Category Archives: Grant Coach

How Did I Learn Grant Writing? – MaryEllen Bergh

The latest post in our “How Did I Learn Grant Writing?” series has been contributed by grant writing expert and Grant Coach, MaryEllen Bergh. MaryEllen’s post comes with the subtitle, “How I Grew a Left Brain.”

We all use both sides of our brain to some degree but in most people one side dominates. For me, the right brain has always taken precedence – creative, random, intuitive, holistic, and a whole to part perspective. This view has served me well for several decades as I only needed my analytical, logical, and sequential part to whole left brain perspective when I wrote lesson plans or balanced my checkbook. So how, you ask, did I learn grant writing, a mostly left-brain dominated task?

After many years as an educator and educational consultant, I thought the prospect of becoming a grant writer challenging and exciting as well as offering a great opportunity to unleash my creativity in helping clients design and develop programs and services. I enthusiastically jumped in with both feet and eyes wide open. I read successful proposals and tips for grant writing by experts in the field, and reconnected with journal writing to hone my writing skills, but, best of all, I was able to work beside a very successful grant writer who became my mentor. She helped me understand the nuts and bolts of the process and provided invaluable feedback (“Mmmm, I can see that you are excited about the design but where did you address the funder’s criteria?”). I was able to participate in her grant writing courses and learned how important it is to listen to clients and help them find the funding to make their dreams a reality. The first grants I wrote (and rewrote…and rewrote…and rewrote) helped me understand the need to create an outline of the narrative to ensure all criteria are addressed and to communicate complex ideas in clear, concise language. One day, after reading a draft of a proposal I had written, my mentor looked at me and said, “Finally, you’ve grown a left brain.” That did make me smile!

I have written many successful proposals over the last 10 years and, while I always don my “left brain hat” to actually write the proposal, I still begin the writing process by visualizing the big picture, drawing the project design, and scribbling my notes all around the design (usually in a variety of colors). So yes, I have grown a left brain over the years but I have found that there is still plenty of room for creativity in grant writing.

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You can read more tips from MaryEllen Bergh, the Grant Coach, at the GrantGoddess.com member site.
 
Free e-book – 12 Secrets of Successful Grant Writers.

How Did I Learn Grant Writing? – MaryEllen Bergh

The latest post in our “How Did I Learn Grant Writing?” series has been contributed by grant writing expert and Grant Coach, MaryEllen Bergh. MaryEllen’s post comes with the subtitle, “How I Grew a Left Brain.”

We all use both sides of our brain to some degree but in most people one side dominates. For me, the right brain has always taken precedence – creative, random, intuitive, holistic, and a whole to part perspective. This view has served me well for several decades as I only needed my analytical, logical, and sequential part to whole left brain perspective when I wrote lesson plans or balanced my checkbook. So how, you ask, did I learn grant writing, a mostly left-brain dominated task?

After many years as an educator and educational consultant, I thought the prospect of becoming a grant writer challenging and exciting as well as offering a great opportunity to unleash my creativity in helping clients design and develop programs and services. I enthusiastically jumped in with both feet and eyes wide open. I read successful proposals and tips for grant writing by experts in the field, and reconnected with journal writing to hone my writing skills, but, best of all, I was able to work beside a very successful grant writer who became my mentor. She helped me understand the nuts and bolts of the process and provided invaluable feedback (“Mmmm, I can see that you are excited about the design but where did you address the funder’s criteria?”). I was able to participate in her grant writing courses and learned how important it is to listen to clients and help them find the funding to make their dreams a reality. The first grants I wrote (and rewrote…and rewrote…and rewrote) helped me understand the need to create an outline of the narrative to ensure all criteria are addressed and to communicate complex ideas in clear, concise language. One day, after reading a draft of a proposal I had written, my mentor looked at me and said, “Finally, you’ve grown a left brain.” That did make me smile!

I have written many successful proposals over the last 10 years and, while I always don my “left brain hat” to actually write the proposal, I still begin the writing process by visualizing the big picture, drawing the project design, and scribbling my notes all around the design (usually in a variety of colors). So yes, I have grown a left brain over the years but I have found that there is still plenty of room for creativity in grant writing.

——————————–
 
You can read more tips from MaryEllen Bergh, the Grant Coach, at the GrantGoddess.com member site.
 
Free e-book – 12 Secrets of Successful Grant Writers.

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

Grant Writing Success through Thoughtful Planning and Preparation

Grant Coach MaryEllen Bergh knows a few things about achieving grant writing success through planning and preparation. In this post, she shares some of her valuable knowledge and experience with you:

A successful grant proposal is one that is thoughtfully planned, well prepared, and concisely packaged. When you have found a funding source that is a good fit for your proposed project, the temptation is strong to immediately begin writing; however, your proposal will be much more effective if you take some time up front to plan.  Thorough planning helps you determine where to start, where you want to go, how to get there, and how to know you have arrived. Grant writing success requires that you communicate your proposed project effectively and in enough detail so the funder has a clear understanding of all the components of your project, how it fits their funding priorities, and how you will carry out your program or service over the project period. Writing successful grant proposals requires preparation, attention to detail and a great team with passion and perseverance. Here are 3 tips to prepare for a successful grant proposal:

  1. Gather your proposal team. Most successful proposals are written by teams. The team members each contribute specific expertise, so that the organization can prepare its proposal more efficiently.
  2. Read the funding guidelines. The most important step in writing a successful grant is thoroughly reading the funder’s Request for Applications (RFA) or Request for Proposal (RFP) before you start. Since you will be responding to the guidelines established by the funder, you want to make sure that each member of the team understands the funder’s priorities and instructions for submittal. If the RFA includes a reference to a website or publication, it is often helpful to read that as well.
  3. Complete a proposal outline. The outline gives you and your team a roadmap to follow. Establish a timeline for gathering information and input needed to complete each section of the proposal.
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There is still time to sign up for Grant Writing 101 at the special reduced rate.  Don’t miss out!

Grant Writing Success through Thoughtful Planning and Preparation

Grant Coach MaryEllen Bergh knows a few things about achieving grant writing success through planning and preparation. In this post, she shares some of her valuable knowledge and experience with you:

A successful grant proposal is one that is thoughtfully planned, well prepared, and concisely packaged. When you have found a funding source that is a good fit for your proposed project, the temptation is strong to immediately begin writing; however, your proposal will be much more effective if you take some time up front to plan.  Thorough planning helps you determine where to start, where you want to go, how to get there, and how to know you have arrived. Grant writing success requires that you communicate your proposed project effectively and in enough detail so the funder has a clear understanding of all the components of your project, how it fits their funding priorities, and how you will carry out your program or service over the project period. Writing successful grant proposals requires preparation, attention to detail and a great team with passion and perseverance. Here are 3 tips to prepare for a successful grant proposal:

  1. Gather your proposal team. Most successful proposals are written by teams. The team members each contribute specific expertise, so that the organization can prepare its proposal more efficiently.
  2. Read the funding guidelines. The most important step in writing a successful grant is thoroughly reading the funder’s Request for Applications (RFA) or Request for Proposal (RFP) before you start. Since you will be responding to the guidelines established by the funder, you want to make sure that each member of the team understands the funder’s priorities and instructions for submittal. If the RFA includes a reference to a website or publication, it is often helpful to read that as well.
  3. Complete a proposal outline. The outline gives you and your team a roadmap to follow. Establish a timeline for gathering information and input needed to complete each section of the proposal.
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There is still time to sign up for Grant Writing 101 at the special reduced rate.  Don’t miss out!
Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Learning to Collaborate

Some thoughts from our Grant Coach, MaryEllen Bergh, on schools and collaboration:

The Full-Service Community Schools Program Grant application has just been released so my thoughts have turned, once again, to the fact that schools just can’t take on all the problems of today’s children and their parents and, at the same time, focus on turning around a school labeled as “failing.” Schools need other agencies to share some of the responsibility.

Imagine a community school intentionally transformed into a neighborhood hub – open all the time to children and their families and, in this school, a range of support services is provided by community agencies to help students overcome the obstacles that interfere with their learning and success in school.

In order to create this system of comprehensive, coordinated support in a community school model, schools have to learn to work in different ways. Schools have tended to be isolated to a significant extent from direct intervention of other professionals; where they have had to work with other agencies, their relative size, statutory nature and high degree of control over what happens within their walls have often made them difficult partners (and I know many community non-profits working with children at school sites can attest to that!).

Educators and human service providers traditionally have been on different tracks. To collaborate, schools (and agencies) must be willing to negotiate on issues such as confidentiality, discipline, equipment, and transportation, to name a few. Many large educational initiatives (Safe Schools/Healthy Students, Healthy Start, 21st Century Community Learning Centers) insist on collaboration – often on the school site – and this has shifted the balance from control to cooperation. Principals and teachers realize that they need the cooperation of other professionals in order to reach the standards of performance by which their schools are judged.

Full service community schools are jointly operated and financed by a school district and a community-based organization. Each community school is unique based on what the neighborhood needs. Does the full service community school work? Preliminary research shows improved achievement, much better attendance rates, lower delinquency, and significant student and parent approval. Joy Dryfoos (well-known researcher and advocate of full service schools) states that the full service community school is a strategy – not a program – for “redesigning education to meet the needs of a modern, dynamic society.”

Learning to collaborate is a critical key in successful community schools. Collaboration benefits schools and community organizations in several ways:

  1. Working as a team leads to improved effectiveness, more efficient use of resources, better access to services and more productive partnerships;
  2. When schools and community based organizations cooperate to align resources with common goals, children and youth are more likely to succeed academically, socially, and physically;
  3. Collaboration among professionals provides opportunities to enlarge and deepen practice as school staff and community organizations learn from each other; and 
  4. Much more can be accomplished for children and families as a team than can be accomplished by any one organization in isolation.

Take a look at the Full Service Community Schools Program application.

For more information: Inside Full Service Community Schools, by Joy G. Dryfoos & Sue Maguire.

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Visit GrantGoddess.com for more great tips on collaboration and grant writing!


Learning to Collaborate

Some thoughts from our Grant Coach, MaryEllen Bergh, on schools and collaboration:

The Full-Service Community Schools Program Grant application has just been released so my thoughts have turned, once again, to the fact that schools just can’t take on all the problems of today’s children and their parents and, at the same time, focus on turning around a school labeled as “failing.” Schools need other agencies to share some of the responsibility.

Imagine a community school intentionally transformed into a neighborhood hub – open all the time to children and their families and, in this school, a range of support services is provided by community agencies to help students overcome the obstacles that interfere with their learning and success in school.

In order to create this system of comprehensive, coordinated support in a community school model, schools have to learn to work in different ways. Schools have tended to be isolated to a significant extent from direct intervention of other professionals; where they have had to work with other agencies, their relative size, statutory nature and high degree of control over what happens within their walls have often made them difficult partners (and I know many community non-profits working with children at school sites can attest to that!).

Educators and human service providers traditionally have been on different tracks. To collaborate, schools (and agencies) must be willing to negotiate on issues such as confidentiality, discipline, equipment, and transportation, to name a few. Many large educational initiatives (Safe Schools/Healthy Students, Healthy Start, 21st Century Community Learning Centers) insist on collaboration – often on the school site – and this has shifted the balance from control to cooperation. Principals and teachers realize that they need the cooperation of other professionals in order to reach the standards of performance by which their schools are judged.

Full service community schools are jointly operated and financed by a school district and a community-based organization. Each community school is unique based on what the neighborhood needs. Does the full service community school work? Preliminary research shows improved achievement, much better attendance rates, lower delinquency, and significant student and parent approval. Joy Dryfoos (well-known researcher and advocate of full service schools) states that the full service community school is a strategy – not a program – for “redesigning education to meet the needs of a modern, dynamic society.”

Learning to collaborate is a critical key in successful community schools. Collaboration benefits schools and community organizations in several ways:

  1. Working as a team leads to improved effectiveness, more efficient use of resources, better access to services and more productive partnerships;
  2. When schools and community based organizations cooperate to align resources with common goals, children and youth are more likely to succeed academically, socially, and physically;
  3. Collaboration among professionals provides opportunities to enlarge and deepen practice as school staff and community organizations learn from each other; and 
  4. Much more can be accomplished for children and families as a team than can be accomplished by any one organization in isolation.

Take a look at the Full Service Community Schools Program application.

For more information: Inside Full Service Community Schools, by Joy G. Dryfoos & Sue Maguire.

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Visit GrantGoddess.com for more great tips on collaboration and grant writing!

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

Virtual Collaboration

Here are some thoughts from our Grant Coach, MaryEllen Bergh, on Virtual Collaboration:

Collaboration is a process of participation through which people, groups and organizations work together to achieve desired results. Starting or sustaining a collaborative journey is exciting, sometimes stressful, and even new for many. Successful collaboration requires focus on the goals of the team and on the development of trusting relationships. These relationships allow people to overcome problems that might arise through the collaborative process. While most of our collaborative tasks are still done in face-to-face meetings, technology has enabled us to collaborate from afar. It has given us the ability to be members of a professional learning community that may include people from around the globe.

Is collaboration on virtual teams as effective as collaborative teams that meet face to face? Dr. Jaclyn Kostner (author of Bridge the Distance) found that virtual teams tended to keep their focus on priorities better than face-to-face teams and, in fact, virtual meetings were frequently shorter; however, the virtual collaborative teams failed more often. One of the reasons for this higher rate of failure, according to Dr. Kostner, is that virtual teams did not develop the relationships that allowed them to work as a team to overcome problems – they did not collaborate in any meaningful way. As organizations move toward using technology to facilitate collaboration among teams that are split by distance what are some ways that teams can collaborate better at a distance? Here are a few tips:

  1. Don’t multi-task at virtual meetings. Close your email, turn off your alerts and pay attention. The only time an entire virtual team can collaborate is when they are meeting. If you want your team to collaborate and be a team make sure that everyone pays attention and participates in team meetings.
  2. Meet face to face as often as possible. While the technology tools that enable us to communicate virtually save time and money, there is no better way to develop relationships than face to face. This may not be a possibility for teams that are at long distances apart. Make sure that you do allow some virtual time to get to know your team.
  3. Create office hours when team members can be reached. Collaboration among team members is an important way to create relationships and overcome the barrier of distance. Because it is so difficult to get anyone live these days, set up hours for each team member when they agree to be available, answer their phones, and take the time to work with the other team member.

Dr. Kostner was the spokesperson for a study conducted by Frost and Sullivan (Meetings around the World) sponsored by Microsoft and Verizon. The basic conclusion from this study was “The more collaborative organizations are, the better they perform. Conversely, the less collaborative they are, the worse they perform.” So if virtual teaming is in your plan, pay attention to creating a virtual team that collaborates well.

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Would you like more of MaryEllen’s insight?  Become a member of GrantGoddess.com and visit the Coach’s Corner.

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

Virtual Collaboration

Here are some thoughts from our Grant Coach, MaryEllen Bergh, on Virtual Collaboration:

Collaboration is a process of participation through which people, groups and organizations work together to achieve desired results. Starting or sustaining a collaborative journey is exciting, sometimes stressful, and even new for many. Successful collaboration requires focus on the goals of the team and on the development of trusting relationships. These relationships allow people to overcome problems that might arise through the collaborative process. While most of our collaborative tasks are still done in face-to-face meetings, technology has enabled us to collaborate from afar. It has given us the ability to be members of a professional learning community that may include people from around the globe.

Is collaboration on virtual teams as effective as collaborative teams that meet face to face? Dr. Jaclyn Kostner (author of Bridge the Distance) found that virtual teams tended to keep their focus on priorities better than face-to-face teams and, in fact, virtual meetings were frequently shorter; however, the virtual collaborative teams failed more often. One of the reasons for this higher rate of failure, according to Dr. Kostner, is that virtual teams did not develop the relationships that allowed them to work as a team to overcome problems – they did not collaborate in any meaningful way. As organizations move toward using technology to facilitate collaboration among teams that are split by distance what are some ways that teams can collaborate better at a distance? Here are a few tips:

  1. Don’t multi-task at virtual meetings. Close your email, turn off your alerts and pay attention. The only time an entire virtual team can collaborate is when they are meeting. If you want your team to collaborate and be a team make sure that everyone pays attention and participates in team meetings.
  2. Meet face to face as often as possible. While the technology tools that enable us to communicate virtually save time and money, there is no better way to develop relationships than face to face. This may not be a possibility for teams that are at long distances apart. Make sure that you do allow some virtual time to get to know your team.
  3. Create office hours when team members can be reached. Collaboration among team members is an important way to create relationships and overcome the barrier of distance. Because it is so difficult to get anyone live these days, set up hours for each team member when they agree to be available, answer their phones, and take the time to work with the other team member.

Dr. Kostner was the spokesperson for a study conducted by Frost and Sullivan (Meetings around the World) sponsored by Microsoft and Verizon. The basic conclusion from this study was “The more collaborative organizations are, the better they perform. Conversely, the less collaborative they are, the worse they perform.” So if virtual teaming is in your plan, pay attention to creating a virtual team that collaborates well.

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Would you like more of MaryEllen’s insight?  Become a member of GrantGoddess.com and visit the Coach’s Corner.

Find Happiness in the Midst of Deadlines

Spring! Does anyone have the time to stop and smell the roses? Amidst grant planning and deadlines, budget slashing and planning, state testing, and annual performance reports, stress takes center stage – zapping our energy and our health. MaryEllen Bergh, Grant Coach, shares some simple strategies to keep you happier and healthier this spring.
In an article in Prevention Magazine (May 2010), Alyssa Shaffer writes about 12 Power Health Moves that provide major benefits for our bodies and our minds. Here’s how 3 of these moves – holding hands, writing thank-you notes, and laughing – can keep you more relaxed and much happier.

  1. Hold hands and reduce stress by 200%! A little hug and a few minutes of holding hands with your partner, significant other, or friend can lower your blood pressure. A study conducted by researchers at the American Psychosomatic Society told two groups of partners that they were going to give a speech (an exercise that typically causes a spike in blood pressure). The first group sat holding hands for a short while and shared a hug for 20 seconds before the speech. The other group was separated (no hand holding or hugging allowed) shortly after the task was described. During the speech, the blood pressure and heart rate of the non-hand-holding/hugging group was more than double that of the people who held hands. Other research has demonstrated that a heartfelt hug (lasting at least 20 seconds) from a friend releases a bonding hormone called oxytocin which reduces stress, lowers heart rate, and improves your mood. Make sure you squeeze a little squeeze into your life today!
  2. Write a thank-you letter and feel 20% happier! Researchers at Kent State found that students who wrote letters expressing gratitude to someone special were happier and more satisfied with their lives. Through the process of writing a heartfelt sentiment, students had time to think about the connections between themselves and others and to count their blessings. There is one caveat, states researcher Steven Toepfer, “Dashing off a quick email or texting a pal might not have the same effect as taking the time to reflect and put pen to paper.” Put yourself in an attitude of gratitude and send a little thank-you to someone in your life.
  3. Laugh and improve blood flow by 21%! We all know that humor and laughter keep us balanced amid chaos but did you know that it is also good for your heart? A recent study from the University of Texas at Austin found that those who chuckled during a comedy increased the dilation of blood vessels by one-fifth for up to 24 hours; when they watched a serious documentary, the arteries constricted by 18%. Laughter releases feel-good neurochemicals that have numerous favorable effects on the body. Laugh long and prosper!

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Visit GrantGoddess.com for great grant writing and program evaluation tips!

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

Find Happiness in the Midst of Deadlines

Spring! Does anyone have the time to stop and smell the roses? Amidst grant planning and deadlines, budget slashing and planning, state testing, and annual performance reports, stress takes center stage – zapping our energy and our health. MaryEllen Bergh, Grant Coach, shares some simple strategies to keep you happier and healthier this spring.
In an article in Prevention Magazine (May 2010), Alyssa Shaffer writes about 12 Power Health Moves that provide major benefits for our bodies and our minds. Here’s how 3 of these moves – holding hands, writing thank-you notes, and laughing – can keep you more relaxed and much happier.

  1. Hold hands and reduce stress by 200%! A little hug and a few minutes of holding hands with your partner, significant other, or friend can lower your blood pressure. A study conducted by researchers at the American Psychosomatic Society told two groups of partners that they were going to give a speech (an exercise that typically causes a spike in blood pressure). The first group sat holding hands for a short while and shared a hug for 20 seconds before the speech. The other group was separated (no hand holding or hugging allowed) shortly after the task was described. During the speech, the blood pressure and heart rate of the non-hand-holding/hugging group was more than double that of the people who held hands. Other research has demonstrated that a heartfelt hug (lasting at least 20 seconds) from a friend releases a bonding hormone called oxytocin which reduces stress, lowers heart rate, and improves your mood. Make sure you squeeze a little squeeze into your life today!
  2. Write a thank-you letter and feel 20% happier! Researchers at Kent State found that students who wrote letters expressing gratitude to someone special were happier and more satisfied with their lives. Through the process of writing a heartfelt sentiment, students had time to think about the connections between themselves and others and to count their blessings. There is one caveat, states researcher Steven Toepfer, “Dashing off a quick email or texting a pal might not have the same effect as taking the time to reflect and put pen to paper.” Put yourself in an attitude of gratitude and send a little thank-you to someone in your life.
  3. Laugh and improve blood flow by 21%! We all know that humor and laughter keep us balanced amid chaos but did you know that it is also good for your heart? A recent study from the University of Texas at Austin found that those who chuckled during a comedy increased the dilation of blood vessels by one-fifth for up to 24 hours; when they watched a serious documentary, the arteries constricted by 18%. Laughter releases feel-good neurochemicals that have numerous favorable effects on the body. Laugh long and prosper!

———————————–
 
Visit GrantGoddess.com for great grant writing and program evaluation tips!