Grant Writer’s Blog

Top Tricks for Grant Writing With Character Counts

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Grant applications with character counts instead of word counts or page limits now dominate online proposals, particularly for private and corporate foundations. Online applications eliminate white-knuckling trips to the post office, emergency toner runs, and save trees formerly sacrificed to multiple hard copies of 990s and audited financials. (Ask me how I know…) Proposals measured in character counts may speed the read for grant reviewers,…

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4 Tips to Maintaining Relationships With Grantmakers

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relationships with grantmakers

Note from Diane: You may not know that we’ve worked with Bloomerang for numerous years through both the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference which they are the sponsor of, through one-hour educational webinars I present to their audience, and also through scholarships they have provided to BIPOC nonprofit professionals to attend our Scrum Basics for Nonprofits course. That’s why I was thrilled to have them offer a…

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Winning Grants and Beyond: The Power of Words

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Words

Traveling remains one of the most formative experiences of my life. The privilege of seeing how others live, eat and communicate—experiencing another point of view, another culture has a priceless value. It was worth every second (and third) job and living in a series of microscopic apartments in my 20s to fund plane tickets, gas money, youth hostel stays, and street food. While those days…

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2022 IGPD Key Takeaways

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IGPD Grant Professional

The #LearnGrants Online Summit was designed for 2022 to help grant professionals from a wide range of mission areas come together to celebrate International Grant Professionals Day (IGPD). Yes, I am incredibly biased as part of the organizing sponsors and day-of-production team for the event.  Yet, the six speakers did such a wonderful job sharing tactical information about each element of the grant life cycle…

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Grant Management 101: 10 Steps to Getting It Done Right

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Grant Management

They lie. They steal. They cheat. Search the internet and you’ll find stories abound of individuals employed by universities, local governments, and nonprofits using grant funding for personal gain. What about organizations that break grant regulations but do it “for the right reasons?” You know, they want to do what is best for the people they serve. Or they want to make it as easy…

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7 of Our Favorite Grant Resources

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Grant Resources

Raindrops on roses,  And whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, Brown paper packages tied up with strings, These are a few of my favorite things….   Ok maybe we’re not in the Sound of Music, but if you joined us for our #Sweet16 celebration week, you’ll know that our team shared a few of our favorite GRANT things.  We compiled those…

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Measuring Our True Impact: Five Questions Your Grant Objectives Should Answer

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If you follow the Fundraising HayDay podcast and our social media accounts, you know that I am obsessed with the story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. Mostly, I’m floored by the number of people who didn’t bother to ask more questions, dig deeper, and demand to see some proof. From an impressive Board of Directors to an incredible lineup of donors, Elizabeth did not lack…

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Grant Calendar Versus Grant Strategy

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Grant Calendar A grant calendar, as we’ve talked about on our blog before (ICYMI: What is a Grant Calendar) is at its core, a visual representation of an action plan for the year, whether fiscal or calendar, for applying for and maintaining grants. It should contain all grant deadlines, relationship building efforts, and grant reporting/management work as well.    A grant calendar should be visible/accessible…

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How to Write and Win More Grants with the Rule of Three

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When Aladdin rubbed the magic lamp, a genie granted him three wishes. “Click your heels together three times and say ‘There’s no place like home’” is straight from the iconic movie classic, “The Wizard of Oz.” Kicking back further in time, Ancient Romans were fond enough of the rule of three that they called it “omne trium perfectum,” which could suggest things that come in threes…

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What is a Grant Writer?

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What is a grant writer? Does a grant writer “just” fill out forms all day? Or “just” spend their time writing all day? It is always an interesting conversation when someone has not met, worked with, or interacted with a grant professional before to explain to them what a grant writer or as many of us now prefer as members of the Grant Professionals Association,…

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