In Day 26 of the challenge, we talked about looking at your grant financial reporting policies. Today’s challenge targets one piece of the Day 26 challenge as there is nothing worse for a relationship with a grantmaker and funding partner than not spending the funds as requested and not knowing it and/or discussing it with the grantmaker prior to submitting a report. There were countless…

Read More

Read More

Does your organization currently have grants that need to be billed monthly or quarterly in order for the granting organization to release the grant funds? All grants require careful documentation. Reimbursable grants based on units provided or actual expenses put additional upfront pressure on documentation as your organization will be doing funded work without cash. The need to report accurately and promptly is critical to…

Read More

Read More

Welcome to Day 25 of the 30-Day Grant Readiness Challenge! You’ve won the grant! After the high fives and the celebratory lunch, the most critical phase of the cycle is next: Post-award grant management.   How your organization handles an award—especially a partial one—sets the tone for your future relationship with that funder. Today’s challenge is to review (or create) your grant acceptance policies.  …

Read More

Read More

Welcome to Day 24 of the 30-Day Grant Readiness Challenge! You have successfully completed the fourth week of our journey! This week was all about the technical rigor of proposal writing—from acronym audits to mock reviews.   Today is a Rest Day: Time to Relax, Reflect, and Recharge.   Why Strategic Rest Is Part of Grant Readiness In the nonprofit world, we often wear our…

Read More

Read More

Welcome to Day 23 of the 30-Day Grant Readiness Challenge!   Yesterday, we focused on collaborative editing. Today, we take that process a step further with the Grant Mock Review.   If you are applying for a large government grant or a foundation that utilizes a strict scoring rubric, a mock review is exactly what you need. It allows you to see your proposal through…

Read More

Read More

Welcome to Day 22 of the 30-Day Grant Readiness Challenge!   Does the thought of “red pencil” markups on your draft make you cringe? Many grant writers are reticent to share their work because they view editing as a critique rather than a collaboration. However, collaborative editing is the best way to stop “tunnel vision” and ensure that your proposal is airtight. Today, you will…

Read More

Read More

Welcome to Day 21 of the 30-Day Grant Readiness Challenge! Does a blank document fill you with dread? When faced with a major application, the temptation is often to copy and paste from your last submission. But the secret to winning more funding is customization. Today, we are sharing a three-stage workflow to help you overcome grant writer’s block and pivot that blank page into…

Read More

Read More

Welcome to Day 20 of the 30-Day Grant Readiness Challenge! Picture this common scenario: The Program Director writes the narrative, the Finance Director builds the budget, and the Grant Writer pulls it all together at the last minute. But when the reviewer opens the file, do the numbers in the budget match the staff mentioned in the narrative?   A confused reviewer generally leads to…

Read More

Read More

Welcome to Day 19 of the 30-Day Grant Readiness Challenge! We spent last week building funder relationships. Now, we pivot back to the technical side of the work: The Writing. As a federal grant reviewer, I can tell you that the overuse of acronyms is a fast way to lower your score. Imagine a reviewer reading a stack of 20 grants at 3:00 a.m. If…

Read More

Read More

Welcome to Day 18 of the 30-Day Grant Readiness Challenge! You have officially completed three weeks of the challenge! We have covered everything from grant tools and research frequency to the nuances of funder relationships and board engagement.   Today Is a Rest Day: Time to Relax, Reflect, and Recharge.   The Power of a Sustainable Pace In the Agile world, we talk about a…

Read More

Read More