Grant Writer’s Blog

How to Feel More Confident When Reviewing RFPs

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RFP

Reviewing funder guidelines, especially large government guidelines, comes with a fair amount of pressure not to miss a key detail or misinterpret an organization’s eligibility, alignment, and overall competitiveness with the opportunity. There is the pressure to not miss out on a funding opportunity, but also the counter pressure to ensure that it is an appropriate opportunity for you to commit your resources, as well…

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Need Is Not Enough To Win Grants

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Need Is Not Enough To Win Grants

I’m a sucker for a quiz. From dubious quizzes about your soul mate in 1980s women’s magazines to Buzzfeed’s endless supply of “decorate your dream house, and we’ll guess your eye color,” I’m always game to give it a go and rarely seem to match up with what should be the correct answer. It’s all in fun.    But some more serious-minded tests and assessments…

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The Nonprofit World is Messy, and So Are We

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The Nonprofit World is Messy, and So Are We

Y’all. Have you ever met someone, and loved what they were sharing so much, that you could just sit back and listen to their stories for hours? That is exactly how I felt when Julie Boll joined the Fundraising HayDay podcast. I knew I would love the conversation the second I learned she attended Dr. Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead training, but I didn’t know…

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Trust-Based Philanthropy: Both Sides Need to Do Their Part

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philanthropy

Funders and nonprofits – two sides to a very important coin. Sure, nonprofits would not last long without the resources provided by individual donors, foundations, corporations, and (in some cases) government agencies. But without nonprofits, the work provided for our citizenry, environment, and animals would not happen at all, or at the very least, at the scale it is. Nonprofits do so much above and…

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All the Data for All Your Grants

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All the Data for All Your Grants

We have all been there. It’s time to draft a problem statement, and as grant professionals we know data is a necessary element to prove the need for our community. So where do you start? If you did not immediately think “the U.S. Census Bureau”, let me encourage you to always leap to that conclusion.   And why wouldn’t you? The mission of the U.S….

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4 Tips for Leveraging Data in Your Grant Report

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4 Tips for Leveraging Data in Your Grant Report

Note from Diane: Grant reporting is a key part of the grant life cycle if you want to build and maintain strong grantmaker relationships. You’ve seen our team share information from MyFedTrainer.com, podcasts on the topic from Fundraising HayDay, and our own team talk about and present on “How to Make Reporting to Your Funder a Snap,” so we’re excited to bring you this guest…

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Improve Your Grant Success with the Help of Elected Officials

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Improve Your Grant Success with the Help of Elected Officials

For the first 15 years of my career, I served as the lone grants administrator for two municipalities in the Metro Atlanta area. I quickly learned about the power of relationships, particularly when building programs and developing grant proposals. For more details about local government grant seeking, check out this blog post.   Most grant professionals, no matter their sector, understand the importance of building…

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How to Create Agile Leadership at Your Nonprofit

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The Nonprofit MBA Podcast PRESS RELEASE March 1, 2023   How to Create Agile Leadership at Your Nonprofit, Featuring Diane Leonard on The Nonprofit MBA Podcast Nonprofit organizations are increasingly adopting agile Leadership to achieve their mission and goals. Agile leadership in nonprofit organizations involves creating a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration, and accountability. It empowers teams to self-organize and make decisions that align with…

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3 Ways to Celebrate Being a Grant Professional

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celebrate

One of the things I love about the grant profession so much is the diversity of backgrounds that bring people to the field of writing grants. If you talk to five different grant writers/grant professionals, you will hear five different stories of the paths that brought them to the work they do today. It isn’t as clear as an undergraduate major that is the “usual”…

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The Power of Relationships for the Lonely Grant Writer

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The Power of Relationships for the Lonely Grant Writer

If you listen to the Fundraising HayDay podcast or know me some other way, you will quickly learn that I am an EXTRA extrovert. People are my passion, my jam, my lifeblood. As far as I am concerned, friends and quality relationships make the world go round. Trust me, if we know each other, we are probably friends. If we aren’t yet, just give it…

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