Don't Let Grants Stress You Out
Every established nonprofit was once a fledgling organization, founded by an eager individual with a 501c3 determination letter in hand and a passion to serve their community or change the world. Does this sound like you? First, thank you – we are grateful to people who are willing to roll up their sleeves to tackle problems, and who create and innovate to improve quality of…
Is there a grant for this? Isn’t there a grant for that? I’m *SURE* there are grants for this! Let’s get a grant to pay for this! Sound familiar? As we have been talking about the different elements capacity related to grant professionals and grant seeking strategies the past few posts (check them out here if you missed any!), these frequent questions we are asked…
Note from Diane: As we continue with our capacity theme, today’s post from Bethany is perfect! There are many times that we as grant professionals ask ourselves how to juggle or how to make sure limits are in place for juggling multiple grant deadlines. More often than not I am balancing more than one grant application deadline at a time with each client and between…
Whether you are an employee or a consultant, you likely feel like you are balancing your personal and professional commitments on a daily basis. Then summer rolls around, and the balancing act for your capacity professionally and the desire for some sun-filled self-care and unplugged time often comes to a head. How many of you have scheduled your vacation around a large grant maker’s deadline that…
One of the most common questions asked by those new to the field of grant writing is: “How many grant proposals can one grant professional write in a year?” It is a reasonable question, and also a genuinely complex one. The short answer is: it depends. But what does it depend on? Quite a lot, actually. Note: If you are a freelance grant consultant…
Note from Diane: We often get asked, how many grants can one grant professional write in a year? Or how do you best balance multiple deadlines? We are beginning a short series looking at grant professional capacity both from the consultant and employee point of view. Have a specific capacity question you want addressed? Drop me an email (diane@dhleonardconsulting.com) and we’ll do our best to…
Grant writing is not a creative writing exercise. Writing grant applications is like writing research papers for a college class. Each professor has their own set of instructions and requirements. If the student does not follow those instructions and requirements, the paper is marked down. Same is true for grantmakers. They each have their own set of instructions and requirements for their grant application. Some…
School is coming to a close in Northern New York, so children are getting excited for summer vacation (even those that like my two daughters love school, because really, who doesn’t love summer vacation?!). When you are in elementary school, your teachers often recognize the learning styles of their students and they support those individual learning styles as best they can. Yet, we as individuals aren’t…
As Mother’s Day was approaching and I paused this past week to prepare with my two daughters for what they wanted to send my mom, Grandma Elaine, I reflected on the countless lessons she has taught me. In addition to all the years of patient advice and guidance related to growing up, raising daughters, and never settling when striving for my personal goals, she also…
In Diversify Your Nonprofit’s Revenue back in April, I laid out why your nonprofit should have diverse forms of revenue. Diversifying your nonprofit’s revenue will make your organization more sustainable and ultimately more competitive for grant funding. Now, let’s talk about diversifying your program’s revenue specifically. When reviewing your grant application, grant makers will ask, “Is the project/program solely dependent on grant funding and specifically…