Category Archives: 101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers

Ten Tips for Grant Writing Success

Learning about grant writing in one blog post is a little like learning about an iceberg from seeing what’s above the water line. This article just shows you part of what’s above the surface, the rest is deeper and there’s a whole lot more to it. I encourage you to search our blog articles and look at our web site resources to learn more. I write whatever feels right at the moment, and this Friday afternoon, writing a simple post about ten tips feels perfect. Here goes:
  1. Learn to write short, declarative sentences;
  2. Correctly target your proposal to the right source;
  3. Follow guidelines and restrictions scrupulously;
  4. Create a writing outline;
  5. Collaborate with your client on program design;
  6. Write objectives that measurably impact the needs identified;
  7.  Keep formatting simple and uncluttered;
  8. Use the services of an editor;
  9. Budget line items should never surprise the reader;
  10. Check the proposal for completeness against a checklist.

Veronica put 101 tips into her book and some of these are probably repeats because they’re each so fundamental to grant development.
Success in grant writing does not happen by accident. Grants are successful because someone can write well, follow directions, and translate a lot of discussion and data into an actionable plan.
If you want to learn more about grant writing, polish and perfect your skills, we can help you do that with our online courses. We also give grant writing seminars on site for groups and we’d love to work with your agency when you need to train staff to write proposals.
Other articles you may enjoy:
Photo Credit – jacob gerritsen
Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Uh-Oh: We Got the Grant, But We Didn’t Plan!

Often when you are applying for grants clients get very excited and can tend to exhibit what Alan Greenspan called “irrational exuberance.”


It is important to remember as a grant writer that developing grant applications without proper planning can create more problems than the grant funding would solve. There is a considerable amount of responsibility and work that goes along with implementation of a successfully funded grant. Careful planning throughout grant development is vital in order to ensure successful implementation.

Here are 10 things to consider when planning for submission of a grant proposal to ensure that your grant is well thought out, realistic, and is based on achievable objectives:
  1. Establish a planning committee before the RFP is publicized. Be certain to include all relevant partners who may be interested in participating, impacted by the grant services, and who are logical partners to share costs and in-kind services.
  2. Maintain meeting records for the committee including roster, minutes, and agendas.
  3. Engage the committee in a needs assessment and program planning process.
  4.  Work out collaborative agreements and partnerships.
  5.  Develop memoranda of understanding and letters of commitment among the partners.
  6. Gather resolutions from boards and leadership committees of the partner organizations.
  7. Obtain commitments from the partners for materials, services, budget commitments, participation in governance, and commitment to contribute data.
  8. Develop a program design that the planning committee is in agreement with to address the needs identified in item 3.
  9. Create an evaluation design to ensure that partners are aware and committed to data collection that will validate the achievements of the grant program.
  10. Engage the planning committee in reviewing the grant narrative as it is being developed in order to ensure its accuracy and feasibility.

Often it is the responsibility of the grant writer to act as the voice of reason and to share their experience with clients who may be irrationally exuberant (or irrationally hesitant) about a grant opportunity. This may seem counterintuitive, in that you may feel that you are losing valuable business; however, it’s good business to bring funding to your client if it is going to result in positive programs and positive outcomes that make them look good and help them achieve their mission. Enabling clients to apply for grants that they are either unqualified to implement or are of a scale that is beyond their capacity is harmful to your relationship with your client in the long run.

My master teacher always told us that failing to plan was planning to fail. Grant writers must be proactive in assisting their clients in the planning process to ensure that the grant submitted is realistic both in terms of current reality and future feasibility for implementation.


By:  Derek Link


————————————


Other posts from The GrantGoddess Speaks that you might like:

How Did I Learn Grant Writing?  – Derek Link

Grant Writer Stalked by Client

Rantings of an Opinionated Grant Writer

Help! Grant Writer Downing in Paper!

How Positive Writing Makes a Better Grant

Also, take some time to visit A Writer’s Journey for more thoughts on writing.

Uh-Oh: We Got the Grant, But We Didn’t Plan!

Often when you are applying for grants clients get very excited and can tend to exhibit what Alan Greenspan called “irrational exuberance.”


It is important to remember as a grant writer that developing grant applications without proper planning can create more problems than the grant funding would solve. There is a considerable amount of responsibility and work that goes along with implementation of a successfully funded grant. Careful planning throughout grant development is vital in order to ensure successful implementation.

Here are 10 things to consider when planning for submission of a grant proposal to ensure that your grant is well thought out, realistic, and is based on achievable objectives:
  1. Establish a planning committee before the RFP is publicized. Be certain to include all relevant partners who may be interested in participating, impacted by the grant services, and who are logical partners to share costs and in-kind services.
  2. Maintain meeting records for the committee including roster, minutes, and agendas.
  3. Engage the committee in a needs assessment and program planning process.
  4.  Work out collaborative agreements and partnerships.
  5.  Develop memoranda of understanding and letters of commitment among the partners.
  6. Gather resolutions from boards and leadership committees of the partner organizations.
  7. Obtain commitments from the partners for materials, services, budget commitments, participation in governance, and commitment to contribute data.
  8. Develop a program design that the planning committee is in agreement with to address the needs identified in item 3.
  9. Create an evaluation design to ensure that partners are aware and committed to data collection that will validate the achievements of the grant program.
  10. Engage the planning committee in reviewing the grant narrative as it is being developed in order to ensure its accuracy and feasibility.

Often it is the responsibility of the grant writer to act as the voice of reason and to share their experience with clients who may be irrationally exuberant (or irrationally hesitant) about a grant opportunity. This may seem counterintuitive, in that you may feel that you are losing valuable business; however, it’s good business to bring funding to your client if it is going to result in positive programs and positive outcomes that make them look good and help them achieve their mission. Enabling clients to apply for grants that they are either unqualified to implement or are of a scale that is beyond their capacity is harmful to your relationship with your client in the long run.

My master teacher always told us that failing to plan was planning to fail. Grant writers must be proactive in assisting their clients in the planning process to ensure that the grant submitted is realistic both in terms of current reality and future feasibility for implementation.


By:  Derek Link


————————————


Other posts from The GrantGoddess Speaks that you might like:

How Did I Learn Grant Writing?  – Derek Link

Grant Writer Stalked by Client

Rantings of an Opinionated Grant Writer

Help! Grant Writer Downing in Paper!

How Positive Writing Makes a Better Grant

Also, take some time to visit A Writer’s Journey for more thoughts on writing.

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

Preparing for the Grant Writing Process

Here’s some advice from non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, on preparing for the grant writing process and staying focused while you work on your grant:

It is entirely possible that as you read this that you are either taking a break from writing a grant, or that you are seeking inspiration as you prepare to write one. In either case, you are probably experiencing the anticipation of mental engagement with a narrative that becomes a consuming process throughout the narrative creation.

The grant writing process is mentally challenging so it’s wise to prepare yourself before you write and to think ahead about your writing process.

Here are some things I do that may be helpful for you to consider:

  1. Get enough sleep. You won’t get more quality writing done by staying up later.
  2. Eat the right foods. If you’re hungry or spaced out on Twinkies, your narrative may go off track.
  3. Take your normal exercise. Sitting and writing is hard on the body and if you get uncomfortable, it’s harder to write well.
  4. Set up a low distraction, comfortable place to write. No unneeded electronics, no kids chirping for snacks; it’s time to isolate and focus. Use good lighting and acomfortable chair. Have some snacks and beverages at the ready.
  5. Be organized before writing. Nothing is worse than getting into a rhythm on a narrative only to come to a screeching halt because some key piece wasn’t anticipated and is missing and since it is Saturday as you write, there’s no way to get it ‘til Monday.
  6. Set a realistic goal for the day. Know how much you want to complete of the narrative so you feel good about your writing. Finishing the narrative should only be your goal once. ( OK, maybe twice)!
  7. Go somewhere else to read your drafts. Two things I like to do with my drafts after I print one out to review: a) I like to go somewhere else to read it like a coffee shop or outdoors in summer, and b) I like to read it out loud to myself since I often get too close to the narrative to hear it in my head after a while.

Remember the dog in the animated cartoon “Up” that is introducing himself and suddenly a squirrel distracts him? Well you don’t need too many squirrels in your day to take you off-task while writing. Getting ready to write requires that you plan ahead to minimize distractions as much as possible, life happens but the squirrels can sometimes be kept at bay.

———————–
 
Related Posts:
 
Time Management Tips for Grant Writers
 
Form a Grant Planning Committee
 
Facing the Blank Page
 
Relax….and Tell Your Story
 
———————-
 
Try our GrantTips iPhone App!
 
———————-

Preparing for the Grant Writing Process

Here’s some advice from non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, on preparing for the grant writing process and staying focused while you work on your grant:

It is entirely possible that as you read this that you are either taking a break from writing a grant, or that you are seeking inspiration as you prepare to write one. In either case, you are probably experiencing the anticipation of mental engagement with a narrative that becomes a consuming process throughout the narrative creation.

The grant writing process is mentally challenging so it’s wise to prepare yourself before you write and to think ahead about your writing process.

Here are some things I do that may be helpful for you to consider:

  1. Get enough sleep. You won’t get more quality writing done by staying up later.
  2. Eat the right foods. If you’re hungry or spaced out on Twinkies, your narrative may go off track.
  3. Take your normal exercise. Sitting and writing is hard on the body and if you get uncomfortable, it’s harder to write well.
  4. Set up a low distraction, comfortable place to write. No unneeded electronics, no kids chirping for snacks; it’s time to isolate and focus. Use good lighting and acomfortable chair. Have some snacks and beverages at the ready.
  5. Be organized before writing. Nothing is worse than getting into a rhythm on a narrative only to come to a screeching halt because some key piece wasn’t anticipated and is missing and since it is Saturday as you write, there’s no way to get it ‘til Monday.
  6. Set a realistic goal for the day. Know how much you want to complete of the narrative so you feel good about your writing. Finishing the narrative should only be your goal once. ( OK, maybe twice)!
  7. Go somewhere else to read your drafts. Two things I like to do with my drafts after I print one out to review: a) I like to go somewhere else to read it like a coffee shop or outdoors in summer, and b) I like to read it out loud to myself since I often get too close to the narrative to hear it in my head after a while.

Remember the dog in the animated cartoon “Up” that is introducing himself and suddenly a squirrel distracts him? Well you don’t need too many squirrels in your day to take you off-task while writing. Getting ready to write requires that you plan ahead to minimize distractions as much as possible, life happens but the squirrels can sometimes be kept at bay.

———————–
 
Related Posts:
 
Time Management Tips for Grant Writers
 
Form a Grant Planning Committee
 
Facing the Blank Page
 
Relax….and Tell Your Story
 
———————-
 
Try our GrantTips iPhone App!
 
———————-

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

Bless His Cotton Socks

Every culture has its own polite way of saying, “He’s an idiot.” In South Africa, a friend of mine who grew up there will say “Bless his cotton socks.” In the Southern U.S., I’ve heard the common, “Bless his heart.” In California, we tend to use the somewhat lukewarm, “He meant well.”

These sayings are used at the end of sentences like, “Joe fell off the top step of the ladder again, bless his heart,” or “Judy is wearing that peacock-feathered hat again, bless her heart.” In grant writing there’s a little different set of applications for these sayings. Here are a few:

  1. “Mortimer thought the budget would be easy to put together so he waited until 8AM on the deadline date to start. Bless his heart.”
  2. “Jackie skimmed the RFA and missed the fact that there had to be an evaluation section. Bless her heart.”
  3. “George figured a one page letter of commitment wasn’t a big deal for the partners so he didn’t ask request them until a week before the deadline. Bless his cotton socks.”
  4. “Fernando wanted to save paper so he reduced the font to size ten in all the tables when the RFA required a size 12, but he meant well.”
  5. “Wynona put 20 computers in the project budget but didn’t describe how she’d use them in the narrative. Bless her heart.”

While we use these sayings to accommodate the humanity of our follies, finding them at the end of a sentence in a grant writing process is generally very bad news. Don’t invite someone to bless your cotton socks as a grant writer!

—————————-

This post was written by Derek Link, non-profit consultant and expert grant writer.

—————————-

Want grant tips? Visit GrantGoddess.com!

Bless His Cotton Socks

Every culture has its own polite way of saying, “He’s an idiot.” In South Africa, a friend of mine who grew up there will say “Bless his cotton socks.” In the Southern U.S., I’ve heard the common, “Bless his heart.” In California, we tend to use the somewhat lukewarm, “He meant well.”

These sayings are used at the end of sentences like, “Joe fell off the top step of the ladder again, bless his heart,” or “Judy is wearing that peacock-feathered hat again, bless her heart.” In grant writing there’s a little different set of applications for these sayings. Here are a few:

  1. “Mortimer thought the budget would be easy to put together so he waited until 8AM on the deadline date to start. Bless his heart.”
  2. “Jackie skimmed the RFA and missed the fact that there had to be an evaluation section. Bless her heart.”
  3. “George figured a one page letter of commitment wasn’t a big deal for the partners so he didn’t ask request them until a week before the deadline. Bless his cotton socks.”
  4. “Fernando wanted to save paper so he reduced the font to size ten in all the tables when the RFA required a size 12, but he meant well.”
  5. “Wynona put 20 computers in the project budget but didn’t describe how she’d use them in the narrative. Bless her heart.”

While we use these sayings to accommodate the humanity of our follies, finding them at the end of a sentence in a grant writing process is generally very bad news. Don’t invite someone to bless your cotton socks as a grant writer!

—————————-

This post was written by Derek Link, non-profit consultant and expert grant writer.

—————————-

Want grant tips? Visit GrantGoddess.com!

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

Grant Writing Tip – Put Needs Data in Context

I was working on a school library grant recently and I had all sorts of great data about collection size, age of the school library collection, access to the collection, and qualifications of staff.  Sounds great, right?  The problem is that knowing all that really didn’t tell me anything.  Without the context of state and national averages, I didn’t know if this school was doing great or really in need of help. So, I started doing some research and I got the information I needed to put the data into context and describe the need.

This experience reminded me again that data in isolation means nothing.

As a grant writer, you use data to help you tell a story and build a case for why you need a grant. Using only local statistics without using regional, state, and/or national data to put the local data into context is just as innefective as only providing national data without any local data to show your local situation.  Both scenarios will have the same effect – you won’t get funded.

————————

Want more grant writing tips? Visit GrantGoddess.com or buy 101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers.

Grant Writing Tip – Put Needs Data in Context

I was working on a school library grant recently and I had all sorts of great data about collection size, age of the school library collection, access to the collection, and qualifications of staff.  Sounds great, right?  The problem is that knowing all that really didn’t tell me anything.  Without the context of state and national averages, I didn’t know if this school was doing great or really in need of help. So, I started doing some research and I got the information I needed to put the data into context and describe the need.

This experience reminded me again that data in isolation means nothing.

As a grant writer, you use data to help you tell a story and build a case for why you need a grant. Using only local statistics without using regional, state, and/or national data to put the local data into context is just as innefective as only providing national data without any local data to show your local situation.  Both scenarios will have the same effect – you won’t get funded.

————————

Want more grant writing tips? Visit GrantGoddess.com or buy 101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers.

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

101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers

Yes, it’s finally here!  You can now pre-order a copy of 101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers. This 169-page book by Veronica Robbins is divided into 13 chapters, and is designed to walk you through the preparation of a grant application from start to finish.

If you pre-order between now and April 22, 2010 you can get the book for only $8.95 (that’s $4.00 off the $14.95 cover price). All pre-orders will ship around April 23, 2010.

The chapters included in 101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers are:

  • General Grant Writing Tips
  • Expressing Your Need for the Grant
  • Goals and Objectives
  • Program Design
  • Management Plan
  • Personnel
  • Evaluation
  • Budget
  • Editing
  • Formatting
  • Assembly and Mailing
  • Ethics
  • Finding Grants

Extra bonus!  Anyone who pre-orders by April 15, 2010 will receive an autographed copy of the book, signed by the author!

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