Category Archives: grant writing

New Grant Tips LITE iPhone App!

Our new FREE iPhone App is available! You may have already heard about our Grant Tips iPhone App.  It includes over 100 grant writing tips, a Twitter feed, and inspiration for grant writers.  You can just go to the App Store on your iPhone and search for “Grant Tips.” It only costs 99 cents (not 99 cents a month.  Just 99 cents ….period). The best part is that we keep adding tips, so you buy it once, and it becomes a resource that keeps giving.

Now we have the Grant Tips Lite version, which is 100% FREE. It is just like the full version of the App, except that it only has 50 tips.  If you like it, you can easily upgrade to the paid version.  If you don’t, no harm no foul.  How can you go wrong?

You can find Grant Tips Lite by going to the iPhone App Store and searching for “Grant Tips Lite.”  It will come up and you can download it for free right away.

And please don’t forget to leave a 5 star rating and review!

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Grants Are Like Box Lunches

Have you ever received a box lunch at a conference? You file past tables stacked with boxes and with signs like “Ham and Cheese,” “Turkey,” or “Vegetarian.” You choose a box, a drink from an ice-filled tub, and then grab some plastic utensils and a napkin. It’s like a picnic for thousands of people.

I like box lunches because they’re like opening a present. Plus, I like to eat, and I especially like to eat things prepared for me by someone else. A box lunch usually has a sandwich, a salad like macaroni or potato, a treat like a cookie in a wrapper, maybe some kind of chips or other, and if you’re lucky you even get a pickle. Box lunches are good fun.

Grants are like box lunches because the funder gives you an empty box (RFP instructions) and you get to fill it with tasty goodies and hope someone chooses it off the table and wants to eat it. If you want your grant to be delectable, do the following things:

  1. Be sure to communicate what’s in the box effectively. Be creative and upbeat but use concise language. Don’t say “pig parts and coagulated milk” when you mean “ham and cheese.” That’s unappetizing writing.
  2. Be organized and complete. Give the readers everything they need from napkins to a fork for their potato salad. If it’s too hard to eat it, it won’t get eaten.
  3. Be sure you use the best ingredients, including a quality program with lots of specific details, a budget the reflects your program, and an evaluation that will ensure results are measured. You don’t want to say you’re selling turkey sandwiches and then have no turkey between the bread.

The key is to fill your grant with things that the funder is hungry to see in it. If they’re looking for a ham and cheese, don’t give them a turkey or a vegetarian or they will probably wind up throwing it away uneaten.

In order to build a grant that readers will want to eat, be sure to read the rfp and fill the box with what the hungry lunch crowd wants to eat. Give them a pickle and a cookie, and they’ll eat your grant up.

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

Related Posts:

Some Grants Are Like Peanut Butter

Grants Are Like Donuts

Grants Are Like Sausage

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

Grants Are Like Box Lunches

Have you ever received a box lunch at a conference? You file past tables stacked with boxes and with signs like “Ham and Cheese,” “Turkey,” or “Vegetarian.” You choose a box, a drink from an ice-filled tub, and then grab some plastic utensils and a napkin. It’s like a picnic for thousands of people.

I like box lunches because they’re like opening a present. Plus, I like to eat, and I especially like to eat things prepared for me by someone else. A box lunch usually has a sandwich, a salad like macaroni or potato, a treat like a cookie in a wrapper, maybe some kind of chips or other, and if you’re lucky you even get a pickle. Box lunches are good fun.

Grants are like box lunches because the funder gives you an empty box (RFP instructions) and you get to fill it with tasty goodies and hope someone chooses it off the table and wants to eat it. If you want your grant to be delectable, do the following things:

  1. Be sure to communicate what’s in the box effectively. Be creative and upbeat but use concise language. Don’t say “pig parts and coagulated milk” when you mean “ham and cheese.” That’s unappetizing writing.
  2. Be organized and complete. Give the readers everything they need from napkins to a fork for their potato salad. If it’s too hard to eat it, it won’t get eaten.
  3. Be sure you use the best ingredients, including a quality program with lots of specific details, a budget the reflects your program, and an evaluation that will ensure results are measured. You don’t want to say you’re selling turkey sandwiches and then have no turkey between the bread.

The key is to fill your grant with things that the funder is hungry to see in it. If they’re looking for a ham and cheese, don’t give them a turkey or a vegetarian or they will probably wind up throwing it away uneaten.

In order to build a grant that readers will want to eat, be sure to read the rfp and fill the box with what the hungry lunch crowd wants to eat. Give them a pickle and a cookie, and they’ll eat your grant up.

—————–

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

Related Posts:

Some Grants Are Like Peanut Butter

Grants Are Like Donuts

Grants Are Like Sausage

Rediscover the Joy in Writing

I have a son in kindergarten who is just learning to read and write.  In spite of his lack of technical skill, almost every evening he joyfully grabs some paper, pens, and colored pencils or crayons and sets out on the task of creating a book.  Lately, all his books are about Bakugon (a kids’ TV show), his current favorte obsession. He creates new characters, agnonizes over their characteristics, painstakingly “writes” his narrative, and creates elaborate illustrations to bring his ideas to life. Then he asks his father or me to staple or tape his book together.

No author on the New York Times Bestseller List is prouder than he is each time his new creation is complete.

Then he “reads” it to me (usually more than once) and he makes plans for how he’s going to share it with his class the next day. And his eyes gleam with excitement the whole time.

Now he’s after me to help him start a blog because he’s convinced that the whole world needs to hear what he has to say, and he has a neverending supply of imaginative stories to tell.

The sheer joy he experiences when he writes inspires me every day.

I wonder when that creative joy of writing turned into “work.” I think we rip the joy out of writing for children in school by constant focus on conventions and the writing process (including endless editing and rewriting),  rather than on content and creativity.  In his book, Readicide, Kelly Gallagher writes about how schools are killing reading through an over-focus on analysis.  I think we are doing the same thing to writing.

As adults, we have bought into the idea that writing has to be perfect or it’s bad, and that only those with a particular gift can or should write. Non-fiction and technical writing (including grant writing) have been relegated to a level below fiction and determined (by whom???) to be less creative, less deserving of praise than fiction.

I have already written about the real payoff to grant writing – the opportunity to see the grants you have written as they are brought to life and really change peoples’ lives. I have the honor of witnessing that over and over again.  I saw it again last night as I attended a public meeting and heard people talk about a very powerful program that made a difference in their lives – and I knew that two years ago, at about this time of year, it was all just a jumbled bunch of ideas in my head.  I put it on paper.  The government thought it was good enough to fund, and now it’s real. Wow!

But even for those that are not funded, is there value in their writing?  Absolutely!

My son has discovered the sheer joy that comes from having an idea and using writing as a means of preserving and sharing it. The idea of tempering that joy with criticism or correction never enters my mind when he is sharing.  There is a time for analysis, and focusing on the conventions of writing, but that time is not when an author is in the flow – or experiencing the joy of creatvity.

Can you remember that joy?  Did you lose it?  When? How about trying to get it back?

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Get some grant writing tips — GrantGoddess.com

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

Rediscover the Joy in Writing

I have a son in kindergarten who is just learning to read and write.  In spite of his lack of technical skill, almost every evening he joyfully grabs some paper, pens, and colored pencils or crayons and sets out on the task of creating a book.  Lately, all his books are about Bakugon (a kids’ TV show), his current favorte obsession. He creates new characters, agnonizes over their characteristics, painstakingly “writes” his narrative, and creates elaborate illustrations to bring his ideas to life. Then he asks his father or me to staple or tape his book together.

No author on the New York Times Bestseller List is prouder than he is each time his new creation is complete.

Then he “reads” it to me (usually more than once) and he makes plans for how he’s going to share it with his class the next day. And his eyes gleam with excitement the whole time.

Now he’s after me to help him start a blog because he’s convinced that the whole world needs to hear what he has to say, and he has a neverending supply of imaginative stories to tell.

The sheer joy he experiences when he writes inspires me every day.

I wonder when that creative joy of writing turned into “work.” I think we rip the joy out of writing for children in school by constant focus on conventions and the writing process (including endless editing and rewriting),  rather than on content and creativity.  In his book, Readicide, Kelly Gallagher writes about how schools are killing reading through an over-focus on analysis.  I think we are doing the same thing to writing.

As adults, we have bought into the idea that writing has to be perfect or it’s bad, and that only those with a particular gift can or should write. Non-fiction and technical writing (including grant writing) have been relegated to a level below fiction and determined (by whom???) to be less creative, less deserving of praise than fiction.

I have already written about the real payoff to grant writing – the opportunity to see the grants you have written as they are brought to life and really change peoples’ lives. I have the honor of witnessing that over and over again.  I saw it again last night as I attended a public meeting and heard people talk about a very powerful program that made a difference in their lives – and I knew that two years ago, at about this time of year, it was all just a jumbled bunch of ideas in my head.  I put it on paper.  The government thought it was good enough to fund, and now it’s real. Wow!

But even for those that are not funded, is there value in their writing?  Absolutely!

My son has discovered the sheer joy that comes from having an idea and using writing as a means of preserving and sharing it. The idea of tempering that joy with criticism or correction never enters my mind when he is sharing.  There is a time for analysis, and focusing on the conventions of writing, but that time is not when an author is in the flow – or experiencing the joy of creatvity.

Can you remember that joy?  Did you lose it?  When? How about trying to get it back?

————————-

Get some grant writing tips — GrantGoddess.com

10 Things the Game of Baseball Can Teach You About Grant Writing

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a baseball fan.  No, not just a baseball fan – I am a big baseball fan.  Specifically, I love the San Francisco Giants (Go Giants!), but I will watch a baseball game anytime, anywhere. So, it should come as no surprise that I have done a bit of thinking on the similarities between grant writing and baseball and what grant writers can learn from the game of baseball.

  1. Keep your eye on the ball. Focus matters. Fielders who take their eyes off the ball usually drop the ball. Batters who take their eye off the ball usually strike out. Staying focused on the details of your current grant writing project will increase your likelihood of success. If you lose your focus, you’ll drop the ball.
  2. You can’t win the game by yourself. Even the best pitcher can’t win if the fielders behind him aren’t doing their part and if he doesn’t get any run support. When the short stop fields a ground ball, he usually has to throw it to someone to get the out. If you’re trying to succeed in grant writing all alone, you probably won’t make it. You need others to help you gather data, proof your work, and give you feedback.  Even if these others are your clients, you need to make them your partners in the work to achieve maximum success. Also, look for opportunities to network with other grant writers. You can learn a lot and build a powerful support team by teaming up with others.
  3. The game isn’t over after one strike…or one out….or eight innings. Success is all about perseverance. Don’t give up just because of one failure (or two, or three, or…). Babe Ruth was the home run king (so was Hank Aaron…and Barry Bonds), but he also struck out a lot. His ultimate success was just as much about picking up the bat over and over again as it was about talent and skill.
  4. Showing up every day, ready to play, is the foundation of an extraordinary career. Cal Ripken Jr. played in a record 2,632 straight games over 16 seasons, from 1982 to 1998, earning him the nickname, “Iron Man .” His attendance record is amazing as it is (how many people do you know who never missed a day of work is 16 years?), but all that playing time gave him lots of practice, and many opportunities to excel. Just as you can’t hit a home run if you never pick up the bat, Cal learned that you don’t get good playing the game unless you play it – a lot. He started out strong by winning the American League’s Rookie of the Year Award in 1982, but he earned his place in the Baseball Hall of Fame through perseverance. Show up. Work hard. Write many grants. It pays off.
  5. Sometimes you have to sacrifice for a greater good. Ballplayers know that there are times when a sacrifice hit (one in which the hitter gets out so a runner can be advanced or a run can be scored) is the right thing for the team. As a grant writer, sometimes you have to sacrifice your immediate best interest for a greater good or a longer term goal. Turning down a job so you can devote more focus to  another one is sometimes necessary.  Giving a loyal client a discount on a project can also be a good thing in the long run.
  6. Sometimes the game is slow and sometimes there is a lot of action, but you need to be ready to play every moment you are on the field. When my oldest son first started playing t-ball at the age of 4, the parents loved watching the little guys in the outfield. Instead of paying attention to the game, they’d start chasing butterflies, looking for bugs in the grass, twirling, dancing, etc. The parents would all start hollering when they would take off their gloves or sit down out there. The lesson for grant writers? If the game is being played, you need to be in the game. There are busy deadline times and times when things are slower. When things are slow, don’t take your head out of the game. Focus on things you can do to prepare for the next deadline. Review previously successful grants.  Conduct some grant reseach.  Read readers’ comments. Sharpen your skills by taking (or teaching!) a grant writing course. Get busy networking. Stay in the game.
  7. Even the best players take batting practice (except for pitchers in the American League, but don’t go there…). No matter how successful you are and how well things are going, you need to continue learning and improving your skills. Attend workshops, serve as a grant reader, read books written by successful grant writers.
  8. Someone has to be in charge. Someone has to make the decision about whether to pull the starting pitcher in the sixth inning with two runners on base and one out – or let him face another batter or two. All the players are expected to give their individual best, but someone has to make the big picture decisions. The manager accepts advice from others (the pitching coach, the pitcher himself, the catcher, etc.), but ultimately he is the one who makes the decision and is responsible for it. If the decision is the wrong one, and if he makes enough of those wrong decisions, he is the one who will pay the price (i.e., lose his job). There is definitely a place and time for consensus decision-making, but as a professional grant writer, you are ultimately responsible for the decisions you make in a prposal and your own success rate. Give good advice to clients, gather necessary information and data, but then make good prposal decisions that will lead to funding.  Your client is focused on implementing programs, but you should know what is most likely to be funded, so you need to share that information with your client.  Don ‘t wait until you lose the game and wish you had made some different decisions.
  9. Sometimes the ump just makes a bad call. Every professional grant writer who has been doing the work for than a couple of years has seen her share of bad calls. Sometimes you read a comment from a reader that makes no sense at all, or a reader says something was missing from your proposal that wasn’t missing at all. After the fact, there’s not much you can do about it.  Sure, you can file an appeal,but you have about as much chance of success as the baseball manager who comes out of the dugout to argue with the umpire over a bad call. You have to take your lumps like everyone else, trusting that there will be a time when you will be the beneficary of a bad call at some point and it will all even out. Don’t let it get you down or distract you from your next project.  Learn what you can, and move on.
  10. Focused play is even more important during extra innings. Ballplayers can easily make mistakes in the 10th, 11th, and 12th innings (and beyond) because they are tired and ready to be done for the day, but that’s precisely when they need to be more focused! When you are approaching the end of a grant writing project, and you’re in the middle of the tedious wrap-up tasks like proofreading, don’t lose your focus. That’s when it’s the most important for you to stay in the game.

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Learn more about grant writng. Visit GrantGoddess.com!

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

Learn When to Say "No!"

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, shares some thoughts on risk taking and when to say “no” to a client:

Grant writers who make a living doing freelance work take a big risk in doing so. It’s also tough because the nature of grant making, especially in poor economic conditions, is highly competitive. Your reputation can be injured with a client if the grant you’ve written fails to get funded; so, it’s important to know when to say “No, thanks” to a grant writing contract.

Not all grant clients are created equal, in each grant competition, some clients are more likely to be funded than others. This fact means you need to have a full understanding of the grant writing opportunities presented to you in terms of:

  1. Funding Levels – How much money is available in a particular competition? If it’s a national competition and there’s only 12 grants available, it’s important to consider how qualified your client is in other areas.
  2. Geographic Distribution – If your client is rural and the funding source only allocates a small percentage of the funding toward rural projects, then it’s important to look at other considerations to estimate likelihood of writing a successful proposal.
  3. Demographic Preferences – If your client serves only English fluent adults and the funding agency has a preference for funding programs serving immigrants who speak a foreign language, then it’s important to look at other factors to consider the likelihood of funding.
  4. Organization Preferences – If your client is a public agency and the funder previously has shown a strong preference for community-based organizations, then it’s important to consider as you evaluate their “fundability”. Maybe there is a CBO that can apply with your client as a partner, or maybe your client just needs a CBO partner to be a viable applicant.
  5. Program Preferences – This is the old round peg in a square hole thing. If your client is trying to stretch the truth, or if they are trying for funding that clearly is outside of what you know the funder wants to give grants for, then you need to be very honest with the client about that.

Free lance grant writing is a tough business and the financial risk of running your own business is always a little scary. But saying “No” to a client who is clearly a bad candidate for a particular grant is thousands of times better than saying “Yes,” taking their money, then having to explain why the grant wasn’t funded. Protect your reputation as a grant writer by learning to say “No” when you have to.

Related Posts:

Are You a Risk Taker?

How Competitive is TOO Competitive?

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Gain access to the largest collection  of grant seeking, grant writing, program evaluation, and non-profit organizational development resources on the web!  Become a member of GrantGoddess.com!

Learn When to Say "No!"

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, shares some thoughts on risk taking and when to say “no” to a client:

Grant writers who make a living doing freelance work take a big risk in doing so. It’s also tough because the nature of grant making, especially in poor economic conditions, is highly competitive. Your reputation can be injured with a client if the grant you’ve written fails to get funded; so, it’s important to know when to say “No, thanks” to a grant writing contract.

Not all grant clients are created equal, in each grant competition, some clients are more likely to be funded than others. This fact means you need to have a full understanding of the grant writing opportunities presented to you in terms of:

  1. Funding Levels – How much money is available in a particular competition? If it’s a national competition and there’s only 12 grants available, it’s important to consider how qualified your client is in other areas.
  2. Geographic Distribution – If your client is rural and the funding source only allocates a small percentage of the funding toward rural projects, then it’s important to look at other considerations to estimate likelihood of writing a successful proposal.
  3. Demographic Preferences – If your client serves only English fluent adults and the funding agency has a preference for funding programs serving immigrants who speak a foreign language, then it’s important to look at other factors to consider the likelihood of funding.
  4. Organization Preferences – If your client is a public agency and the funder previously has shown a strong preference for community-based organizations, then it’s important to consider as you evaluate their “fundability”. Maybe there is a CBO that can apply with your client as a partner, or maybe your client just needs a CBO partner to be a viable applicant.
  5. Program Preferences – This is the old round peg in a square hole thing. If your client is trying to stretch the truth, or if they are trying for funding that clearly is outside of what you know the funder wants to give grants for, then you need to be very honest with the client about that.

Free lance grant writing is a tough business and the financial risk of running your own business is always a little scary. But saying “No” to a client who is clearly a bad candidate for a particular grant is thousands of times better than saying “Yes,” taking their money, then having to explain why the grant wasn’t funded. Protect your reputation as a grant writer by learning to say “No” when you have to.

Related Posts:

Are You a Risk Taker?

How Competitive is TOO Competitive?

——————————————-

Gain access to the largest collection  of grant seeking, grant writing, program evaluation, and non-profit organizational development resources on the web!  Become a member of 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.

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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.

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

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