I think it’s common for funding opportunities “just below the bar” to have capped upside potential, in the sense of the funders thinking that the grants are highly unlikely to generate very high impact. At least, that’s my experience with grantmaking. The things I felt unsure about tended to always be of the sort “maybe this is somewhat impactful, but I can’t imagine it being a giant mistake not to fund it.” By contrast, saving money gives you some chance of having an outsized impact later on, in case you end up desperately needing it for a new, large opportunity.
I think it’s common for funding opportunities “just below the bar” to have capped upside potential, in the sense of the funders thinking that the grants are highly unlikely to generate very high impact. At least, that’s my experience with grantmaking. The things I felt unsure about tended to always be of the sort “maybe this is somewhat impactful, but I can’t imagine it being a giant mistake not to fund it.” By contrast, saving money gives you some chance of having an outsized impact later on, in case you end up desperately needing it for a new, large opportunity.