Category Archives: grant goddess

3 Tips for Shrinking Expectations Canyon

Expectations Canyon is that place between a grant writer’s expectations for how a project should progress and a client’s idea of how a project should progress. Sometimes is as big as the Grand Canyon and other times it’s as small as the little holding pond across town from my house, but it’s always there. The smaller that gap is, the easier the project will go.
Organizations that hire a grant writer usually have the mistaken belief that they have hired someone to do it all so they don’t have to do any more work, which is not the case at all. Grant writers often hold the mistaken belief that every client will assume responsibility for the project and stay involved, providing all the information and support necessary. Can you see the canyon now?
Here are some tips for minimizing the gap:

 Make sure that all roles and responsibilities are in writing.  Don’t assume that just because you talked about something that anyone will remember it, especially if it gives them a task.

 Include a timeline in your responsibilities document.  Some tasks can’t be completed until other have been completed first. You’ll save a lot of time if these are identified right away.

Communicate often.  Even if everything is going well, make sure you touch base frequently to review exactly where you both are on the responsibility list.
If you follow these simple tips, Expectations Canyon will shrink to a manageable size and you’ll be walking together toward success.
Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Steps to Recovery

I’m not referring to another 12-step treatment program. No, I’m talking about the steps to recovering from a multi-grant deadline. Those deadlines are exhausting. Long hours, too much stress, not enough sleep – it can ruin even the best attitude.

I had one of those deadlines recently.  It left me exhausted and definitely in need of recovery.  Here are my steps for multi-grant recovery:

Step 1:  Walk away – Don’t clean up your desk. Don’t start the next project right away.  Just walk away.  Give yourself the time and space you’ll need to recover.

Step 2: Reassess your health – If you haven’t been eating well, start eating well.  Drink some water. Get some exercise.  You have probably been chained to your desk.  You need to move a bit, but first…..

Step 3: Get some sleep  – Remember what uninterrupted sleep is? Do you remember your last full night of sleep?  It was about a month ago, most likely.

Step 4: Reintroduce yourself to your family.  If they don’t recognize you, don’t be alarmed.  That is perfectly normal. As soon as you recapture control of the TV remote, it will come back to them.

Step 5: If you can, don’t even think about work for a day or two (or more) – Give yourself a complete rest. Your brain has been working harder than any other part of you.  A full rest means giving yourself a break from thinking about grant stuff.

Step 6: Do something that you really enjoy.  If you like to read trashy romance novels, do it.  If you like to shop, go for it (within reason, of course). Give yourself the gift of time just for you since you gave up so much of your time recently to your work.

The point here is that some recovery is really necessary after an intense project. Remember, your career is a marathon, not a sprint.

What do you do to recovery after an intense deadline?

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Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

My Desk

You can learn a lot about a person from her desk, and I’m not just talking about whether it’s a neat desk or a messy desk. I’m talking about what is actually on the desk.

Here’s what is on mine right at this moment:
  • Two cell phones charging – Personal and business phones, but my personal cell is used more for business than the business one.  Go figure.
  • Headset and microphone -To use with my Dragon Naturally Speaking software, which I can’t use right now.
  • Flier and information for Dragon Naturally Speaking software – I downloaded version 12, but it won’t install. Ugh.  Don’t you hate it when that happens?
  • 21st Century Community Learning Centers RFPs – Both the elementary/middle school and ASSETs versions, for California, if course. The FAQs are printed out, too. Together, they make a pile of paper about two inches thick, all of which must be read before I can move forward with the training workshops and actually grant writing I’ll be doing. Come to think of it, I think I do just about as much reading as writing in my work. That was never mentioned to me before I started this journey.
  • An article a colleague printed for me called, “50 Grammatical Mistakes to Avoid.” – I think I’ve already made about 6 in this post.  They are technically not necessarily mistakes, but bad writing habits to avoid. And I just indulged in three of them in that last sentence.
  • A pile of bills and insurance documents – No explanation is needed. Those are just no fun all around.
  • Paperwork for a couple of different evaluation projects – I keep telling myself that if I keep them on my desk I won’t forget about them and I can work on them a little every day. Well, I don’t forget about them, of course, but they end up just getting in the way when I’m trying to finish up other projects. Do I move them?  Of course not.
  • My notebooks – I have a notebook that I use for all my notes on all projects. I started doing this years ago when my memory started become a little less reliable than it used to be. When I change to a new notebook, I carry around the old and the new for awhile so I can refer to notes in the old one until I don’t need to anymore.  Then the old one is stored with the other old notebooks. Right now, I’m still working from two.
  • A six inch high pile of scrap paper – Anything that is printed on only one side that I don’t need anymore becomes scrap paper. 
  • Two half full bottles of water – I almost wrote half empty, but you know what that would say about me, right?
  • A pile of other business-related projects that are in-process – I won’t tell you how many, but it’s a lot.
  • A desk fan – There are times when I am warm, usually when no one else is, and the little fan comes in very handy. It’s a “woman of certain age” thing.
  • Hand lotion – Because sometimes you just need it.
  • Two staplers -I have no idea why I have two staplers, but I do.
  • My 2012 Knitting Calendar – It’s one of those perpetual calendars.  Each day has a new item to print, along with the pattern for it. Some of the patterns in it are really cute and I have already made a few.  As for some of the others, let me just say that just because something can be made, doesn’t mean that it should be.
Beyond that, it’s just pens, pencils, and miscellaneous other stationery supplies.
So, what does my desk say about me?
Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Keeping an Open Mind

 
I have had substantive conversations this week with three different potential new clients. They are all very different than any organization we have worked for in the past and they all need something from us that is slightly different than we have done in the past.

Five years ago, I might not have spoken with any of these folks because I was completely booked with clients who fit into the unique niche we had at the time.  Recently, though, we made a conscious decision to expand our reach a bit and to try some different things.  The economy had a small role in that decision, but it was mostly about the fact that I had burnout nipping at my heels and I was going to implode if I had to keep doing the same thing in the same way for another 20 years. I think some of you may be able to understand exactly what I’m talking about.

So, I’ve been saying ‘yes’ to conversations that I wouldn’t have had before. Guess what has happened?  I’ve been having some extraordinary conversations with some extraordinary people who do extraordinary things.  And I can help them.

Keeping an open mind has opened a door to a completely new level of experience and business for us, and it has re-lit some of that fire that has been dampened by years of routine.

All I had to do was listen.

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Teaching People to Fish

We’re in the process of changing all sorts of things these days. The website will soon have a new, fresh look. Our online grant writing courses will soon have a whole new look and feel.Within a couple of weeks, we’ll be offering webinars to help you with specific grants you may be writing. We’ll also be expanding our review and critique services, with a focus on helping you become a better grant writer rather than doing it for you.

Why the changes?  Well, it has recently become apparent to me that I won’t be here forever. I know that most of you probably knew that, but I was surprised. My health is fine, by the way.  This was more of an existential awareness. So, I’ve decided that instead of focusing on giving away fish (or selling fish) I’d rather teach people to fish. But I’m not talking about fish. I’m talking about grant writing.

Keep an eye out for the new changes to start rolling out, and if you have any ideas, please share them.

Fishing anyone?

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Get samples of successful grant proposals at Grantsamples.net.

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

The Power of Subheadings

You have organized your proposal according to the scoring criteria as the RFP has required or suggested, but you find that you still have large blocks of text and you fear that some of your key points may be lost. There are several ways to highlight your key points.  You can use bold or italics. You can use text boxes or other graphics (if the formatting guidelines allow them). You can also use subheadings.

Subheadings are great way to highlight key points and develop more structure in the proposal. They also allow you to break up the text, which makes it easier to read. And remember, making it easier to read means that the readers will like you. That’s a very good thing.

You can create subheadings for the sub-criteria in the scoring guidelines (and you should), but you can also add subheadings that target your key ideas or the core elements of your program design.

Subheadings – simple, but powerful.

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Read more tips like this in 101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers.

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Grant Writers Are Not Magicians

Good grant writers can make a lot happen, but we’re not magicians. I’m surprised  at how often I’ve been asked to step far beyond the grant writer role and work miracles within an organization. Here’s a partial list of the things I’ve been asked to do:

  • Make up a program design when none exists.
  • Use language to make it look like an organization has been collaborating with other organizations for a long time when, in fact, it hasn’t.
  • Write letters of support for partners to sign that “say what we need them to say,” rather than what the partner really plans on doing.
  • Write about how the program will be integrated with other programs in the agency when the agency hasn’t told me anything about other programs or how they plan to integrate them.
  • Make up in-kind contributions.
  • Put a budget together with no information about actual personnel costs or fringe benefits.
  • “Fudge” needs data to exaggerate the agency’s need for the grant.
  • Read through thousands of pages of back up information with the expectation that I’ll then have all I need to write a grant for the organization.
  • Take one grant application and “re-purpose” it for other grants at no additional charge because “it’s basically the same thing.”

Some of these things are unethical. Some are fraudulent. Others are just unrealistic.

Yes, I am the Grant Goddess, and yes, I can make miracles happen.

But that doesn’t mean I should, or that I should be expected to in every circumstance.

Have you been asked to do anything unreasonable in your grant writing journey?

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FREE grant writing eBooks!  Download them here.

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

A Story About Letters of Support

I was working on a grant for a client recently, and the grant called for the inclusion of some letters of support. As we were discussing it, the client asked if I would provide a template that her project partners could simply put on their letterhead and sign. I said, no, because templates are a bad idea. Rather than demonstrate collaboration and support they are actually a demonstration of the opposite.

Think about it.  If you really supported someone’s effort, would you show it by signing a form letter that was exactly the same as 20 others or would you write one that spoke to your personal reasons for suporting the person?

Instead of providing a template, I developed some guidelines (in writing, of course) for the partners to follow when developing their letters.  It explained the purpose of the letters and what information should go in each of three paragraphs.  It also gave some examples of potential contributions to the project that they might not think about.

I’ve used similar guides in the past and the result was excellent letters of support.

Several times during the planning process,however, the client would ask me about a template. I repeated my response and provided yet another copy of the guidelines.

As the deadline approached, the letters started pouring in and they were…..identical. Instead of following my instructions, the client chose to have someone in her organization develop a template and distribute it to the partners.

Not only was it a template, but it was a bad template.  It did not include the specific information that the RFP said should be in each letter.  Apparently, the client didn’t even read the guidelines because that information was all there.  We had even talked it through at one point early in the process, but that information apparently was lost as the process continued.

The client was paying a lot of money for an experienced and successful grant writer to write the proposal and guide her organization through the process, but she chose to ignore the advice they paid for. As a result, their application package ended up being substantially weaker than if they had followed the directions. They tried to save everyone some time, and the cost of that effort may be that they don’t get the grant.

I guess that makes it a pretty expensive template.

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Here’s more information on writing good letters of support.

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Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Passionate Grant Writing

I spend a lot of time focusing on technical details and teaching people how to develop technically correct and persuasive proposals. Those are important. But so is passion.

I read a proposal recently that was technically correct and it had all the right pieces, but I felt nothing. While the statistics showed great need for the grant, it didn’t feel like there was a need.

Some of you may be thinking, “It’s not about emotion, silly. Just give the facts and tell your story.”

I disagree.  As long as there are human readers making decisions about the proposal, emotions play a role.

Here are the suggestions I make for putting enough passion in your proposal:

  1. The first page should be perfect. First impressions matter. Not only should the first page of the narrative be error-free, but it should convey something about your organization that goes beyond the numbers and makes the readers fans of your work. The readers should leave that first page already liking you.
  2. Tell your story like you care. If I were to ask you to tell me about the strengths and needs of your organization, I’m sure you would have plenty to say.  More importantly, I would get a definite feel for how your organization impacts the community and how important the services are. The readers should have no doubt that you care.
  3. Use descriptive language. Think about this sentence: “We will initiate a foot-stomping, in-the-media-spotlight, no-holds-barred cage match with poverty, racism, lack of opportunity, under-education, and a cycle of disenfranchisement among good people who just want a leg up to help their kids rise up.” Okay, maybe it’s a bit over the top, but it definitely conveys some passion, doesn’t it? It also tells you something about the applicant, doesn’t it? It gives you a definite image to think about, too. Maybe you won’t go this far, but consider this sentence my personal effort to slap you out of the boring, lock-step grant language that you are probably used to seeing and using. That brings me to the next point…..
  4. Expand your use of language. You can’t communicate the passion of a zealot using the language of an accountant. I have nothing against accountants, of course, but most would have trouble really expressing the pain of homelessness given the language they typically use. Think about how you would describe your need and your plans to a good friend, to a potential donor, to a newspaper reporter, to a potential employee. Make notes on the words and phrases you use.  Ask others who encounter your services to describe them.  Note the words and phrases they use, too.  Then use some of them.
  5. Read. The best way to expand your language is to read. I always advise people to read grant proposals and I’ll continue to make that recommendation, but remember that there are good examples and bad examples. You should be reading many other things, too. The more diverse your reading is, the more diverse your language will be. And here’s a hint you probably haven’t considered.  If you’re having trouble writing with passion, read some books about passion and romance. Don’t focus on the plot or even the vocabulary, but on how the author builds the sense of passion and desire. I’m not saying that your grants should be written like romance novels, but that there is something we can learn from all genres. Finally…..
  6. Show some restraint.  Some people have trouble adding life to their writing, but others add too much. Too much flowery writing is simply annoying, and you know you should not annoy the readers. Expressing passion and commitment isn’t about throwing out emotional phrases. It’s much more nuanced than that. It’s about conveying a mood, a feeling. There is such a thing as “too much.”

Writing with passion is an advanced grant writing skill. It goes far beyond technical correctness and addressing all of the scoring criteria, but it can make the difference between success and failure.

What are your thoughts about writing with passion?

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

First Grant of the Season

I just finished writing my first grant of the “season.”  It was a 55-page proposal for an excellent program. I loved the client.  I loved the idea.

But writing it was like pulling teeth for me.

It happens to me every year.  There is something about that first big grant of the season that is a struggle for me. It must be something about the creative part of my brain that works part-time when it’s not grant time.  When it’s time for it to get back to full-time work (or more than full-time work), it drags its feet, whines, and rebels against all my attempts to impose any intellectual discipline.

Yes, it feels like my mind has a mind of its own.

After that first one, it’s under my control again and the next grant goes well, as does the next one, and the next one, and so on until the end of the grant season.

Frankly, I don’t know why it’s so difficult, because I always win and end up with an excellent proposal.

I am the Grant Goddess, after all.  😉

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com