A 7-Minute Go/No-Go Check

Not every funding opportunity deserves a full pursuit. This seven-minute check is a working first-pass heuristic, not a benchmark, eligibility determination, or substitute for reading the complete solicitation. Its purpose is to surface obvious fit, capacity, and compliance questions before substantial effort begins.

A Sample Seven-Minute Pass

Use the time boxes as prompts rather than precision. Record Go, No-Go, or Unresolved for each criterion and link to the source that supports the answer.

1. Funder Alignment (2 minutes)

• Does the funder’s mission align with your work?
• Are their stated priorities a match for your programs?
• Have they funded similar organizations or projects?

Go if: Current primary-source evidence shows a direct match between the stated priorities and the proposed work.

2. Eligibility (1 minute)

• Do you meet all stated eligibility requirements?
• Are there geographic, organizational, or programmatic restrictions?
• Is your organization type eligible?

Go if: Every mandatory eligibility requirement reviewed so far is met. A hard eligibility failure is a no-go regardless of the total score; an unresolved requirement must be investigated before pursuit.

3. Capacity & Timeline (2 minutes)

• Can you realistically meet the deadline?
• Do you have the internal capacity to gather materials and provide inputs?
• Is the timeline compatible with your other priorities?

Go if: A named owner confirms sufficient time, inputs, review capacity, and decision authority.

4. Request Amount & Match (1 minute)

• Is the request amount appropriate for your organization size?
• Can you meet any match requirements (cash or in-kind)?
• Is the funding level worth the effort?

Go if: The request, match, delivery cost, payment timing, and pursuit effort are feasible for the organization.

5. Competition & Reason to Pursue (1 minute)

• What is known—and not known—about likely competition?
• What relevant evidence, relationship, experience, or local position supports a credible pursuit?
• Can the team state why this opportunity merits effort without inventing a probability?

Go if: There is an evidence-based reason to compete and the expected value justifies the effort and risk. If the evidence is missing, mark it unresolved rather than assigning a precise percentage.

Working Triage Rule

• Advance to full qualification: 4–5 Go ratings, no mandatory No-Go, and no critical unresolved question.
• Hold: 3 Go ratings or a critical unresolved question. Assign an owner, source, and decision date.
• No-Go: 0–2 Go ratings or any confirmed hard eligibility failure.

This rule is intentionally conservative. Teams may change the threshold after they have documented pursuit effort, decisions, outcomes, and the reasons opportunities were won or lost.

Why Use It

A short, recorded pause makes hidden assumptions visible and gives the team a reasoned basis to advance, investigate, or stop. Full qualification should still cover the controlling requirements, buyer, budget or procurement path, timing, scope, capacity, margin, data, partners, and next action.

The matching working rubric is available in Resources.