Don't Let Grants Stress You Out
*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…
Recently at the GPA national conference, I was sitting with a group of friends and one made a pun about the grant profession. We all laughed, and the joke-teller said, “Isn’t it nice to be with people who get puns like this?” Yes, it is. You know you are a grant writer when . . . You drink an enormous amount of coffee You…
I recently had the opportunity to attend a brand launch for Quincy University. A team of highly regarded marketers spent six months researching our University, and interviewed over 100 members of our community, to identify core truths about our University they could use to build an authentic brand. They told us one of the truths they identified in their research is a culture of support…
In January, I challenged you to set a few goals for 2017 that could become healthy habits, professionally or personally or both. For 2017, my professional goals were to expand my own consulting business and continue my professional development. And I did that. This year I attended several webinars, co-presented a webinar, participated in #Grantchat, attended GPA Kentucky Chapter events, and attended and lead a…
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward Isn’t that the truth?? This quote hits me very hard and reminds me that cultivating funder relationships is the essential ingredient for successful grant programs. As a grantor and a grantee, we share the same objective of creating, implementing, and managing a project that…
Note from Diane: We hope you are enjoying our series about being #Grateful for #Grants as much as we are enjoying writing the pieces for you! Have you missed one of the earlier posts? Check out Defining Grantitude by Amy Bonn and How Does Your Nonprofit Score on Grantitude? and Bethany Turner, GPC. Let’s talk about gratitude. Every non-profit has that form letter, the one that…
As we are in the month of Thanksgiving, it is a great time to focus on grantitude and how we can incorporate it into our nonprofits. I think we probably can all agree that we need to have grantitude, but we don’t always know how to implement it. So, how does your nonprofit score on grantitude (Catch up here if you missed Amy Bonn’s post…