Category Archives: grant goddess

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

Get Your Free E-Book – 12 Secrets of Successful Grant Writers

I am about publish a 20+ page e-book titled, 12 Secrets of Successful Grant Writers. I will be sending it our electronically on Friday, April 23rd. There are THREE ways you can get it FREE on that day:

  1. Become a fan of my new Grant Goddess Facebook Page. The Grant Goddess page will focus on sharing news about electronic grant writing resources. On Friday, 4/23, I’ll send a link to the e-book download page to all fans of the Grant Goddess page on that day.
  2. Sign up to receive our electronic newsletter (e-zine). Go to http://grantgoddess.com/ezine.html and enter your email address to sign up. All subscribers will be sent the e-book link on 4/23. By the way, the e-zine is currently published once a month, but we’ll be moving to twice a month soon. Don’t worry. You won’t be flooded with email and I don’t use that list for any purpose other than the e-zine.
  3. Buy a copy of 101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers through my website. Go to http://grantgoddess.com/101-grant-tips-book.html to place your order. Ordering through Amazon doesn’t count for this offer because I won’t know who you are or where to send the e-book link.

You don’t have to do all three of these to get the e-book, just any ONE will do. Of course, if you would like to do more than one, that would be great!

Also, please share this opportunity with anyone else you know who may be interested.

Remember, the e-book will be sent out on 4/23 to anyone who has accomplished any one of the three actions mentioned here by that date.

An abridged, audio version (CD) of 12 Secrets of Successful Grant Writers is available for purchase in our online store.

———————————–

Visit GrantGoddess.com to get grant writing tips and resources!

Get Your Free E-Book – 12 Secrets of Successful Grant Writers

I am about publish a 20+ page e-book titled, 12 Secrets of Successful Grant Writers. I will be sending it our electronically on Friday, April 23rd. There are THREE ways you can get it FREE on that day:

  1. Become a fan of my new Grant Goddess Facebook Page. The Grant Goddess page will focus on sharing news about electronic grant writing resources. On Friday, 4/23, I’ll send a link to the e-book download page to all fans of the Grant Goddess page on that day.
  2. Sign up to receive our electronic newsletter (e-zine). Go to http://grantgoddess.com/ezine.html and enter your email address to sign up. All subscribers will be sent the e-book link on 4/23. By the way, the e-zine is currently published once a month, but we’ll be moving to twice a month soon. Don’t worry. You won’t be flooded with email and I don’t use that list for any purpose other than the e-zine.
  3. Buy a copy of 101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers through my website. Go to http://grantgoddess.com/101-grant-tips-book.html to place your order. Ordering through Amazon doesn’t count for this offer because I won’t know who you are or where to send the e-book link.

You don’t have to do all three of these to get the e-book, just any ONE will do. Of course, if you would like to do more than one, that would be great!

Also, please share this opportunity with anyone else you know who may be interested.

Remember, the e-book will be sent out on 4/23 to anyone who has accomplished any one of the three actions mentioned here by that date.

An abridged, audio version (CD) of 12 Secrets of Successful Grant Writers is available for purchase in our online store.

———————————–

Visit GrantGoddess.com to get grant writing tips and resources!

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

Grant Writing Tools You Can Use

Every now and then we like to post about the amazing grant writing tools we have to help you be successful.  Most are totally FREE.  Those that aren’t free are very inexpensive. Please feel free to share these tools with your friends and colleagues. Grant writers need all the help they can get.

New Text Message Tips. This is really new for us.  We’re sending out grant writing tips and grant sources via text message. There are four different groups you can join – you can join them all or juts the one or two that interest you the most. The tips are totally free, but if you don’t have an unlimited text plan with your mobile provider, standard text message rates apply. We’re sending out 2-3 messages per week for each group, so you won’t be inundated with texts and we do not sell third party advertising so you won’t be flooded with ads, either. Here’s how you sign up:

  • Text GRANTS to 313131 for grant writing tips.
  • Text EDGRANTS to 313131 for grant sources relating to education.
  • Text KIDGRANTS to 313131 for grant sources for youth programs.
  • Text NONPROFIT to 313131 for non-profit development and fund raising tips.

Free online webinars. Right now, we offer free recorded webinars on the following grant writing topics:

  • Top 10 Tips for Grant Wsriting
  • Collaborating with School Districts on Grants
  • Writing Good Letters of Support
  • Grant Research: The Basics
  • Effective Grant Research

In addition to these topics, we have other webinars on various program evaluation and non-profit development topics.  All are between 20 and 40 minutes long (most are about 30 minutes) and all are available for viewing on demand.


BlogTalk Radio Tips from the Grant Goddess.  Every Friday at 3:00 p.m. (Pacific) we air our 30 minute  online radio show, Tips from the Grant Goddess, on BlogTalkRadio. If you miss the live show, you can listen to the recordings on demand at any time. There are currently over 35 shows archived for listening at your leisure.  Some of the many grant writing topics covered in these shows include:

  • The Art and the Science of Grant Writing
  • Tips for Effective Collaboration
  • Budget Development
  • Writing Good Letters of Support
  • Grant Writing: The Basics
  • Grant Seeking
  • Developing a Logic Model
  • Selecting Evidence-Based Programs and Practices

Grant Writing Resources Page. This page has quite a selection of great FREE grant writing resources and tools, including articles and links to other sites with good grant writing resources.

Past Blog Posts. Take some time to go back through the archive of blog posts here.The posts you find are different than the articles we put on the Grant Writing Resources Page. With the exception of news posts, most of our posts are about grant writing tips and techniques that you can still use long after they were initially published.

Grant Tips iPhone App. We took the time to put together an iPhone application with 101+ grant tips to help you succeed with your grant writing.  Currently, the app is available for 99 cents in the App Store. You can get more information here. Pretty soon, the FREE version of the app (Grant Tips Lite) will be available.  It will have only 50 tips, rather than over a hundred, but the other features will all be the same. Stay tuned for more information as we release the new app.

Membership at GrantGoddess.com. Everything I’ve told you about so far has been free (or very inexpensive). A membership at GrantGoddess.com costs only $9.95/month (or you can save some money and get an annual membership for $99/year). On the member site, you’ll have access to the largest collection of grant seeking, grant writing, program evaluation, and non-profit development resources available on the web! The content is not duplicated from the free site; it’s all developed just for members. We launched the member site in January 2010 and it’s growing every day.  But here’s the rub — the early bird rate of $9.95/mo is only good until the end of May.  On June 1, the price will go up to $19.95/month.  Lock in your lower membership rate now!

Grant Writing Tools You Can Use

Every now and then we like to post about the amazing grant writing tools we have to help you be successful.  Most are totally FREE.  Those that aren’t free are very inexpensive. Please feel free to share these tools with your friends and colleagues. Grant writers need all the help they can get.

New Text Message Tips. This is really new for us.  We’re sending out grant writing tips and grant sources via text message. There are four different groups you can join – you can join them all or juts the one or two that interest you the most. The tips are totally free, but if you don’t have an unlimited text plan with your mobile provider, standard text message rates apply. We’re sending out 2-3 messages per week for each group, so you won’t be inundated with texts and we do not sell third party advertising so you won’t be flooded with ads, either. Here’s how you sign up:

  • Text GRANTS to 313131 for grant writing tips.
  • Text EDGRANTS to 313131 for grant sources relating to education.
  • Text KIDGRANTS to 313131 for grant sources for youth programs.
  • Text NONPROFIT to 313131 for non-profit development and fund raising tips.

Free online webinars. Right now, we offer free recorded webinars on the following grant writing topics:

  • Top 10 Tips for Grant Wsriting
  • Collaborating with School Districts on Grants
  • Writing Good Letters of Support
  • Grant Research: The Basics
  • Effective Grant Research

In addition to these topics, we have other webinars on various program evaluation and non-profit development topics.  All are between 20 and 40 minutes long (most are about 30 minutes) and all are available for viewing on demand.


BlogTalk Radio Tips from the Grant Goddess.  Every Friday at 3:00 p.m. (Pacific) we air our 30 minute  online radio show, Tips from the Grant Goddess, on BlogTalkRadio. If you miss the live show, you can listen to the recordings on demand at any time. There are currently over 35 shows archived for listening at your leisure.  Some of the many grant writing topics covered in these shows include:

  • The Art and the Science of Grant Writing
  • Tips for Effective Collaboration
  • Budget Development
  • Writing Good Letters of Support
  • Grant Writing: The Basics
  • Grant Seeking
  • Developing a Logic Model
  • Selecting Evidence-Based Programs and Practices

Grant Writing Resources Page. This page has quite a selection of great FREE grant writing resources and tools, including articles and links to other sites with good grant writing resources.

Past Blog Posts. Take some time to go back through the archive of blog posts here.The posts you find are different than the articles we put on the Grant Writing Resources Page. With the exception of news posts, most of our posts are about grant writing tips and techniques that you can still use long after they were initially published.

Grant Tips iPhone App. We took the time to put together an iPhone application with 101+ grant tips to help you succeed with your grant writing.  Currently, the app is available for 99 cents in the App Store. You can get more information here. Pretty soon, the FREE version of the app (Grant Tips Lite) will be available.  It will have only 50 tips, rather than over a hundred, but the other features will all be the same. Stay tuned for more information as we release the new app.

Membership at GrantGoddess.com. Everything I’ve told you about so far has been free (or very inexpensive). A membership at GrantGoddess.com costs only $9.95/month (or you can save some money and get an annual membership for $99/year). On the member site, you’ll have access to the largest collection of grant seeking, grant writing, program evaluation, and non-profit development resources available on the web! The content is not duplicated from the free site; it’s all developed just for members. We launched the member site in January 2010 and it’s growing every day.  But here’s the rub — the early bird rate of $9.95/mo is only good until the end of May.  On June 1, the price will go up to $19.95/month.  Lock in your lower membership rate now!

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

How Can the Grant You Just Finished Help Make You a Better Writer?

The minutes and hours (and sometimes days) after a big grant deadline are typically filled with relief, rest, cleaning up reference resources, and putting life back in order before you get started on the next grant and do it all over again. What is often missing, though, is something that can really make a big difference for improving your grant writing in the future.

What is it?  Reflection.

Take some time after your next grant is submitted and ask yourself the following questions:

  • What went particularly well in this process?  Is it something that normally goes well, or was this different?  If it was a pleasant surprise, is there some way to modify your process to repeat this circumstance so it does happen again?
  • What didn’t go so well in the grant writing process? What was the cause of this issue?  Is there something you can change to prevent it from happening again?

Writing down your answers to these questions (something like a journal) can be very helpful.  If you work with a team, addressing these questions individually and then coming together as a group to discuss them can also be very helpful.

Another suggestion is to pick up a copy of the grant you just submitted a week or two later.  Read it with the scoring criteria or scoring rubric at your side.  Make notes about what you improve. Make those notes general enough to apply to any grant you may write in the future, but also note the examples from this grant so it will be a good reminder for you as your review your notes later.

There are many ways to reflect on your work, but the act of reflection is critical if you want to continue to improve as a writer. It is worth the time.  In fact, if your livelihood depends on grant writing, you really can’t afford not to.

————
F292X6NH352E

How Can the Grant You Just Finished Help Make You a Better Writer?

The minutes and hours (and sometimes days) after a big grant deadline are typically filled with relief, rest, cleaning up reference resources, and putting life back in order before you get started on the next grant and do it all over again. What is often missing, though, is something that can really make a big difference for improving your grant writing in the future.

What is it?  Reflection.

Take some time after your next grant is submitted and ask yourself the following questions:

  • What went particularly well in this process?  Is it something that normally goes well, or was this different?  If it was a pleasant surprise, is there some way to modify your process to repeat this circumstance so it does happen again?
  • What didn’t go so well in the grant writing process? What was the cause of this issue?  Is there something you can change to prevent it from happening again?

Writing down your answers to these questions (something like a journal) can be very helpful.  If you work with a team, addressing these questions individually and then coming together as a group to discuss them can also be very helpful.

Another suggestion is to pick up a copy of the grant you just submitted a week or two later.  Read it with the scoring criteria or scoring rubric at your side.  Make notes about what you improve. Make those notes general enough to apply to any grant you may write in the future, but also note the examples from this grant so it will be a good reminder for you as your review your notes later.

There are many ways to reflect on your work, but the act of reflection is critical if you want to continue to improve as a writer. It is worth the time.  In fact, if your livelihood depends on grant writing, you really can’t afford not to.

————
F292X6NH352E

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

Welcome to the New Year!

O.K., it’s September and most people think the new year starts in January. However, if you work with schools, you know exactly what I am talking about. The new year starts in August or September, right?

As we start the new year, I thought I’d take a few minutes to let you know what you can expect from the Grant Goddess Blog this year.

1) The main purpose of the blog is to provide updated and current information and advice about grant writing and program evaluation. The blog goes hand-in-hand with the Grant Goddess website, so please don’t just check one and not the other. There are links to the website on the right hand side of the blog, and you can access the blog from the website by clicking on the button on the navigation bar that says, “Blog” (catchy, no?).

2) The difference between the blog and the articles on the website is that the blog is much less formal and more closely linked to our everyday work here at Creative School Resources & Research. As issues come up in our work, we’ll post articles to the blog. Those concepts may be expanded on in website articles, but you can rest assured that there will not be any duplicate content.

3) I will be making a concentrated effort to post at least several times a week (dare I say every day?). If you have questions or comments, please comment to posts. I would love to hear from you and I will respond.

4) While there are some links to other resources on the website, our first discussion of cool resources for grant writing and evaluation will come on the blog. This is also a great reason to subscribe to the RSS feed for the blog so you can know when new content is added right away. You can also check it every day.

Here’s to an exciting new year!

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