Making Lemonade: How the Osman Foundation Recovered from "No"
By Rita Lewis
Runners run. Serious runners run farther or faster, perhaps entering a race at some point. Even after dedicated training, they may not win -- but they don't stop running. They continue to train, and one day they enter another race.
Grant competitions are the same. You don't stop "running" your organization because you don't win a grant. Just the process of applying can help you become more focused and creative, which is what happened to the Osman Foundation.
High hopes
The Osman Foundation, a nonprofit that helps K-12 students reach their potential through academic and enrichment programs, has provided educational programs for Chatham County Schools for the past 5 years. In early 2013, a funding opportunity for informal science education caught their eye. The multiyear grant would have helped fund a new Osman program -- Chatham Girls 4 STEM -- to keep middle school girls inspired about science through hands-on activities.
The ratio of applicants to awards was 11 to 1. "It was a pretty competitive pool," says Bill DeLano, program manager. Osman's proposal made it to the final round of consideration before being cut. To get so close to a significant chunk of funding was disappointing but not disabling.
"We allowed ourselves to go through a week of grieving," admits DeLano. "And then we said, 'OK, where's the lemonade in this lemon we've been dealt? How does this affect the work that we want to do?'"
Regrouping
"We went through several stages," says DeLano. "First, we had to reexamine our commitment to the project." With that firmly in place (serious runners keep running), staff chose parts of the program they could deliver with available resources.
"That has actually been a very freeing process," says DeLano. "We looked at how we could scale back plans for this large grant into some pilot programs that can still make a difference. It may even be more manageable than the grant would've required."
Staff went through two rounds of program design changes to reach a broader audience with more compact programs. "We're going to inspire at smaller intervals, smaller sessions," says DeLano. "Instead of a year-long afterschool enrichment program, it will be more of a sample program."
Still in the running
"We're hopeful that we'll submit again for other large grants," says DeLano. "But right now, we don't want to lose another year waiting. We're going to start with something, and we're very proud of that something we're starting with."
Staff has targeted three smaller grants to support portions of programming, and Osman will continue to offer no-cost STEM exposure to students. "Should we develop a more robust program, or we share our template with the schools and they start adopting it, we'll still fulfill our mission," says DeLano.
Silver linings
The process of proposal development provided unanticipated benefits. "GrantProse helped us focus on the impact we want to make. They were helpful for organization, for getting focused in a way that wasn't attached to the outcome of the grant," says DeLano.
"There was incredible thought work in getting such a robust grant written, and we had to look at and say, 'Let's not waste that energy. That focus, that design, that intention, the partnerships . . . all the elements are still of value even if we didn't get the grant.'"
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Annually, more than 700 students and 300 faculty members participate in the Osman Foundation's North Carolina programs, which include Read With Me and the Reach Your Potential outdoor challenge course. For more info, and to contact staff, visit the Osman Foundation's website. | 
