funders will skim past the part of your pitch that could make you memorable.
• Naming partners without context. A list of organizations tells a funder who you know. It doesn’t show how the work connects or what changes because you work together.

💡 Pointer: Turn Partners Into Proof

1. Quantify what you do together. Funders back results, and shared results are even more compelling. Pull one number that only exists because of the partnership, like referrals exchanged, families served across organizations, or costs saved by sharing staff or space.
2. Name the gap that would exist without the partnership. Paint the picture to the funder of what happens if either of you works alone: families who fall through the cracks, services that get duplicated, a need no one meets.
3. Build a partner snapshot you can reuse. Keep a short, living document with each partner’s one-liner, your shared outcomes, and a quote or two from partner leaders. Update it quarterly so your community story is always ready to go.

Expert Perspectives

🏆 Tim Kashani on making your case in three beats

Tim Kashani, co-founder of Apples & Oranges Arts, was one of three funders featured in Instrumentl’s recent panel discussion, “How Funders Feel About AI, and What Keeps Them Saying Yes.”

Tim reviews pitches from both nonprofits and for-profit founders, and he gives them the same advice: a funder has a mission and a problem it wants solved.

Your job is to show you’re the solution, clearly and quickly. And his formula fits into three succinct beats:

1. We know what the problem is.
2. Here’s how we solve it.
3. This is why you need to choose us to help solve it.

But his bonus beat is what gives applications the edge that stands out: Show the bigger community you’re part of that is doing this work alongside you.

According to Tim, if you can show “you’re part of a bigger community doing this, you instantly jump to the top of our list.”

👉 Watch the full funder panel!

Open Grant Opportunities Spotlight

Ardmore Institute of Health Grants: Ardmore Institute of Health

Grant Amount: Median award of $10,000 (average about $44,000)
Next Deadline: December 2, 2026 (letter of inquiry). Full proposals by invitation are due March 10, 2027.
Who It’s For: 501(c)(3) public charities and U.S. government agencies advancing whole-person care and lifestyle medicine, especially in underserved and low-income communities.

The Details:

• Funds food-is-medicine and lifestyle medicine approaches that help prevent, treat, and reverse chronic disease, with focus areas in primary care, comprehensive obesity care, and equitable care in underserved communities.
• Uses a staged, invitation-based process: a brief LOI invitation request, then a letter of inquiry, then a full proposal by invitation only. Even so, 41% of awards in the last three years went to new grantees, so the door is open to organizations it hasn’t funded before.
• Prioritizes projects with multiple funding sources and those using Full Plate Living. Budgets should emphasize direct program costs over staffing and indirect costs.

🔍 Explore this opportunity!

Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Grant Program: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)

Grant Amount: $30,000–$150,000
Next Deadline: May 15, 2027
Who It’s For: Nonprofits, Indigenous groups, and government entities leading community-based restoration projects in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, especially in underserved or urban areas.

The Details:

• Funds local partnerships that improve water quality, watersheds, and the habitats they support, including tree canopy, community gardens, and wetland, riparian, forest, and coastal restoration.
• Projects should pair ecological improvements with community outreach, education, and stewardship, and engage a range of local partners in planning and carrying out the work.
• Backed by NFWF with federal and corporate partners, including USDA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FedEx, and Southern Company. Open nationwide.

🔍 Explore this opportunity!

Networking Nook

💻 2027 Federal Grant Strategy: What You Need to Know Right Now

Hosted by Shavonn Richardson, MBA, GPC, Think and Ink Grant Consulting® .Tuesday, November 10, 2026 | 12 PM ET | Virtual | Free

A proposed rewrite of 2 CFR Part 200, shifting agency priorities, and a growing role for appropriations and earmarks mean many federal funding strategies heading into 2027 are already out of date.

In this 60-minute session, Shavonn Richardson, founder and CEO of Think and Ink Grant Consulting, breaks down where federal funding is headed, what the 2 CFR Part 200 changes mean for your compliance, and how appropriations and earmarks fit into a complete funding strategy.

You’ll leave with a practical readiness framework you can put to work right away, plus live Q&A to get your questions answered.

👉 Save your spot!

To check out more recent and upcoming live events, go here.

Put Your Partnerships in Front of the Right Funders

Find funders who value partnerships. 

Instrumentl’s new Discover experience lets you filter matches in plain language, so you can zero in on funders who prioritize collaboration, shared outcomes, or community-wide impact.

Then filter by peers to see who’s funding organizations like yours and the partners you work alongside.

👉 Try it for yourself here!

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