AMAANA CONSULTING
AMAANA CONSULTING
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WHY OUR WORK MATTERS
In Maryland, people of color lead 60% of organizations with revenue less than $25,000. The $2.3M in capital we have helped to raise, and the 1,500+ hours of technical assistance we have delivered, are being leveraged to make transformational investments in BIPOC-led nonprofits and social enterprises in Baltimore and beyond.
We thrive on offering grant research and writing for small businesses and mid-size nonprofits. Let us help you launch, plan, and grow.
Our process consists of six steps!
We’ll meet with you for a preliminary consultation via phone or remote video Discovery Call. In this consultation, we discuss your organization’s goals and needs.
You’ll receive our services brochure to help you select the level of service best suited for your organization. We are also happy to develop a custom proposal for you.
Once we receive your selections, a contract will be shared with you for signature. Upon signing the contract, payment(s) can be remitted electronically from any internet-enabled mobile device.
Next, we’ll share a New Client Onboarding Form and Onboarding Checklist. Your responses to the questionnaire will help us set up your client profile, prepare for our first (kick-off) meeting, and hit the ground running.
After our kick-off call, we’ll work with you to develop or implement your action plan. Our typical hours of operation are Mon-Thu 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with limited exceptions. If you have contracted with us outside of those hours we will share custom scheduling links.
After our service agreement, we’ll share a brief satisfaction survey. Most of our business is generated through referrals so we appreciate your honest feedback regarding your experience working with us.
Let’s have a chat regarding your business, organization, project or program.
We’ll provide written and/or recorded comments and suggestions to make your grant application stand out. Our extensive experience writing capacity building grants for nonprofits will help you secure funding for your next venture. We’ll also help you finalize details and justify budget requests.
*Our professional grant writing services are available on a monthly retainer for organizations that meet certain criteria.
We’ll help you develop a strategy for acquiring funding and cultivating strong relationships with potential funders. Starting with grant research, we’ll identify potential grant-making partners, including foundations, corporations, and government entities.
We’ll do a deep dive to evaluate your organization’s capacity, approach, and preparedness for grant research and writing. Our grants development specialist will compile an 8-10 page summary report with recommendations for immediate, short-term, and long-term success. This service includes two 60 min virtual consultations.
We offer setup support and maintenance of cloud-based grant management software. We’re happy to offer training or technical assistance when it comes to completing post-award reporting and administrative tasks using this system.
We’ll provide written and/or recorded comments and suggestions to make your grant application stand out. Our extensive experience writing capacity building grants for nonprofits will help you secure funding for your next venture. We’ll also help you finalize details and justify budget requests.
*Our professional grant writing services are available on a monthly retainer for organizations that meet certain criteria.
We’ll do a deep dive to evaluate your organization’s capacity, approach, and preparedness for grant research and writing. Our grants development specialist will compile an 8-10 page summary report with recommendations for immediate, short-term, and long-term success. This service includes two 60 min virtual consultations.
We offer setup support and maintenance of cloud-based grant management software. We’re happy to offer training or technical assistance when it comes to completing post-award reporting and administrative tasks using this system.
We’ll help you develop a strategy for acquiring funding and cultivating strong relationships with potential funders. Starting with grant research, we’ll identify potential grant-making partners, including foundations, corporations, and government entities.
We’re here to help coach your organizational members as they transition to leadership and governance roles. We’ll train new leadership to facilitate the execution of your organization’s vision, values, and strategy by building consensus and growing the capabilities of others.
We’ll help you apply innovative processes, to bring positive changes to your organization in various areas:
We thrive on strengthening our clients’ competitive edge to achieve their developmental goals. We’ll facilitate conversations with leadership, team members, and key stakeholders to build consensus and advance skills in various areas:
We can help you develop a multi-year strategic plan that prioritizes your organization’s growth and long-term sustainability while competing for foundation and government funding. We’ll gauge your organization’s operational landscape to determine how to optimize existing workflows, communications practices, and decision-making processes.
(Maryland-based Clients Only)
We’re happy to help new nonprofits avoid common mistakes at the time of formation and position their organization to meet the requirements for federal tax-exemption. This service includes two 60 min consultations, start-up resources, and electronic filing via Maryland Business Express. This service is for yet-to-be formed nonprofit organizations in the state of Maryland only.
We can advise clients on a range of financial services and decisions, such as:
Our signature grant writing and strategic planning offerings equip smaller organizations to compete effectively for foundation and government funding.
The Amaana Method©, our proprietary strategic approach to proposal development, has achieved a consistent success rate of over 60 percent. We thrive on strengthening our clients’ competitive edge to achieve their developmental goals.
Our consulting rates are subject to change and are provided to assist prospective clients in gauging our services. We are happy to develop a custom proposal for you.
The vast majority of our work products include internal assessments and reports that contain sensitive and proprietary information. To be responsive to requests for work products while honoring confidentiality agreements, we may, at our discretion, share redacted materials and/or record a narrated video to provide insight into our services and work products. We are happy to provide contact information for clients and professional references, upon request. Get in touch with us to learn more.
The short answer is yes, and no. Most government, corporate, and foundation grants for nonprofits require that an applicant has been designated as tax-exempt under the IRS codes. This designation gives donors and grantmakers the ability to deduct their contributions to your organization. It also provides a measure of accountability if your organization is required to file tax returns. There are different types of tax-exempt entities, the most common being 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) in our work. You can learn more about exempt organization types HERE. Some, but not all, grantmakers allow the use of a fiscal sponsor to serve as the tax-exempt entity on your behalf. Before you enter into a fiscal sponsorship agreement, be sure you understand your obligations under the contract including limitations on solicitations, payment policies, and reporting requirements. Book a discovery call to learn more.
According to the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors, fiscal sponsorship “generally entails a nonprofit organization (the ‘fiscal sponsor’) agreeing to provide administrative services and oversight to, and assume some or all of the legal and financial responsibility for, the activities of groups or individuals engaged in work that relates to the fiscal sponsor’s mission. Fiscal sponsors are tax-exempt, charitable ventures that, according to a recent IRS report ‘have the ability to receive charitable contributions for specific projects, the infrastructure to ensure compliance with applicable federal and state laws and adequate internal controls to ensure that the funds will be used for the intended charitable purposes.'” Many donors and grantmakers require recipients of charitable contributions to be tax-exempt under federal law. If your organization has not yet received federal tax exemption status, or you do not wish to pursue federal tax exemption for your program or projects, fiscal sponsorship may be an option for you. We can help you assess your options with a consultation.
No, our fees are based on the value of the services we provide. It is also against the code of ethics from the Association of Fundraising Professionals for development professionals to accept compensation based on a percentage of grant awards. You can read more about AFP’s Code of Ethics here or learn more during a discovery call.
FTE refers to full-time equivalency, which is a measure of hours worked in relation to a full-time standard, in a given period. It is not a headcount of your staff. If your organization or business received a PPP (Payroll Protection Program) Loan, FTE calculations were required to establish eligibility for loan forgiveness under the CARES Act. We can develop custom spreadsheets to help you calculate FTEs for your personnel. Get in touch with us here.
This is a very common question. As of the time of writing, the IRS does not make copies of 990-N form available on its website. The only documentation provided is acceptance of your submission. For more information on what documentation is available on the IRS website, take a look at our FAQ Series Video on 990 Documentation or book a discovery call.
The vast majority of our work products include internal assessments and reports that contain sensitive and proprietary information. To be responsive to requests for work products while honoring confidentiality agreements, we may, at our discretion, share redacted materials and/or record a narrated video to provide insight into our services and work products. We are happy to provide contact information for clients and professional references, upon request. Get in touch with us to learn more.
The short answer is yes, and no. Most government, corporate, and foundation grants for nonprofits require that an applicant has been designated as tax-exempt under the IRS codes. This designation gives donors and grantmakers the ability to deduct their contributions to your organization. It also provides a measure of accountability if your organization is required to file tax returns. There are different types of tax-exempt entities, the most common being 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) in our work. You can learn more about exempt organization types HERE. Some, but not all, grantmakers allow the use of a fiscal sponsor to serve as the tax-exempt entity on your behalf. Before you enter into a fiscal sponsorship agreement, be sure you understand your obligations under the contract including limitations on solicitations, payment policies, and reporting requirements. Book a discovery call to learn more.
According to the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors, fiscal sponsorship “generally entails a nonprofit organization (the ‘fiscal sponsor’) agreeing to provide administrative services and oversight to, and assume some or all of the legal and financial responsibility for, the activities of groups or individuals engaged in work that relates to the fiscal sponsor’s mission. Fiscal sponsors are tax-exempt, charitable ventures that, according to a recent IRS report ‘have the ability to receive charitable contributions for specific projects, the infrastructure to ensure compliance with applicable federal and state laws and adequate internal controls to ensure that the funds will be used for the intended charitable purposes.'” Many donors and grantmakers require recipients of charitable contributions to be tax-exempt under federal law. If your organization has not yet received federal tax exemption status, or you do not wish to pursue federal tax exemption for your program or projects, fiscal sponsorship may be an option for you. We can help you assess your options with a consultation.
No, our fees are based on the value of the services we provide. It is also against the code of ethics from the Association of Fundraising Professionals for development professionals to accept compensation based on a percentage of grant awards. You can read more about AFP’s Code of Ethics here or learn more during a discovery call.
FTE refers to full-time equivalency, which is a measure of hours worked in relation to a full-time standard, in a given period. It is not a headcount of your staff. If your organization or business received a PPP (Payroll Protection Program) Loan, FTE calculations were required to establish eligibility for loan forgiveness under the CARES Act. We can develop custom spreadsheets to help you calculate FTEs for your personnel. Get in touch with us here.
This is a very common question. As of the time of writing, the IRS does not make copies of 990-N form available on its website. The only documentation provided is acceptance of your submission. For more information on what documentation is available on the IRS website, take a look at our FAQ Series Video on 990 Documentation or book a discovery call.
