Month 1 · Learn and organize
We learn the organization: your programs, funding priorities, any current grants, past applications, financials and reporting you already owe. We gather what exists and tell you plainly what's missing.
How we work
A documented process, not a personality.
Grant programs fail on inconsistency more than on writing quality. Everything below is how we keep an engagement predictable.
The first ninety days
Getting the function stood up.
Month 2 · Build the pipeline
We research and qualify opportunities, build your working grant calendar, and begin preparing the highest-priority applications with your team.
Month 3 · Establish the rhythm
Applications move through drafting, your review and submission. Requirements and reporting obligations come onto the same calendar. By the end of the quarter the function is running.
Then every month
Find, qualify, prepare, approve, submit, track, report — and repeat. You receive a written summary of what was submitted, what's pending, what was decided and what's ahead.
↑ Returns to 01 each cycle
The monthly rhythm
What every month looks like.
| Continuous | Grant calendar maintained as work changes |
| Weekly | Internal pipeline and opportunity review |
| As needed | Requests to you for documents, figures, signatures or confirmations — with notice |
| Ongoing | Draft applications delivered ahead of agreed internal deadlines, with time to review |
| Monthly | A written leadership summary, and a formal check-in |
View a sample monthly report →
Almanac Grant Partners — April / Grant Program Summary
03Applications submitted
04In preparation
06Decisions pending
02Reports approaching
03Client items needed
| Date | Activity | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 03 | Submitted | Community Foundation — General Operating Support |
| Apr 09 | Qualified | Regional Health Initiative |
| Apr 14 | Client review | Youth Development Foundation |
| Apr 22 | Report due | Community Impact Award |
| May 02 | Upcoming deadline | Family Services Initiative |
ILLUSTRATIVE MONTHLY REPORT
Our commitments
What you can hold us to.
Internal deadlines ahead of funder deadlines.
Set at the start of each application and communicated in advance.
A complete draft for review.
With time to revise before submission.
A written summary every month.
What was submitted, what's pending, what was decided, what's due next, and what needs attention.
What we need from you
The engagement is a two-sided arrangement.
Almanac can carry the research, the writing, the tracking and the coordination. What we can't do is invent facts about your organization. We need someone who knows the programs to be reachable, and we need access to your financial statements, board documents and outcome data.
Organizations that get the most from this engagement treat it like an internal function rather than an external vendor. The ones that struggle are the ones where nobody has time to answer a question about a program budget.