Don't Let Grants Stress You Out
Every time I teach an intro to grant writing workshop someone wants to know the secret to writing successful grant proposals. How I wish there was a simple guide, something like “8 Steps to Getting the Grant”, but this profession of ours is complicated and nuanced. Sometimes it’s about relationship building. (Actually, that’s often the case.) It is about the data, the storytelling, the budget,…
Are you sitting down? What I have to say in this post may be profoundly shocking for many of you. I really love going to the dentist. It’s true. I’ve been going to the same dental practice since I was 15. And it’s also true that I grew up privileged with parents able to afford regular dental care and braces for me. I…
Who remembers When a Stranger Calls, the horror film from 1979? Maybe the 2006 remake? It features a teenage girl babysitting for a family. She continually gets these creepy phone calls from someone asking, “Have you checked the children lately?” Spoiler alert: when she finally calls the police, they tell her the calls are coming from inside the house. And that’s when I lost my…
Personality typing and standardized testing leaves me cold. Humans are incredibly complex, messy, and often wonderful beings. That very complexity makes me resist the idea that neat little labels can define us—more likely, they will confine us, if we let them. I have been Myers Brigged, Neo’ed , Minnesota Multi-phased, and spent way too much time talking about “Who Moved My Cheese” in the early…
Storytelling is more than just a great way to connect donors and funders to your nonprofit’s mission; it’s something deeply human to share through story. Storytelling is a great way to help people understand what the issues are and how your organization will be addressing them. But only if you are willing to listen and listen deeply. In April, The Communications Network, an association of…
I am a proud army brat. My dad served our country for 24 years, and wherever the military sent him, my family followed right alongside him. Uprooting our entire lives, leaving behind homes, friends, and schools, we learned to start over. Again. And again. I quickly learned that I could be a recluse (and therefore miserable, because I’m an extrovert) or jump in and make…
When it comes down to it, our job as fundraisers, marketers, and grant professionals is to share the stories of our organization, the people we assist, and the communities we serve. Donors and funders read our grant proposals, emails, newsletters, websites, annual reports, letters, and other marketing materials. Based on our words, they decide whether to fund us or not. In episode 4 of this…
We’re all just walking each other home— Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmi) For most nonprofit and local government workers, there’s a “normal” stress level. Raising funds against growing needs, and often decreasing sources of revenues. Then comes family life–young children, older parents, loneliness, or too much togetherness. Now we all share additional layers of stress from the COVID-19 pandemic, the growing recession, the…
Some people are drawn to true crime shows and podcasts. Others find solace in Animal Crossing or Candy Crush. Believe me, I am not judging. I self-medicate by watching reruns of the Great British Baking Show, and PBS’s Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries. There’s something else that always catches my attention and that of my Fundraising HayDay co-host Amanda Day. Stories of grant fraud. …
A Lesson for Nonprofits: The Rise and Fall of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos If you have listened to enough episodes of the Fundraising HayDay podcast, you’ll know my cohost Kimberly and I are fascinated by grant fraud. Don’t get me wrong. We hate that it ever happens. It is more like we are floored by the things that individuals and organizations try to get…