When my Fundraising HayDay cohost, Kimberly Hays de Muga, and I discussed how to best wrap up season two of the podcast, we knew it had to celebrate the great experiences it brought us. When we were planning and recording these past 15 episodes, we never would have guessed this final episode of season two would drop right as the Covid-19 coronavirus raged through the country. We, along with many of friends and colleagues found ourselves working from home, helping children and spouses with digital working and learning, wondering if the grocery store would every stock toilet paper again, and worrying about the health and safety of their friends and family.
We want to recognize the tremendous work that healthcare workers, grocery and pharmacy workers, nonprofit teams, mail carriers, trash collectors, and public safety and first responders are doing every minute. As grant professionals and fundraisers, you will also play an essential role to connect donors, foundations and other funding agencies to those organizations public and private that are doing their best to keep us safe and our community strong right now, and as we move forward.
During this time, the best we can do is be patient, be kind, and help one another whenever possible. So we’re happy to share our favorite things. If just one of these gives you a little insight, makes life a little more tolerable, or helps you do your important and vital work, please drop us a line and let us know: fundraisinghayday@gmail.com.
So, without further ado, here’s our Season 2 Transformative Top Ten:
(1) Unicorns Unite: How nonprofits and foundations can build EPIC partnerships by Jessamyn Shams-Lau, Jane Leu, and Vu Le – Grant funders and grant seekers alike will learn the great many ways in which we can work together better to serve our communities and clients. We highly recommend you buy the book version, rather than the e-reader, because the drawings and tools are truly epic.
(2) Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance by Edgar Villanueva – Edgar shares not only his journey from Eastern North Carolina to a leading voice for change in philanthropy, but he also turns a fierce burning spotlight on how the grantmaking sausage is made and what needs to change.
(3) A Touch Screen Computer – I bought one of these last year and it was game changing. Between cell phones and tablets, we are all so used to touching our screens to manipulate images, the size of the text, and so much more. Seriously, I love it so much.
(4) Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski, PhD and Amelia Nagoski, DMA – Kimberly cannot say enough about this book. When she transitioned from being employed as a development director at a local nonprofit to balancing training, travel, and consulting work, the transition was a little bumpy to say the least. She shares how this book helped her understand how to deal with our own stressors and those placed on us by society.
(5) Site:.gov AND site:.edu – We often use the internet when searching for data to share in our grant proposals, but we all know that you cannot trust everything you read on the world wide web. When you do a general search, add site:.gov or site:.edu to limit your search to trusted government and educational groups. I learned this tip from a librarian while teaching at the University of Buffalo, which just confirms my belief the librarians are the bomb!
(6) Google Scholar – What grant professional doesn’t love a good database? And Google Scholar is just that, a database of scholarly literature. Many of these articles are available for free, or accessible at your local library, and they include data, quotes, and details that will justify the need for your project/program.
(7) The National Grant Management Association (NGMA) Annual Training – Every April (although it has been postponed for 2020), around 1,000 grant professionals meet in Washington, DC to learn the ins and outs of federal grant management. I attended my first one in 2019 and spent nearly 3 days with federal funders, attorneys, and grant managers like myself, learning about grant fraud, 2 CFR Part 200 rules, and so much more. If you’re responsible for federal grant management, I highly recommend you check out this conference.
(8) Enneagram – The enneagram includes nine personality types and is used as a mean to understand ourselves and each other. Not only is it a guide to understanding your personality, but also a means to psychological and spiritual growth. It’s not a label you wear forever, but a way to understand why you react the way you do and can give you tools to change old patterns of behavior and emotional reactions to healthier new ones.
(9) Pantsuit Politics Podcast – Cohosts Sarah and Beth share the latest in politics, government, every Tuesday and Friday through grace filled discussions. They may not always agree, but they listen. What do I love the most? Beth is all about the data! They have an incredible episode on the federal budget that every grant professional should listen to: http://www.pantsuitpoliticsshow.com/show-archives/2019/10/24/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-federal-budget-process.
(10) Our Fellow Change Agents – When Kimberly and I first started the podcast, we were looking for a creative outlet to share our knowledge with our fellow grant professionals and those who are interested in the field. Sure, there are conferences and webinars, and training opportunities out there, but we wanted to offer something for free in small, digestible bites. Little did we know that by season 2 we would be talking to some of the leading change agents in our field. These interviews and conversations with listeners have inspired us to not only share ideas, but also do our part in changing the funding dynamic for the better.
To learn more about each of these, please take a listen to our final episode of season 2: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-6ysa8-d60896. We are already working on season 3, and can’t wait to share new interviews and topics of discussion with you all. Stay tuned…
DH Leonard Consulting & Grant Writing Services, LLC is so excited to be season 2 sponsors for Fundraising HayDay, a podcast about grants and such. Catch up on season 1 and stay up to date on the new season here.
Don’t let grants stress you out, check out the helpful grant writing services our team has to offer here.
