Episode 5: Thank You for Your Good Intentions, Philanthropy with Vu Le

There's a conversation about having God, I haven't actually heard somebody say this in a really long time.

But the universal application, is that something you're in favor of? I just one for all.

That's it.

Like, how would you like how would you do it in a different way? Because often we do want to be in partnership with people right on some sort of a level.

How would you do it different?

Well, the universal application has always been problematic because, again, funders still believe that they deserve their own special consideration.

So what happened when people have tried it was that I think there was one group in some state that tried this where they had a universal application.

But then every funder demanded like additional eight

special attachments.

It's created more work.

I think what I would do is everyone just has one grant application package.

That's it.

Every organization has one package.

And we don't tailor it for anyone.

We just send it.

And then if you have any questions, you would just call the organization and ask.

Right.

You figure out how we fit into your theory of change.

Yeah, exactly.

And I think about this one funder who called me up one time and was like, Vu, we really like what you're doing at your organization.

We think that you'd be a good fit.

Can you just find a grant application that you wrote for someone else and just forward the whole thing to us? Don't even worry about changing the name of that other funder.

And I hung up and a single teardrop rolled down my face in the moonlight.

And I was searched through my phone and found this proposal that I spent about 40 hours writing that had like a 10 page narrative, 12 attachments, a bespoke budget, a work plan, a theory of change, a logic model, the blood type of every board member for some reason.

And just for the whole thing.