Today, I want to challenge a belief that many nonprofit leaders have been taught to accept as fact:

The better the program, the easier it will be to get grants, donors, and funding.

It sounds logical.

If the program is effective, impactful, and serving people well, funding should naturally follow.

But after nearly 40 years in the nonprofit space, I can tell you that funding decisions are rarely based on the program alone.

I've seen organizations with incredible programs struggle to secure funding.

And I've seen organizations with average programs receive significant support because they had something else in place.