Foundation Grant Rejections Are On The Rise. Now What?
You’re no stranger to rejections. Grants are a part of your organization’s development strategy, and you know that “no” is part of the process. But over the last few years, you’ve noticed the rejections have been piling up. Maybe they’ve read something like this:
“Due to the record number of applications we’ve received, we were unable to fund your proposal.”
Or this:
“This year, we received over $30 million in grant requests, but could only fund $3 million.”
Typically, a “good” grants success rate has been anywhere from 20% to 50%. Not that long ago, a “competitive” funder may have only awarded 30% of the requests they received. Over the last five years, we’ve seen average award rates drop to around 10-20% for many foundation funders.
What gives?
Previously, we talked about key trends shaping the grants landscape for Oregon’s nonprofits. Organizations are starting to catch on: according to Grantstation’s 2026 State of Grantseeking Report, respondents identified increased competition as the number two grantseeking challenge in 2025. (The number one challenge was lack of capacity to apply in the first place.)
With record numbers of applicants, competition increases, decreasing a foundation’s overall award rate. And as some foundations become more restrictive, transitioning from open calls to invite-only processes, or delaying grant programs altogether, the competition becomes that much more fierce.
This means that many nonprofits are submitting more applications, and still getting fewer and/or smaller awards.
Three ways to break through the noise
Your organization’s grants strategy should reflect the reality of this new landscape. Here’s what we recommend:
1. Build relationships before you need them
Cultivating a relationship can take anywhere from 6-18 months, so the earlier you can start, the better. Start by looking at a funder’s website (if they have one). Unless they explicitly state otherwise, call or email program officers with questions. See if anyone in your leadership team or on your board is connected to the foundation’s trustees and can facilitate a warm introduction. Attend webinars or in-person events. Combined with a robust digital and media presence (and an up-to-date website), this can open the door to invite-only opportunities.
2. Go deep, not wide
While data suggests that the likelihood of a successful application scales with the number of applications, our experience has shown that quality beats quantity. Be strategic about fit: align your proposal to the funder’s priorities, demonstrate your impact, as well as your programs’ effectiveness. This also helps mitigate capacity challenges and general overwhelm. You don’t need to apply to every opportunity you see. Your time is likely best spent doing some homework and prioritizing thoughtful applications to the opportunities with which you are best aligned.
3. Think stewardship, not transactions
Once you’ve gotten the grant, think beyond reporting obligations. This can look like sharing annual impact reports, scheduling a coffee chat to recap programs or projects you think they’ll be excited about, or even inviting funders to your organization’s events or a site visit.
The bottom line
Rejection rates are climbing as the grants landscape has become fundamentally more competitive. Foundations are becoming more intentional about who they fund – and the organizations who thrive will be the ones that apply to the right grants at the right time.
Your organization’s job is to make it easy for funders to say yes. A to Be Partners can help.