Don't Let Grants Stress You Out
Alas, there was yet another heartbreaking story in the news this past week about a grant writing scam conducted against a number of nonprofits trying to secure grant funding. Stories about grant writing scams crop up around the country occasionally, always with different details, but with the same punch line of disappointed grant seeking organizations already in need of resources, now further behind then when…
*Note from Diane: We are grateful to have another “Grant Funding in Action” story to share with you about the impact that grant funding is making in the lives of our team in their community. Check out some of our earlier Grant Funding in Action stories here to see how #grantswork is making a difference throughout the country. “We tend to think that animals…
Happy early International Grant Professionals Day! What is this professional holiday you ask? The Grant Professionals Association launched #IGPD four years ago and states that “International Grant Professionals Day and Week is the annual celebration to recognize and show appreciation to all grant professionals.” DH Leonard Consulting is pleased to have been a partner for #IGPD each of the four years with some of our fabulous colleagues and businesses…
*This is the fourth in a series of evaluation focused blog posts by our colleague and team member, Amy Bonn of The Finch Network. If you missed the first posts, don’t miss reading What’s In Your Evaluation Toolbox, Gathering Evaluation Data, or Evaluating What Makes Your Organization Special. My mom had a shelf of cookbooks in her kitchen with notations on the pages of favorite family…
* This is the third in our series of posts about evaluation and how you are can be evaluating your success to increase your grant seeking success and reporting on your grant-funded work. If you missed the first posts, don’t miss reading What’s In Your Evaluation Toolbox and Gathering Evaluation Data. One of the great joys of doing evaluation work with nonprofits is having an…
In case you missed the first post in our month of evaluation focused blog posts, you can catch up on What’s in your Evaluation Toolbox. When done well, evaluation data tells the story of your organization. It informs clients and other key stakeholders of your accomplishment, your goals and how you are making meaningful change with your work. I hear a lot of non-profit…
*Note from Diane: When I am presenting webinars or in-person workshops, the resounding answer to the question I always ask “What is the part of the application you are most stressed about or you think could be improved the most?” is always EVALUATION! So in response to that overwhelming response, we are doing a full month of evaluation focused blog posts from colleague Amy Bonn. …
The first grant proposal that I ever wrote was a request for a few thousand dollars to fund the creation of a public mural on the side of a building. Without any work experience in grant writing and eager to write something long and interesting, I filled several pages with a flowing narrative about the importance of public art, complete with big words and citations….
Indeed, we are doing things a bit backward here – it is OUR anniversary, but YOU the grant writer/grant professional that we are honored to call colleagues are going to get the gifts! But first I paused to ask myself, “Where has the time gone?” 12 years ago, I started a business with the idea that my background as a Program Officer and then my…
Grant writing is often assigned to one person who designated to complete the project autonomously. As we talk about on a regular basis, both in blogs and in practice, grant writing is really most productive and successful when done as a team (ICYMI: check out Grant Team of We, Not Me). What comprises a balanced grant team? Here’s my take on who I’d draft for…