Ensuring a Wide-Range of Applicants

Grantmakers establish selection criteria in order to encourage a diverse pool of applicants, and sometimes use additional types of support to ensure that they get it. “We were particularly concerned about getting a good flow of proposals from minority groups, so we made a side grant to another organization to help identify groups that might not have heard about the competitive process.”

“In order to be comfortable with the process, people look to see whether their own constituents are involved in it. If you want to work with any hard-to-reach community, you’ve got to have that community be targeted by the RFP, be a part of your selection committee, and part of any intermediary that you hire.”