Funder relationships: program officers, stewardship, and site visits

People sometimes talk about funder relationships as if they were a secret handshake. They are not. A program officer is a professional with a job: find good organizations doing work the foundation cares about, recommend grants, and help those grants succeed. Your job is to make that easier.

This guide covers how to approach program officers, what to say, how to stay in touch between grants, how to handle site visits, and how to deliver bad news. It assumes you have already found funders who fit your work. If you have not, start with grant prospecting.

What program officers actually do

Program officer roles vary by foundation size, but most involve some combination of:

• Reviewing inquiries and proposals and recommending which to fund
• Writing up recommendations for the foundation's board or grants committee
• Monitoring active grants and reading reports
• Keeping current on the field and the community the foundation serves
• Advising the foundation on strategy

In a small family foundation, "program officer" may be a trustee or a part-time administrator. In a large foundation, a program officer may manage a large portfolio. In both cases, their time is limited. That shapes everything below.

Before you make contact: do your homework

Never call a program officer to ask a question that the funder's website, guidelines, annual report, or tax return already answers. Before reaching out:

1. Read the funder's guidelines, priorities, and eligibility rules carefully.
2. Review recent grants lists and annual reports to see what and whom they fund.
3. For private foundations, look at the Form 990-PF to see grant sizes and recipients. Our guide to researching funders through 990s shows you how.
4. Check the funder's contact policy. Some invite questions; others say they accept no unsolicited contact. Respect that.
5. Identify any existing connections, such as board members, partners, or past grantees, who could make a warm introduction.

The first contact

If contact is welcome, email is usually the best first step. Keep it short, specific, and easy to say yes to.

On the call

Prepare three to five questions, and spend more time listening than talking. Good questions include:

• "Based on what I've described, does this fit your current priorities?"
• "What distinguishes the proposals you fund in this area?"
• "What request size would be realistic for an organization our size, for a first grant?"
• "Is this the right cycle, or would a later one be better?"
• "Is there anything about our approach you'd want to see addressed in a proposal?"

Take notes. Do not argue if the answer is "not a fit." That answer saves you weeks, and how you respond will be remembered.

Federal program contacts

For federal grants, the notice of funding opportunity usually names an agency contact for program and technical questions. Federal staff can answer questions about the notice, but they generally cannot give one applicant an advantage. Many agencies hold informational webinars and publish FAQs instead. Use them, and read the NOFO guide before you ask.

Stewardship: staying in touch between grants

Stewardship is everything you do after an award to show the funder that its investment was well placed. It is also how first grants become multi-year relationships.

Keep touches useful. A program officer does not need every newsletter you send to individual donors. Think about what helps them understand your work and do their job.

Site visits

A site visit is a chance to show your work, not to perform. Program officers usually want to see three things: the program in action, leadership that understands its numbers, and the capacity to deliver what you proposed.

Before the visit

1. Ask what the program officer hopes to see and whom they want to meet.
2. Confirm the time, length, location, parking, and accessibility.
3. Plan a simple agenda: welcome, a short program observation, conversation, and a closing.
4. Brief everyone who will participate, including front-line staff, on the proposal's key points.
5. Prepare your budget, recent financials, and any data the proposal cited, so you can answer questions.
6. If participants will be present, make sure they know about the visit and are comfortable with it.

During the visit

• The executive director and the program lead should both attend.
• Let the program speak for itself. Avoid long slide presentations.
• Answer financial questions directly. If you do not know, say so and follow up.
• Be candid about challenges. A program officer who sees only polish will wonder what you are not saying.

After the visit

Send a thank-you within a day or two. Include anything you promised to follow up on, and keep it brief.

Delivering bad news

Programs change. Staff leave. Partners fall through. Funders understand this. What damages relationships is surprise.

1. Tell them early. As soon as you know a significant change is likely, contact the program officer.
2. Be specific. Say what changed, how it affects the grant, and what you propose.
3. Ask, do not assume. If you need to shift budget lines, change the timeline, or change scope, ask what the funder requires. For federal awards, many changes, such as a change in scope or named key personnel, require prior written approval under 2 CFR 200.308.
4. Follow up in writing. Confirm any agreement by email and keep it in the grant file.

When a funder says no

A decline is not the end of a relationship. Handle it well and it can become the start of one.

• Thank the funder for considering your proposal.
• If the funder offers feedback, ask for a short conversation. Do not argue with the decision.
• Ask whether and when you may reapply.
• Record what you learned on your calendar and prospect list.

Our guide to why proposals get rejected explains how reviewers think and how to use feedback.

The trust-based shift

A growing number of funders describe their approach as "trust-based." The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project lists six practices: give multi-year, unrestricted funding; do the homework; simplify and streamline paperwork; be transparent and responsive; solicit and act on feedback; and offer support beyond the check.

If a funder works this way, take it at its word. Answer feedback surveys honestly, use the lighter reporting options, and tell them what kind of support would help. Trust-based funders still expect candor and follow-through. They have simply moved more of the burden of the relationship onto themselves.

How relationships differ by funder type

The basics hold everywhere, but the shape of the relationship changes with the kind of funder. Adjust your approach accordingly. Our guide to foundation types explains the structures behind these differences.

When staff change on either side

Program officers move on, and so do your development staff. Both transitions put relationships at risk.

• When your program officer leaves, send a brief, warm note thanking them. Ask who will manage your grant, then introduce yourself to the new person with a short summary of your grant and a meeting request.
• When your own staff changes, tell active funders who their new contact is. Have the outgoing staff member hand off notes on each relationship: last contact, open questions, report dates, and any commitments made.

Relationship mistakes to avoid

• Treating every contact as an ask. Updates without a request build trust.
• Going around the program officer. Lobbying foundation board members directly, without the program officer's knowledge, can backfire badly.
• Overpromising to win the grant. Ambitious targets you cannot hit become a reporting problem.
• Letting one person own the relationship. Introduce the program officer to at least two people at your organization.
• Forgetting the paperwork. Late or sloppy reports undercut every lunch and phone call.

Strong funder relationships come down to being the kind of grantee a program officer is glad to recommend again. Clear proposals, accurate budgets, on-time reports, and honest communication do more than any networking strategy.