Frequently Asked Questions

It depends. A comprehensive assessment of your organization’s capacity, opportunities, and goals is usually a good place to start, especially for organizations considering a major development initiative. Some organizations may find it makes the most sense to work on internal systems before launching a new fundraising program, while others may be ready to start applying for grants within a few weeks. Depending on your situation, it can take three to six months to get truly “grants-ready,” and the first grant request is often the hardest. We can help you make the most of that time, and help you build a strategic runway for longer-term success.

Depending on your situation, it can take three to six months to get truly “grants-ready,” and the first grant request is often the hardest. We can help you make the most of that time, and help you build a strategic runway for longer-term success.

Grants readiness depends on your goals, location, experience, and other factors. At a baseline, it means that you are a designated 501(c)(3) organization with a compelling mission, engaged board of directors, basic financial systems, clear programs and goals, and the organizational capacity to be successful in the competitive grant-seeking environment and fulfill any reporting requirements grants may have. Even if your organization isn’t quite there yet, we can still start to plant the seeds for an upcoming sequence of proposals.

Short answer? No. But you’re in good company. No organization is successful with 100% of their proposals. Grants success depends on a lot of different things, not all of which are within your control. What we can do is help boost your chances by strategizing about the components you can impact to improve your fundability. When you’re ready to start pursuing grants, we use a combination of quality messaging, a strategic work plan for grant submissions, and ongoing project management to help achieve your fundraising goals.

The grants landscape has always been competitive, but things are particularly challenging now. Funders are currently reporting hundreds or thousands of applicants for each opening, resulting in lower approval rates and, when funded, often lower funding amounts. 

We believe the best response to this current reality is taking a smart approach focusing on fundability, strategic opportunity selection and — critically — relationship building, which has never been more important. We can help support your development team with insights, research, project management, proposal development capacity, and strategic planning on which foundations to apply to when, so they can focus on building relationships with funders that help cut through the noise. 

We’re firm believers in matching organizational needs to platform capabilities. Custom solutions also exist for sector-specific needs, like the arts and HIPPA-compliant medical organizations. Through our assessment, we can determine various options with you.

It’s unlikely you will see meaningful, sustainable results with grants in less than 3-6 months. Any successful grants strategy takes time and intention to cultivate, so it really depends on your organization’s specific circumstances. That said, if you’re working on a rushed timeline, get in touch and we can talk it through.

No. A to Be Partners follows the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Code of Ethical Standards, which prohibits percentage-based compensation.

It depends. Fees can be structured on a per-project basis, an hourly rate, or a monthly retainer. We’ve chosen this flexible approach so we can design a plan that fits your budget and your goals. We are proud of the return we offer on your investment.

Our goal is to empower every member of your group to tell your organization’s story in a way that inspires others (ahem, funders) to love it just as much as they do. Hiring A to Be Partners is like hiring a great fund development team without the hiring process or overhead. We bring the whole package, backed by an experienced and knowledgeable team that can navigate every step of the fundraising journey — and empower you to do the same. 

We recognize that nonprofits working for community justice—particularly those led by and serving BIPOC communities—have been doing transformative work for generations, often with fewer resources and against systemic barriers. The nonprofit sector itself reflects these inequities and often perpetuates capacity gaps that disproportionately affect organizations led by marginalized communities.

We approach client partnerships with humility, recognizing that you and your communities are the experts on your own needs and vision. Our role is to support and amplify your work, not to impose frameworks or require performance of equity work for funders' checklists or our comfort.

In our partnerships, we commit to:

Meeting you where you are: Every organization's relationship to equity work is shaped by unique community context, history, and mission. We follow your lead on what words like equity, inclusion, justice, belonging, and liberation mean in your specific context.

Centering your leadership and community wisdom: We help you articulate your vision powerfully to funders and stakeholders—without diluting your message or forcing dominant-culture framing. This includes:

• Articulating why equity is integral to your work (not an "add-on")

• Communicating impact in ways that honor community voices and complexity

• Staying accountable to the communities at the center of your mission

• Navigating funder expectations while maintaining your integrity

Public grants can be an important source of revenue for experienced organizations. Generally speaking, these grants require more time to prepare, take longer to be awarded, and have more labor-intensive compliance requirements. If this type of funding fits your situation, we would be happy to explore the details with you.

AI can be useful for brainstorming and drafting—but it can't replace the strategic partnership and expertise that leads to competitive, funded proposals.

What AI can't do (but we can):

• Understand your unique story: AI generates generic content based on patterns. It can't capture the lived experience of your community, the relationships you've built, or the authentic voice that makes your organization credible to funders.

• Navigate funder relationships and priorities: Successful grant writing requires understanding what funders actually care about (often different from what they say publicly), how review processes work, and what makes proposals stand out in competitive pools. AI has no insight into these dynamics.

• Ensure accuracy: AI regularly generates factual errors, outdated information, and confident-sounding fiction ("hallucinations"). Without meaningful review, these mistakes undermine your credibility.

• Ask the right questions: Strong proposals emerge from deep, ongoing conversations about impact, challenges, and community needs. AI can't interview your team or help you articulate what you haven't yet put into words.

We focus on strategy and process, rather than specific issue areas. Over the years, we have raised millions of dollars for a range of clients and causes –– affordable housing, arts and culture, school success, food insecurity, environmental justice, social enterprise, creative placemaking, racial justice, health and human services, women's empowerment, animal rights, and many others.

We are headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and our consultants are mostly located on the West Coast — but we work with organizations across the country and around the world.

Don't see your question here? Fill out our contact form and we'll see if we can help, or try to refer you to someone who can.