True Or False: Your For-Profit CAN Get Grants
Download MP3Welcome to this podcast that is all about funding. From grants to crowdfunding, I will be answering questions and providing tips and advice on how to best move forward in securing grants and funding for your nonprofit, research, or business. My name is Holly Rustic, and I'm creator of WeGo Consulting and Amazon bestselling author for Wish Granted tips, tools, and templates to write a winning grant. Wanna get more grant writing and funding resources, books, and online courses? Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com or wegogrants.com.
Holly Rustick:Check out our free templates. Or if you have any grant writing or funding questions, you can always send me an email at hollywego@gmail.com. That's hollywego@gmail.com. I'm excited to hear from you to try my best to answer any questions so that you can increase your funding and impact your community and the world at large. So let's get started because money can be groovy.
Holly Rustick:Hey, changemakers. It is thirty nine today, episode 39. We are almost at forty. How exciting is this? Anyways, I'm just super excited actually about today's topic.
Holly Rustick:And why that is is because we're talking about for profit. Alright. Now you may be saying, but Holly, I have a nonprofit. I have nothing to do with a for profit. This is all about grant writing and funding.
Holly Rustick:So why are you bringing the for profits into the mix? And I'm gonna say that's because I actually get a lot of questions from people who are either starting for profits or they're involved in for profits and they say, Hey, where can I get grants? So this is to answer that because there's a lot of misconceptions out there and it is kind of a murky answer usually. And the other reason is, is if you are a nonprofit, you actually might be getting approached by for profits because of one thing. And I will talking be about that in today's episode.
Holly Rustick:But before we start, I also wanna ask you guys, hey, if you are part of a nonprofit and you're doing really cool work out there in the world, please contact me. Reach out to me at hollywegogmail dot com. I'd love to hear about what you guys are doing. And, yeah, we do like to feature, nonprofits on the show or people that are involved in the nonprofit world from time to time. So if you really feel like you have something to offer, you have, you know, had a struggle in your profit or your organization and you've overcome it somehow, please reach out to me, hollywegogmail dot com, and we will get you on the show.
Holly Rustick:We'll see if we can get you on the show just so we can go over and share your struggles and also your solutions with all the change makers that are out there, a part of the grant writing and funding community. So yeah, so I just wanna throw that out. And also one more thing, if you have not joined the Fund My Nonprofit on Facebook, please check it out. It is a closed group, but we'll go ahead and accept you and get you on there. That is a part.
Holly Rustick:That's actually a partnership that I have with two other people, which is really, really cool because we have Steve Vick who talks about crowdfunding for nonprofits and Alexandra Black, and she talks about earned income for nonprofits. And of course I, you know, kind of chime in on grant writing and funding for nonprofits. So we have this holistic group. It's really, really cool because there's a lot of interaction there. A lot of people actually that are in the nonprofit world that chime in and they put their 2ยข in on different things as well, which is very valuable actually because they provide their own experiences, their own struggles, their own solutions on the Facebook group, and it really helps other people get ideas.
Holly Rustick:So it's a good learning and sharing community. So please jump on and that is Fund My Nonprofit on Facebook. All right, guys. So let's go ahead and dive right into this episode. Alright.
Holly Rustick:True or false, your for profit can get grants. You are really developing a really cool solution to a problem or providing a service or product that can benefit others. But the thing is you are a for profit. Alright. So we're gonna answer that true or false question.
Holly Rustick:You wanna help others, but you also need some cash to run this part of your business to help others. Like, that's just that's a part of it. Right? You need to have money to meet those needs. But you aren't sure if you can get grants for your idea, product, or service as you have been getting mixed messages from those around you.
Holly Rustick:The businesses say, sure, there's tons of funding out there. And the nonprofits roll their eyes and say, only if you're a nonprofit, stay off our turf. So let me tell you, I do get a lot of emails like I had mentioned for people asking, hey. How do I get grants to fund my start up business or start up or to help me with this part of my business? And my answer sometimes, it sounds like this.
Holly Rustick:Yes. Well, sometimes. Maybe if applicable, not so much, but sure. So more succinctly the foundation directory states, quote, grant maker grant makers typically fund organizations that qualify for public charity status under section five zero one c three of the Internal Revenue Code. These are organizations whose purposes are charitable, educational, scientific, religious, literary, or cultural.
Holly Rustick:End quote. So before you throw your hands up in defeat, let me stress the word typically from that definition from Foundation Directory. Alright? But be clear that I'm not saying you can get grants for anything your heart desires to make you money. But I do get enough questions about funding for for for profits that I wanted to create a clearer answer than the above or well, yeah, sometimes, maybe, if applicable, not so much.
Holly Rustick:Sure. Right? But I also didn't wanna just give you the foundation directory's broad sweep of an answer and leave you in despair because I kind of like, no. You know, even though they say typically that word feels kind of hidden in there, and I know what they're trying to do. They're trying to say, well, moreover, usually not according to our foundation directory.
Holly Rustick:So that's what they're kind of doing there. So why is this such a convoluted and difficult answer? Well, it really depends. This is what it goes down to you guys, and this is what I want to be clear about. This is my answer from now on.
Holly Rustick:It's the what your business is doing, why you're looking for grants that will lead you to how your business might get grant funding, okay? So let's start with the what and the why. Okay, so what, are you conducting social entrepreneurial work? I. E.
Holly Rustick:Not asking for profit for a side project that is serving those in needs. And why would you be doing that? Well, to help meet a gap in your community. So that would be number one. Are you conducting a social entrepreneurial work?
Holly Rustick:So it's something that your business is doing more to the side rather than, you know, your whole organization is focused on that, then you would definitely be a nonprofit. But if something you're doing on-site to say, you know, we really wanna serve this, we're not really worried about a profit on it, but we do need to pay our expenses for it. And it is meeting a gap in our community. Now the next thing, number two, the what. Are you creating innovative product?
Holly Rustick:So the why. The product could be used to serve others or meet a change or a need, I. E. Creating maybe an organic fertilizer that could be used on a mass scale at an economic price, or possibly creating hearing aids through three d molds that can be mass produced at a low price for refugees in The Middle East. And I'm actually gonna shout out 3dp4me.org.
Holly Rustick:You can definitely find them. They're actually doing this and they're a nonprofit, but you could see how that could actually be a for profit that would be doing that work too. They're super cool. They're in Jordan and they're mass producing hearing aids through these molds, which is awesome. So you can see like, if you have some kind of innovative product and you're actually a for profit, you actually might be able to get funding for that because you're meeting a wider need.
Holly Rustick:It's not just meeting your ROI, your return on investment, but you're meeting a community need. Okay. Number three, are you providing a service? And this is kind of like number one, but are you providing a service for your community that will benefit the community as a whole? You're not just meeting some tiny need, but you're you're actually benefit, the service will benefit a larger community.
Holly Rustick:It could be the national, you could be looking at national kind of, you know, for your whole nation or even worldwide service kind of thing. So the why would be to benefit the entire community. And these are often system wide projects like waste reduction, offering new jobs, sustainability projects, etcetera. So there may be funding out there specifically grants that will fund for profits for these system wide approaches because it's helping the community. All right, so that's pretty much the what and the why.
Holly Rustick:So if your business is looking at creating any of the above or something similar that would benefit not just your company, but a wider network, then you may be eligible for certain grants. Now, if you are looking to create a product, project, or service that will only benefit your company's ROI, then you probably will not be eligible for grants. So you're just saying, just wanna make the most profit off of these products or this service. Then you're not really looking to benefit the community. You're looking to benefit your business and that's a different conversation.
Holly Rustick:That's where you look at loans, etcetera, but we are focusing on grants today. Okay. Grants and other types of funding. So the long story short is there must be a greater connection to the community, nation or world. And then there are certain grants that look at funding for for profits.
Holly Rustick:And we are definitely, we have those on the website. So check out grantwritingandfundingcom if you want to get direct links to where those funding, those grants are available. Okay? Some of them anyways, there's quite a few. We just have some snapshots there available for you, but it definitely gives you some information to start with instead of having a blank page and be like, ah, where is all this stuff?
Holly Rustick:Definitely some highlights for you. Okay? But first here are the three ways in how you can set up your project that it might get funding. So we covered the what and the why. What are you doing?
Holly Rustick:Why are you doing it? Now, here are some ways that you could get your for profit to actually get funding. And these are talking about kind of the approach to it. So number one, okay, staying entirely for profit. So sometimes for profits get grants if they show that projects are doing, they're not just doing it for the profit, right?
Holly Rustick:They're doing it for the community need. And that was the three things we talked about. And this is okay, but the thing is, is you will not tap into the entire cadre of grant funding because many foundations and grant funding agencies do require a tax exempt status. And that goes back to what foundation directories quote was, you typically don't get funding, blah, blah, blah, right? So, but some funding sources specifically fund only for profit grants and include for profits as eligible grant applicants.
Holly Rustick:Those are some of the examples that I'm providing on the website. But as you do your grant research, you can see if this is a viable option based on the eligibility factors that you come across. And these are usually like products or services if your for profit is in the hot and sexy now, right? We're talking about today in 2018, we're looking at STEM. You know, there's a lot of different things that are kind of hot and trending right now.
Holly Rustick:Human trafficking that we're doing some more stuff like that was like last year. Now we're looking at more things like STEM and just sustainability projects, some environmental straws are all the right reusable straws. So, I mean, there's definitely things if you're looking, I mean, don't chase those, but if your company's already doing that, then you can say, hey, what's kind of the priority, the funding priority of the federal government or of society at this time, right, foundations and that sort of thing. And then you can say, well, there might be a lot more funding out there for us to exist in applying as a for profit at this time. Now, two, the how is you might actually develop a nonprofit arm of your for profit company.
Holly Rustick:You might actually not be able to tap into as much funding. Maybe you're not you don't have the hot and sexy now, but you're still meeting the need. Right? There's not as many grants out there. It may be specific for you as a for profit, but there may be a lot of grants out there for nonprofits that are doing similar work.
Holly Rustick:So you say, you know what? So we are going to develop a nonprofit arm. So you could open a side nonprofit arm that would do this type of work, but you need to be very clear about the separation of your funding between the nonprofit and the for profit, but it could be a way in which you could carry out your nonprofit projects. So not your entire company, otherwise you might as well just become a nonprofit, but hey, if you have a for profit and you say, but you know, there's this one little project that we do on the side or it's a, know, maybe it's a substantial project, it's a project that we do on the side and we don't really wanna get profit from it, but we want it to get paid for to get it done, right? So that would be your nonprofit, you know, or any of the profit that we get, we can sink back into the project itself.
Holly Rustick:That means nonprofit, right? So that could be something that you could do on the side, but I do have to be clear that you would have to open a nonprofit. Like you'd actually have to open a separate five zero one C three. So you would need to, you know, develop your board for that. You'd really have to have your separation of funding.
Holly Rustick:You'd have to have, you know, everything in place, your articles, your bylaws, all that fun stuff, and you could open that. So if you see this is a long term approach and we do want to have a nonprofit nonprofit arm, I would definitely recommend that. Sign up to get a copy of the ten twenty three form checklist to submit for your five zero one(three) through the grant writing and funding free membership on grantwritingandfunding.com, if you wanna do that way. So that might be one option, but it goes back to your what and your why, right? Okay, so number three, another thing on the how is to partner with an existing tax exempt nonprofit that they do similar work.
Holly Rustick:So in some companies you can partner or you actually, there's an umbrella nonprofit where they actually provide this service. So you can submit grants through, you know, you'd use their name, their EIN number, their D U S, their SAM. You're not actually gonna open your own nonprofit, but you're gonna submit for a grant under somebody else's nonprofit status. And that really makes sense if they're doing similar work. But like I said, some communities do have nonprofit umbrellas that provide this service.
Holly Rustick:Although you usually do have to enter into a memorandum of understanding with them and just, you know, make sure you, I would actually highly do that and then have your scope of work completely outlined. And this will protect you and it will protect. So in this way, you're falling under their nonprofit status. And it's kind of like being a subcontractor or subrecipient relationship. Although your organization may be doing most of the work for the project, you would utilize, you know, their nonprofit status.
Holly Rustick:And you'd have to just demonstrate that relationship in your grant application. So if it's an organizational chart that has, you know, somehow your nonprofit in there, you could submit a copy of your MOU, that sort of thing. But I do recommend having a signed MOU that articulates once again, scope of work and the relationships, and you really wanna protect yourself and protect them. They have to answer to their nonprofit status. So if you're using it for profit, don't try to get all, oh, I'm gonna have a loophole to get profit.
Holly Rustick:No, that's not really gonna work. But you also wanna make sure that you get paid to do your service. So that's another way. Another way of the how is you can create, so if you wanna get funding for your for profit, you can create a crowdfunding campaign. Now this is not a grant, but it is monies that you can get to raise.
Holly Rustick:So it's another way to diversify your funding to start or to do your project or your service or your product. If you really believe in your work and you think that there is a market for your product or service or your project, then you may look at crowdfunding to secure potential customers to basically pre order when you have, or to create the capital needed for creating the products and services. And in this way, you really are accountable to those people because you have to create different incentives. You know, sometimes they actually just pre order the product if it's a product that you're creating. So there's many different ways that you have to be accountable for what you're doing in getting, raising those funds.
Holly Rustick:So those are the four hows. So you can stay entirely for profit and tap into grants that are out there for profits. You can create a nonprofit arm, know, complete five zero one(three) that you also have as another entity that's kind of attached or associated, affiliated with your for profit. They carry out the nonprofit work of your for profit, if you will. You can also, number three, you can partner with an existing tax exempt nonprofit.
Holly Rustick:Number four, you can create a crowdfunding campaign. Now there's other ways as well, but those are kind of four big ones. It really goes back to what your company is doing, why you are doing it, and how it benefits others to understand what you're gonna do, right? How you're actually gonna what your approach is going to be. Currently in 2018, like I said, there's a huge focus on technology innovation, so there may be more grants out there for your for profit or a market demand to create a crowdfunding campaign.
Holly Rustick:But if your business is a Pilates center and wants to provide classes to maybe youth with disabilities, then you may be better to partner with a nonprofit that already serves youth with disabilities and submit the grant project through this partnership. So you can see how this is kind of different because it really depends on what you're doing and why you're doing it, right, to get to the how. However, in either case, must still follow grant application guidelines and make sure that you are eligible. So I hope this gives you a much clearer answer than no, there are typically no grants or maybe not so much yes. All right, so we're just really trying to articulate, you know, more of how your for profit can get grants.
Holly Rustick:Is it true or false? Well, and it really goes back to that, you know, the old adage of depends. So, but being a little bit more clear and succinct or expansive on what quote unquote, it depends means is what, why, and then there's different ways of doing it of the how. So, if you wanna check out more resources on specific grants that are actually available out there for for profits, links to crowdfunding source, then please check out episode 39 on grantwritingandfunding.com. Go to podcasts and it will be there.
Holly Rustick:And if you have any questions as always send me an email, hollywegogmail dot com. I look forward to answering your questions and just connecting with you guys and seeing what you're doing out there in the world. Awesome. Alright. I will see you next week.
Holly Rustick:Thank you for listening to today's show. As always, please feel free to send me an email if you have any grant writing or funding questions to hollywego@gmail.com. If you enjoy listening to the grant writing and funding podcast, then I would love to ask you a favor. Please leave a review on iTunes or SoundCloud. Thanks again for listening, and go get funded.
