What Program Officers Really Want (and Won’t Tell You)
Reading Between the Guidelines: Insider Tips for Winning Foundation Support
Hi there. We need to talk about building relationships with private foundation program officers. Earlier in my career, I thought the job of grant writing was primarily crafting elegant prose.
I poured enormous energy into anticipating exactly what language would make a funder open their checkbook. But after some time in the trenches, and honestly, a few invaluable training courses, I learned the reality is simpler, yet far more demanding: they just want to trust you.
Program officers want the quiet confidence of knowing your organization will execute its plan. They want the assurance that if things go wrong mid-grant, you’ll pick up the phone instead of hiding behind a slick final report. Your budget, your narrative, your meticulously mapped logic model? They all exist for one singular purpose: to lay out your case and prove you can be trusted.
Nature is beautiful © Tonya Hennessey
They Read Faster Than You Think
Most program officers manage between 50 and 200 applications per grant cycle, or docket. According to Candid’s research on funder practices, the average first read of a full proposal takes less than 15 minutes.
Your executive summary and needs statement get the most attention; middle sections are often skimmed unless the opening earns deeper engagement.
This isn’t a reason to cut corners on methods or evaluation—it’s a reason to make absolutely certain your first two pages are doing their full job.
They Want to Say Yes
Program officers aren’t adversaries looking for reasons to decline your proposal. They chose this work because they believe philanthropy creates change.
When they pick up your application, they are hoping—genuinely—that it’s the one that makes their decision easy.
Your job is to make it easy: clear problem, credible solution, realistic budget, honest account of your track record.
Don’t make them hunt for basic information or bury your ask in hedged language.
The Pre-Application Conversation
When a foundation makes pre-submission conversations available, take them. A brief, focused call before an LOI serves multiple purposes: it signals you’ve done your homework, gives you intelligence about current priorities, and begins a relationship.
A program officer who remembers a good conversation often brings more generosity to their reading of your proposal.
What do you ask? Ask something specific about the foundation’s current strategic priorities, whether your project type is a fit for this cycle, and whether there’s anything in the guidelines that needs particular attention.
What not to ask: anything that’s already answered on the foundation’s website, or anything that puts your program officer in an awkward position. These relationships can last decades, so value them.
They Notice When You Know Their Work
Program officers read enough proposals to develop a sharp radar for organizations that have genuinely engaged with a foundation’s priorities versus those recycling a proposal written for someone else.
The difference is usually visible in the first paragraph.
Before you write a word, read the foundation’s website, their most recent annual report, their strategic plan if public, and recent grant announcements in your issue area.
Then, personalize and write to that funder specifically—don’t address your email or LOI to a generic foundation.
Honesty Is a Competitive Advantage
This fact surprises many people: program officers respond better to honest acknowledgment of limitations than to polished overconfidence.
An organization that says “this is a pilot; we expect to learn and adjust” reads as more credible than one promising guaranteed outcomes on new campaigns.
Your relationship with a program officer is the longest game in fundraising. Proposals come and go. Relationships built honestly over years are what produce the sustained funding that makes transformational work possible.
Coming this Thursday in Premium: the program officer conversation itself—scripts, etiquette, what to ask, what to avoid, and how to read the room when a meeting isn’t going the way you hoped.
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