Dining For Women

Which state are you working in?

Massachusetts

What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?

Grant currently pending

If you were funded, tell us the outcome

What year was this experience?

2021

How would you rate this funder's accessibility?

Good

Responsive to questions.

How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its current philanthropic goals?

Bad

Their mission is too broad geographically and in terms of focus, lots of wasted NGO time filling out their applications.

If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?

Shorten the application by 75%. Only ask for essential information that is directly in proportion to the amount of funding and nothing more. Do not make the application so long and complicated that someone from the underserved communities you aim to reach could never fill it out.

Is there anything else that'd be useful for others to know to understand this funder?

I believe they are an association of volunteers, so they may not have staff who are experts in philanthropy. They are breaking most of the new best practices of philanthropy.

Tell us one thing that this funder does really well

They seem to really investigate the non-profits they are reviewing.

How many hours did the grant application process take?

75