Category Archives: Veronica Robbins

The Accidental Grant Writer

I wasn’t going to be a grant writer.  No, I was going to be an attorney.  That was definitely my plan as I was growing up.  It was still my plan in college.  That’s what I thought the smart girls were supposed to do.

Then the twists and turns of life led me to the classroom at the age of 22 and I became a teacher.  I loved it.  It wasn’t necessarily the kids I loved (but yes, I do love children), but it was that moment of epiphany when a child finally learned something new. I loved learning so much that it shouldn’t have surprised me that I would enjoy helping others learn, too.

It was as a teacher that I wrote my first grant proposal. It was a $5,000 grant for some technology equipment.  Specifically, I wanted a videodisc player (remember those?) and a large screen TV (back before they were in anyone’s home) to help my ELD students have more multimedia experiences (there were no computers in classrooms in those days – only small labs with Apple IIe machines) so they could understand the curriculum better. It required a 5-page narrative and it was very challenging for me, but I did it, and I was successful. The grant was awarded to my classroom!

Still, even though I had written a successful grant, I didn’t think of myself as a grant writer.

After years as a teacher, I became a school administrator.  That’s what I thought the smart girls were supposed to do. As a school administrator, I was responsible for overseeing several grants. It was interesting.  I enjoyed starting new programs from scratch, and it was in that capacity that a met a grant writer and program evaluator who became my mentor (Read about the Top 10 Lessons I Learned from my Grant Writing Mentor).

After several years, he asked me to do some grant writing for him on the side.  I discovered that I was pretty good at it, but I was still an educator who also did grant writing.  I still didn’t think of myself as a grant writer.

A few years later, he asked me to leave public education and to come work for him as a full time grant writer and program evaluator. It was a big step for me, but he told me that’s what the smart girls were supposed to do, so I did it.

A few years after that, I left his firm and started my own. By then, there was no question in my mind that I was a grant writer; however, there was no point in my life in which I said to myself, “I want to learn how to be a grant writer.”  It just happened.  I stepped from opportunity to opportunity and learned what I could as I went along. There were no classes on grant writing offered in graduate school at that time. No one had even even mentioned it to me as a potential career path.

It was almost as if it happened by accident.  I was the accidental grant writer.

(Of course, I know there are really no accidents, but that’s the subject of an entirely different post.)

Things are different today for folks who have some writing talent who want to make a difference in their corner of the world.  There are online courses in grant writing to teach you how to become an excellent grant writer, and there are even courses in how to become a freelance grant writer so you can learn the business side of the business. There are courses in colleges and universities, and even certification programs (although a certificate does not guarantee any success; the most successful grant writers I have ever known hold no special certificate). There are blogs, like this one, and websites to read to learn about the industry.

There is so much more support available now than when I started. Tapping into this support, well, that’s just what the smart girls (and boys!) do.

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Related Posts:

Grant Writing: A Romantic Misconception

Think Positively and Make It Happen

So You Want to Become a Freelance Grant Writer: Are you Barking Mad?


Would you like the digital version of 101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers to download right now?  Download it now!

My Grant Writing Fantasy

My feet are firmly planted on the ground, and I am grateful for each and every one of my grant writing clients; however, I do have a bit of a fantasy life (shhhh…let’s just keep that between you and me and the millions of folks on the internet, ok?).  This means, of course, that I have a grant writing fantasy, too. In the interest of full disclosure, I have decided to share it with you.

I get a phone call from a prospective client.  He sets up an appointment to come and see me about a new grant (instead of asking me to drive three hours each way to see him). I like him already.

When he arrives, he looks just like George Clooney (you don’t have a problem with that, do you?  This is my fantasy, ya know…), and he has come prepared with a box of materials to share.  As we sit down to talk, the following things become clear:

  1. He has already thoroughly read the RFP.
  2. His organization has a well-developed vision and mission, and they have already been planning a new project that is a perfect match for this funding source.
  3. He has already assembled a grant committee that has developed a detailed summary of what they want to do.
  4. He has also already developed a draft budget.
  5. His community partners are on board, and they have already written some draft letters of support for me to review.
  6. The box he brought in with him also contains his organization’s strategic plan (which has been updated within the last year), notes from grant planning meetings (along with sign-in sheets), recent outcome evaluation data documenting the effectiveness of his organization’s services, and the results of a client and stakeholder survey he administered within the last month to gather information for this grant proposal.
  7. He respects my opinion as an expert, which he demonstrates by asking insightful questions.
  8. He has come fully prepared for the business side of the discussion. He has done his homework, so he knows our rates, and he has already acquired approval from his board to sign a contract – right now, today. In fact, he has a check in his pocket for the first payment.
Every now and then, he stops talking and just gazes at me with his gorgeous eyes (MY fantasy, remember?) and then he continues, staying on topic and respectful of my time.  He answers my questions about the project clearly and succinctly, and if he doesn’t have the answer to one of my questions, he makes a note of it, and calls or emails me within a day with the answer.
As we start working together, he sends more helpful data and he is always available to take my calls when I need more information. 
He reviews drafts I send within 24 hours, and it is clear that he has reviewed them carefully because his comments are thoughtful, insightful, and useful. He trusts my writing process. 
As the deadline approaches, he remains calm and confident that we will get the job done well and on time. He doesn’t start calling and emailing 20 times a day to ask the status of the project. He refrains from changing the project design after he has already reviewed the third and final draft of the narrative. He allows my staff the freedom to make minor budget changes, as necessary, to ensure that the narrative matches the budget (subject to his final approval, of course).
He reviews the final product carefully before submittal, fully understanding that he is responsible for the final product.
After the grant has been submitted, he makes his final payment in a timely manner – it actually arrives a day before it is due! He knows we won’t have any news for several months, so he refrains from calling every week “just to see if we’ve heard anything yet.” 
He does, however, call with new projects for us to work on together, all with the same planning, organization, and professionalism that he demonstrated on the previous project. Soon, he sets up another meeting to introduce me to a colleague from another organization who is also looking for a grant writer and has a specific grant project in mind.  He tells me that he taught his colleague everything he knows, so the process will progress pretty much as it did with his organization.
By the way, his colleague looks a lot like Brad Pitt.
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Related posts:
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Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

My Grant Writing Fantasy

My feet are firmly planted on the ground, and I am grateful for each and every one of my grant writing clients; however, I do have a bit of a fantasy life (shhhh…let’s just keep that between you and me and the millions of folks on the internet, ok?).  This means, of course, that I have a grant writing fantasy, too. In the interest of full disclosure, I have decided to share it with you.

I get a phone call from a prospective client.  He sets up an appointment to come and see me about a new grant (instead of asking me to drive three hours each way to see him). I like him already.

When he arrives, he looks just like George Clooney (you don’t have a problem with that, do you?  This is my fantasy, ya know…), and he has come prepared with a box of materials to share.  As we sit down to talk, the following things become clear:

  1. He has already thoroughly read the RFP.
  2. His organization has a well-developed vision and mission, and they have already been planning a new project that is a perfect match for this funding source.
  3. He has already assembled a grant committee that has developed a detailed summary of what they want to do.
  4. He has also already developed a draft budget.
  5. His community partners are on board, and they have already written some draft letters of support for me to review.
  6. The box he brought in with him also contains his organization’s strategic plan (which has been updated within the last year), notes from grant planning meetings (along with sign-in sheets), recent outcome evaluation data documenting the effectiveness of his organization’s services, and the results of a client and stakeholder survey he administered within the last month to gather information for this grant proposal.
  7. He respects my opinion as an expert, which he demonstrates by asking insightful questions.
  8. He has come fully prepared for the business side of the discussion. He has done his homework, so he knows our rates, and he has already acquired approval from his board to sign a contract – right now, today. In fact, he has a check in his pocket for the first payment.
Every now and then, he stops talking and just gazes at me with his gorgeous eyes (MY fantasy, remember?) and then he continues, staying on topic and respectful of my time.  He answers my questions about the project clearly and succinctly, and if he doesn’t have the answer to one of my questions, he makes a note of it, and calls or emails me within a day with the answer.
As we start working together, he sends more helpful data and he is always available to take my calls when I need more information. 
He reviews drafts I send within 24 hours, and it is clear that he has reviewed them carefully because his comments are thoughtful, insightful, and useful. He trusts my writing process. 
As the deadline approaches, he remains calm and confident that we will get the job done well and on time. He doesn’t start calling and emailing 20 times a day to ask the status of the project. He refrains from changing the project design after he has already reviewed the third and final draft of the narrative. He allows my staff the freedom to make minor budget changes, as necessary, to ensure that the narrative matches the budget (subject to his final approval, of course).
He reviews the final product carefully before submittal, fully understanding that he is responsible for the final product.
After the grant has been submitted, he makes his final payment in a timely manner – it actually arrives a day before it is due! He knows we won’t have any news for several months, so he refrains from calling every week “just to see if we’ve heard anything yet.” 
He does, however, call with new projects for us to work on together, all with the same planning, organization, and professionalism that he demonstrated on the previous project. Soon, he sets up another meeting to introduce me to a colleague from another organization who is also looking for a grant writer and has a specific grant project in mind.  He tells me that he taught his colleague everything he knows, so the process will progress pretty much as it did with his organization.
By the way, his colleague looks a lot like Brad Pitt.
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Related posts:
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Some Federal Grant Writing Resources You Shouldn’t Miss

Ready or not, the federal grant season is coming. Every year at about this time, the calls start coming in from folks who want information about federal grant opportunities. I thought that this would be a good time to put together a list of resources that can help you in your efforts to secure federal discretionary grants for your organization.

Grantmaking at ED – This 69 page e-book from the U.S. Department of Education (2010) contains a significant amount of information about the grant making process for ED, and it also includes some good resources. The easy to scan Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) format makes it easy to read, too.

Catalog of Domestic Federal Assistance (CFDA) – The CFDA contains detailed information on 2,073 federal assistance programs, including programs from the Department of Health & Human Services, Department of Education, Department of Justice, Department of Agriculture, and Department of the Interior.

Grants.gov – Your source to find and apply for federal grants.  You can search by topic, agency, or several other categories.

Office of Justice Programs Funding Resources – This page provides links to a variety of DOJ grant resources.

Applying for a New SAMHSA Grant – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a page devoted to links to help you write a new grant proposal.

SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices – If you’re writing a grant for SAMHSA or any other department that includes substance abuse prevention services or something related to it, you need to review the evidence-based programs in this guide. NREPP is an online, searchable guide of more than 160 interventions supporting mental health promotion, substance abuse prevention, and mental health and substance abuse treatment.

OJJDP Model Programs Guide – The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Model Programs Guide (MPG) is designed to assist practitioners and communities in implementing evidence-based prevention and intervention programs that can make a difference in the lives of children and communities. The MPG database of evidence-based programs covers the entire continuum of youth services from prevention through sanctions to reentry.

This is not an exhaustive list of federal grant resources.  If you are interested in an ongoing stream of resources, find us on Facebook and follow the Grant Goddess on Twitter.

You should also consider becoming a member at GrantGoddess.com for the latest in grant news and information.  members also have access to a huge multimedia library of grant writing tips.

You may also want to visit our Federal Grant Resources page where some of these resources are repeated, but where other resources are included and where we add resources as we find them.
Finally, if you’re new to grant writing or you want to brush up on your grant writing skills, consider taking an online course at Grant Goddess University. Learn grant writing on your time and at your own pace.

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

Some Federal Grant Writing Resources You Shouldn’t Miss

Ready or not, the federal grant season is coming. Every year at about this time, the calls start coming in from folks who want information about federal grant opportunities. I thought that this would be a good time to put together a list of resources that can help you in your efforts to secure federal discretionary grants for your organization.

Grantmaking at ED – This 69 page e-book from the U.S. Department of Education (2010) contains a significant amount of information about the grant making process for ED, and it also includes some good resources. The easy to scan Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) format makes it easy to read, too.

Catalog of Domestic Federal Assistance (CFDA) – The CFDA contains detailed information on 2,073 federal assistance programs, including programs from the Department of Health & Human Services, Department of Education, Department of Justice, Department of Agriculture, and Department of the Interior.

Grants.gov – Your source to find and apply for federal grants.  You can search by topic, agency, or several other categories.

Office of Justice Programs Funding Resources – This page provides links to a variety of DOJ grant resources.

Applying for a New SAMHSA Grant – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a page devoted to links to help you write a new grant proposal.

SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices – If you’re writing a grant for SAMHSA or any other department that includes substance abuse prevention services or something related to it, you need to review the evidence-based programs in this guide. NREPP is an online, searchable guide of more than 160 interventions supporting mental health promotion, substance abuse prevention, and mental health and substance abuse treatment.

OJJDP Model Programs Guide – The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Model Programs Guide (MPG) is designed to assist practitioners and communities in implementing evidence-based prevention and intervention programs that can make a difference in the lives of children and communities. The MPG database of evidence-based programs covers the entire continuum of youth services from prevention through sanctions to reentry.

This is not an exhaustive list of federal grant resources.  If you are interested in an ongoing stream of resources, find us on Facebook and follow the Grant Goddess on Twitter.

You should also consider becoming a member at GrantGoddess.com for the latest in grant news and information.  members also have access to a huge multimedia library of grant writing tips.

You may also want to visit our Federal Grant Resources page where some of these resources are repeated, but where other resources are included and where we add resources as we find them.
Finally, if you’re new to grant writing or you want to brush up on your grant writing skills, consider taking an online course at Grant Goddess University. Learn grant writing on your time and at your own pace.

Grant Writing Success – A Numbers Game?

It is not easy to explain all of the factors involved in grant writing success. Certainly, experience and skill have a lot to do with it, but there’s much more to it than that. In many ways, it’s a numbers game.

First, there are the odds of how likely you are to get funded given the total amount of money to be awarded, the total number of grants to be awarded, and the number of grant proposals likely to be submitted. So, you combine these odds with your skill and experience and that should take you to grant writing success, right?

Not so fast.

You still have to deal with the vicissitudes of the readers. In a government grant competition, you will likely have three readers and scoring criteria that add up to 100 possible points awarded per reader. Hopefully, the readers will be carefully trained and will thoroughly understand the scoring criteria and how points should be allocated. Even in this ideal situation, there can still be dramatic differences in the points allocated by the different readers. In some competitions, the readers are required to conference with each other and bring their scores within a certain distance of each other, but sometimes the readers score independently and all three scores are averaged. This is how it’s possible to get scores of 100, 98, and 85, knocking your proposal out of the funding range. It shouldn’t be possible, but it is.

And the more extreme the competition is (see my discussion of the odds, above), the higher your score needs to be in order to be funded, which means that you need all three readers to award you exceptionally high scores if you hope to be funded.

Even then, it’s no guarantee. In a recent grant competition I received scores of 100, 98, and 96, and our proposal still was not funded. When I looked back at the readers written comments, there were no suggestions for improvement. It kind of makes you think that the whole grant award process is more random than you thought, doesn’t it?

Regardless of the odds and the biases of the readers, experience and skill still play the biggest roles in the grant award process. In the example I just gave you, as frustrating as it was to have submitted an excellent proposal that was not funded, the truth is that if it had not been an excellent proposal it would’ve had absolutely no chance of being funded. In that particular competition, only the absolute best, near-perfect proposals had a chance at being funded. While it may seem random, it’s not.

Submitting a well-written, high-quality proposal is still the best way to negotiate the maze of the numbers game and reach the goal of grant writing success.

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Would you like to improve your grant writing skills?  Want to learn to be a great writer?  Try our Grant Writing 101 online course.  Learn at your own pace when it’s convenient for you.

Grant Writing Success – A Numbers Game?

It is not easy to explain all of the factors involved in grant writing success. Certainly, experience and skill have a lot to do with it, but there’s much more to it than that. In many ways, it’s a numbers game.

First, there are the odds of how likely you are to get funded given the total amount of money to be awarded, the total number of grants to be awarded, and the number of grant proposals likely to be submitted. So, you combine these odds with your skill and experience and that should take you to grant writing success, right?

Not so fast.

You still have to deal with the vicissitudes of the readers. In a government grant competition, you will likely have three readers and scoring criteria that add up to 100 possible points awarded per reader. Hopefully, the readers will be carefully trained and will thoroughly understand the scoring criteria and how points should be allocated. Even in this ideal situation, there can still be dramatic differences in the points allocated by the different readers. In some competitions, the readers are required to conference with each other and bring their scores within a certain distance of each other, but sometimes the readers score independently and all three scores are averaged. This is how it’s possible to get scores of 100, 98, and 85, knocking your proposal out of the funding range. It shouldn’t be possible, but it is.

And the more extreme the competition is (see my discussion of the odds, above), the higher your score needs to be in order to be funded, which means that you need all three readers to award you exceptionally high scores if you hope to be funded.

Even then, it’s no guarantee. In a recent grant competition I received scores of 100, 98, and 96, and our proposal still was not funded. When I looked back at the readers written comments, there were no suggestions for improvement. It kind of makes you think that the whole grant award process is more random than you thought, doesn’t it?

Regardless of the odds and the biases of the readers, experience and skill still play the biggest roles in the grant award process. In the example I just gave you, as frustrating as it was to have submitted an excellent proposal that was not funded, the truth is that if it had not been an excellent proposal it would’ve had absolutely no chance of being funded. In that particular competition, only the absolute best, near-perfect proposals had a chance at being funded. While it may seem random, it’s not.

Submitting a well-written, high-quality proposal is still the best way to negotiate the maze of the numbers game and reach the goal of grant writing success.

—————————-

Would you like to improve your grant writing skills?  Want to learn to be a great writer?  Try our Grant Writing 101 online course.  Learn at your own pace when it’s convenient for you.

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

If They Made a Movie about Grant Writing Consultants……

It would be a thriller.  Yes, I’m sure of that. It would be an action-packed, intrigue-driven thriller that would keep you on the edge of your seat. I’m talking about the kind of thriller that is somewhere between Speed (with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves) and Matt Damon’s The Bourne Identity, but it would have the heart of a drama – think about the perseverence of The Shawshank Redemption.  And it would also have some of the recklessness of Thelma and Louise.

I would be played, of course, by Kathy Bates, who would certainly win an Academy Award for her sensitive portrayal of such a complex character. Other grant writing consultants in the movie would be played by Brad Pitt and Shirley McClain, with supporting roles filled by Ben Affleck, and other fine actors. Richard Gere would be in it just because.

Here’s the basic plot:

Our heroine, Kathy Bates, would get a phone call charging her to write a very competitive grant in a very short period of time. She would argue briefly that it couldn’t be done, but she’d be told that it must be done and it must be successful because the fate of free world is in her capable hands. She would call her colleagues Brad Pitt (who’s having a beer at Rubicon) and Shirley MacLaine (who is somewhere in the moutains firewalking and getting in touch with her Chi) who would rush back into town to help.

Brad Pitt would work with the client to get the data needed for the grant, but it wouldn’t arrive.  Kathy Bates would yell, “But tell them we must have it!” and Brad would valiantly declare, “Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” as he hopped on his trusty steed (old Honda) and headed out to pick up the data personally. Richard Gere would just massage Kathy’s back while she wrote, whispering, “You can do it.  I know you can,” into her ear while she writes.

Tight shot on the clock spinning wildly as the time passes, and the calendar as the days fly by….

Shirley MacClaine tirelessly does research while support staff member Tina Fey works on the budget. Ben Affleck answers the phone with expert skill, keeping would-be interrupters away with a polite, but firm, “No, you can’t speak with her.  She’s saving the world!”

As the deadline draws nearer, the pressure mounts.  Shirley floats in and out picking up pieces here and there and offering her expertise.  Brad  remains calm on outside while expertly assembling appendices. Kathy’s fingers sieze up from the pain, but Richard massages the pain away.

As the first draft is complete, in walks Helen Mirren, competently and calmly proclaiming, “I’ll take over from here,” as she sits with the narrative and begins proofreading and editing, her pen flying across the page as Richard offers Kathy cool grapes, Tina wraps up the budget, Shirley finalizes the abstract, and Brad  talks to the client on the phone, assuring him that all is well.

Suddenly, Tina shouts, “Nooooo!!!!! The web portal is down!” Kathy rushes into her office, knocking Richard down on the way (sorry, Richard). “But it can’t be down!  The grant is due in 2 hours!” Tina just rocks back and forth, “It’s down, it’s down, it’s down, oh my god it’s down…..”

Helen retains her predator-like focus on the editing task.

Tina says, “Wait!  I think I can hack into the portal through the government’s evaluation site…”

“Do it!” shouts Kathy, “Do it NOW!”

Ben shouts at someone on the phone, “New phone service?  Are you crazy?  This is no time for solicitation!  She doesn’t want to talk you.  She’ll never want to talk to you!”  As he slams the phone down, Tina explains, “I’m in!”

“Great,” sighs Kathy, “Let’s get this baby uploaded and put to bed.”

“Ready!” says Helen, as she hands over a perfectly edited draft to Kathy.

Shirley calmly floats in, “I knew everything would be ok.”

“Don’t be so sure,” cautions Kathy. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”

Tina, Brad, and Helen work together to get all the documents uploaded, while Shirley and Kathy sip some tea.

Tina announces, “Done! The grant has been submitted…on time!”

Helen adds, “And it’s a good one!”

Kathy comments, with a matter of fact tone, “Of course it is.”  Then she looks around for Richard….

Ben answers the phone and tells Kathy, “It’s Mr. Non-Profit. He says he has a challenging project for you…..and it’s due next week.”

Kathy sips her tea, raises and eyebrow, and says, “Oh?  Sounds intriguing.  Brad, Shirley, we have another assignment!”

——————————

If They Made a Movie about Grant Writing Consultants……

It would be a thriller.  Yes, I’m sure of that. It would be an action-packed, intrigue-driven thriller that would keep you on the edge of your seat. I’m talking about the kind of thriller that is somewhere between Speed (with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves) and Matt Damon’s The Bourne Identity, but it would have the heart of a drama – think about the perseverence of The Shawshank Redemption.  And it would also have some of the recklessness of Thelma and Louise.

I would be played, of course, by Kathy Bates, who would certainly win an Academy Award for her sensitive portrayal of such a complex character. Other grant writing consultants in the movie would be played by Brad Pitt and Shirley McClain, with supporting roles filled by Ben Affleck, and other fine actors. Richard Gere would be in it just because.

Here’s the basic plot:

Our heroine, Kathy Bates, would get a phone call charging her to write a very competitive grant in a very short period of time. She would argue briefly that it couldn’t be done, but she’d be told that it must be done and it must be successful because the fate of free world is in her capable hands. She would call her colleagues Brad Pitt (who’s having a beer at Rubicon) and Shirley MacLaine (who is somewhere in the moutains firewalking and getting in touch with her Chi) who would rush back into town to help.

Brad Pitt would work with the client to get the data needed for the grant, but it wouldn’t arrive.  Kathy Bates would yell, “But tell them we must have it!” and Brad would valiantly declare, “Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” as he hopped on his trusty steed (old Honda) and headed out to pick up the data personally. Richard Gere would just massage Kathy’s back while she wrote, whispering, “You can do it.  I know you can,” into her ear while she writes.

Tight shot on the clock spinning wildly as the time passes, and the calendar as the days fly by….

Shirley MacClaine tirelessly does research while support staff member Tina Fey works on the budget. Ben Affleck answers the phone with expert skill, keeping would-be interrupters away with a polite, but firm, “No, you can’t speak with her.  She’s saving the world!”

As the deadline draws nearer, the pressure mounts.  Shirley floats in and out picking up pieces here and there and offering her expertise.  Brad  remains calm on outside while expertly assembling appendices. Kathy’s fingers sieze up from the pain, but Richard massages the pain away.

As the first draft is complete, in walks Helen Mirren, competently and calmly proclaiming, “I’ll take over from here,” as she sits with the narrative and begins proofreading and editing, her pen flying across the page as Richard offers Kathy cool grapes, Tina wraps up the budget, Shirley finalizes the abstract, and Brad  talks to the client on the phone, assuring him that all is well.

Suddenly, Tina shouts, “Nooooo!!!!! The web portal is down!” Kathy rushes into her office, knocking Richard down on the way (sorry, Richard). “But it can’t be down!  The grant is due in 2 hours!” Tina just rocks back and forth, “It’s down, it’s down, it’s down, oh my god it’s down…..”

Helen retains her predator-like focus on the editing task.

Tina says, “Wait!  I think I can hack into the portal through the government’s evaluation site…”

“Do it!” shouts Kathy, “Do it NOW!”

Ben shouts at someone on the phone, “New phone service?  Are you crazy?  This is no time for solicitation!  She doesn’t want to talk you.  She’ll never want to talk to you!”  As he slams the phone down, Tina explains, “I’m in!”

“Great,” sighs Kathy, “Let’s get this baby uploaded and put to bed.”

“Ready!” says Helen, as she hands over a perfectly edited draft to Kathy.

Shirley calmly floats in, “I knew everything would be ok.”

“Don’t be so sure,” cautions Kathy. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”

Tina, Brad, and Helen work together to get all the documents uploaded, while Shirley and Kathy sip some tea.

Tina announces, “Done! The grant has been submitted…on time!”

Helen adds, “And it’s a good one!”

Kathy comments, with a matter of fact tone, “Of course it is.”  Then she looks around for Richard….

Ben answers the phone and tells Kathy, “It’s Mr. Non-Profit. He says he has a challenging project for you…..and it’s due next week.”

Kathy sips her tea, raises and eyebrow, and says, “Oh?  Sounds intriguing.  Brad, Shirley, we have another assignment!”

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

The Worst Reasons for NOT Writing a Grant

I hear all sorts of reasons for not pursuing grant opportunities. To be fair, they are very real for the person making the excuse at the time, and grant writing is not easy.  If it were, everyone would do it.  It’s difficult and time consuming.  There are some good reasons for not writing a grant, including a mis-match between your organization’s mission and the purpose of the grant program, changing organizational priorities, and the implementation of a well-developed fund development plan that calls for a focus on other sources of income. However, most of the reasons I hear are not the good ones.  Here are the worst reasons for not writing a grant that I hear most:

  1. We don’t have the time. Are you kidding me?  Who does have the time?  No one.  If you want to bring in additional resources to your organization, you have to make the time. It’s all about priorities.  Instead of saying you don’t have time, tell the truth.  Say, “We are choosing to spend our time doing other things.”
  2. We probably won’t get it. As my mother would say, with an attitude like that, you probably won’t. My mother also used to say, “No guts, no glory!” The bottom line is that if the purpose of the program is well aligned with your organization’s mission, and if you have a solid idea, you have a very good chance of being funded., but you definitely won’t get it if you don’t make an effort.
  3. The grant will just end in 3 years anyway. Believe it or not, I hear this one a lot.  Those who say this seem to forget that between now and three years from now, your clients will benefit from some great services. A lot can happen in 3 years (or 2 years or 5 years), and you can make a big difference in the lives of people over a year or two. Why would you give up that opportunity just because you may not have the resources to do it forever?
  4. We don’t have anyone who can write it.  This falls into the same category as “we don’t have the time.”  You probably do have someone in your organization (or a team of people) who can write it if you just restructure the schedule for a while. And don’t forget. you can hire professional grant writers to help if you need to.

Yes, there are some good reasons for not pursing some grant opportunities, but none of these fall into that category.  Get your priorities straight and focus on overcoming the barriers that prevent you from bringing n the resources your clients deserve.

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