Don't Let Grants Stress You Out
Once every two months or so, I travel down a semi-rural highway flanked by pine trees and cow pastures–deep into South Georgia to visit some dear friends and get my introvert on. During the three-hour drive, I pass through the homes and haunts of literary giants. First comes Eatonton, GA, the birthplace of Alice Walker, novelist, short-story writer, poet, essayist, and activist. Her most famous…
It’s the start of the new year, 2020! We thought this would be a great time to throw it back for #throwbackthursday and revisit our top blog posts of 2019. Questions to Help You Think Like a Grant Reviewer “This month I served as a grant reviewer for the first time. I had three foundation applications to review in six weeks (a pretty generous…
One of the most foundational tools in a grant professional’s toolkit is one that many organizations still don’t have in place: a grant calendar. Let’s make sure we start with what a grant calendar is — and is not. What a Grant Calendar Is NOT An entry for each upcoming deadline on your own personal calendar Something set in stone, or a limitation on…
Holiday baking reigns supreme this time of year. Cookies, cakes, pies—it’s hard to escape. I’m not a baker, but I do appreciate the baking artistry of others. And I do escape the hustle and bustle of end of the year reporting and fundraising deadlines through grit, determination, and extreme binging of cooking shows on Netflix and YouTube. The Great British Baking Show surpasses all other…
By the time you read this, you may be knee-deep in holiday shopping madness. And it may not be a Hallmark Movie movement for you or those you love. There’s a lot to consider, right? It can become a strange familial calculus of reasonable costs, dream fulfillment, package delivery roulette, and mall or big box parking space availability. Over the past few years, I’ve honed…
I began what I now see was my first grant seeking for a capital campaign when I was in fifth grade. Instead of bricks and mortar I sought a four-hooved, whinnying kind of large scale investment. And my sole source of funding was the Hays Beleaguered Parents Foundation (HBPF); you could say I had an “in” with the key board members. If you’re not familiar…
“What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.” ~Aristotle I don’t care what your profession, there is probably a membership organization out there just for you. City planner? How about the American Planning Association? Engineers have the National Society of Professional Engineers. If you’re a professional evaluator you may belong to the American Evaluation Association. Then there’s the International…
I moved to Leavenworth, Kansas when I was a 13-year-old army brat, and that’s when I realized the Wizard of Oz was more than a movie played on television each Thanksgiving. It’s a Kansas-resident obsession, and rightly so. This also began my obsession with sparkly shoes. Coincidence, I think not! This beloved classic teaches great lessons about the power of friendship, family, and the power…
First, dear reader—a full and frank confession. I have an unnatural attraction to British period dramas. As in, if the cast of Downton Abbey reunited to read the entire Uniform Guidance documentation, I would be there for every minute of this kind of attraction. To be clear, I have no desire to live in a country pile of stone and damp. And I have…
What would be your recipe to create the perfect grant? How about a list of ingredients that include: a clean, well-lit quiet office free of distractions immediate access to the most comprehensive databases with all the latest data strong Wi-Fi and a reliable laptop a well-defined program fully realized months before the grant deadline current impeccable data describing the needs and assets of the community…