Don't Let Grants Stress You Out
The Roman deity Janus had two faces. One looked toward the past and the other the future. As the god of beginnings and endings, he focused on both the past and the future. Grant writers understand this duality. Our grants balance the power of words to evoke and reassure with their ability to excite and envision. We write in the voices of our…
Do you want to write twice as many grants in half the time? It sounds like a gimmick, I agree. Yet, there is real truth in the title of the book, “Scrum: Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time.” As an Agile framework, Scrum is a wonderful approach for grant writing teams to utilize as a means to increase the efficiency…
Are you feeling bored with your grant proposals? Are you getting tired of doing the same thing over and over again? If you are feeling bored, there is a good chance your grant reviewers are also bored reading through your grant proposal. Why not add some creativity to your grant proposals? Spice up your grant proposals with these creative ideas. Get out of…
I have been conducting quite a bit of funder research lately, which has given me an opportunity to further develop my foundation research strategies. I’d like to share some lessons learned from digging deep into the Foundation Directory Online (FDO): Be aware of how the list of grants in the grantmaker’s profile is created. The grants listed in a grantmaker’s profile usually…
Sometimes when you are writing a grant for a rural organization it can feel a bit like David and Goliath. Urban communities have more research done on them, more data to back up the challenges a community faces and more organizations to collaborate with. Organizations working in rural communities (I’m preaching to the choir if you are still reading this blog) can feel isolated and…
Certain times of year, grant professionals are stretched especially thin. Deadlines stack up, rejections arrive, and the sheer volume of the work can leave even the most dedicated person feeling burned out, underappreciated, or uncertain about whether it is all worth it. The answer, of course, is that it absolutely is. As explored in Are You Wearing the Burnout Badge? and Prioritizing Wellness: How Our…
If one was to ask my daughter to describe her best friend, here is what she would say. She loves to be pushed on the swing. She’s good at painting. She gives really great hugs. What she wouldn’t say is that her best friend is “special needs.” She would say, however, that she is her most special friend in the whole wide world. The…
“Community is being close to the people around you. To me, community isn’t a place, it’s a feeling,” Rebecca Leonard 13-year-old Rebecca Leonard submitted an essay for the Northern New York Community Foundation Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge where she highlighted the Watertown Urban Mission and its many services including their food program. Her description of community was compelling to the review committee, so…
Resources for Writing a Good Demographic Statement or Why Grant Writers Deserve their own type of Sherlock Holmes Hats One of the most satisfying part of my job as a grant writer is when I’m listening to a client or colleague and they have a compelling request, “Can we find money to increase staffing for a homeless shelter” or “Can we find funding to…
It is award season for the entertainment industry – Golden Globes, The Grammy’s, The Oscars, NFL Honors, etc. It is time to celebrate the individual and team accomplishments of the last year. It is also time to celebrate the individual and team accomplishments in the grants world. The fifth annual International Grant Professionals Day (IGPD) is Friday, March 8, 2019. IGPD is a day…