Learn with BetterGrants
Our educational videos provide practical knowledge and advice on grants-related topics such as funder research, proposal development, and grant management. Our goal is to make grant writing simpler, so that you can focus on the work that's most important to you.
What is a Grant?
The world of grants can be complex and difficult to navigate. Learn what a grant is and determine if grant funding is worth pursuing for your nonprofit.
Types of Grants
Grants come in all shapes and sizes, and the terms that funders use to categorize them are constantly changing. Learn the major differences between the most common grant types so you can find the grants that are most suitable for you.
How to Assess Your Grant Readiness
Before you start applying for grants, it's important to make sure that you're grant ready. Learn about 7 ways to prepare for a successful grant campaign to ensure that you minimize sunken costs, unpredictability, and staff burnout.
Why Funders Give
Funders give grants to nonprofits for a variety of reasons besides simple goodwill. It's helpful to understand these reasons to help you find the funders that are most closely aligned to your mission.
The Origins of the U.S. Nonprofit Industry
Do you ever feel lost in the complexities of the nonprofit industry? And do you ever wonder if our current ways of “doing good” are truly the most efficient? This video explains the historical trends that led to our current nonprofit model in the U.S., including an overview of the main political and economic factors that continue to affect the nonprofit industry today.
If you’re interested in learning more about the history of the nonprofit industry in the U.S., I highly recommend the following resources:
📖 INCITE - The Revolution Will Not Be Funded
📃 Mockingbird Analytics - The Evolution of the American Nonprofit & Philanthropy
📃 IRS - History of the Tax-Exempt Sector
De-stigmatizing the "Profit" in Nonprofits
How do we expect non-profits to innovate solutions without “profits”? Why do non-profits often struggle to justify raising any more than the bare minimum in funding? In this video, I’ll briefly cover the ideas of Dan Pallotta, a leading advocate for non-profit reform, to break down the reasons why the “profit” in non-profit is widely misunderstood.
More from Dan Pallotta:
🎙️ TED Talk - The way we think about charity is dead wrong
🎙️ Interview @ American Enterprise Institute: Unlocking the potential of nonprofits
📖 Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential
📖 The Everyday Philanthropist: A Better Way to Make a Better World