Category Archives: grant writing

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

Grants Are Like Donuts

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, loves donuts….maybe a little too much. Here are some useful thoughts on sustainability and balanced funding:

Organizations sometimes consume grants like I eat donuts, fast and furious. Grants come in lots of flavors just like donuts. There’s federal maple bars and state chocolate covered, even foundation cream filled, and each is delicious!

Grants are sweet and taste good when you get them, but like donuts, they’ll always run out and leave you wanting more. Building a budget only on grant money is dangerous to your fiscal health, just like building a diet on donuts can be hazardous. Grants can leave your budget bloated with costs you can’t easily erase when the grant is gone. Just try to get rid of a valuable employee! Just as donuts can leave you with some extra pounds and health problems, grants can lead to budget problems.

Here are 3 things to remember about grants:

  1. Plan for sustainability from day one of each grant.
  2. Build sustainability into the grant as much as possible in terms of equipment costs, training for existing staff, and organizational capacity building.
  3. Pay attention to developing all legs of the fund raising stool while the grant is funded.

So treat grants like you should treat donuts, as part of a healthy balanced budget (diet). A few donuts won’t hurt, but making them the central part of your budget could lead serious shortfalls as grant funding runs out.

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Get the tools you need to round out your fund development menu.  Become a member of GrantGoddess.com!

Grants Are Like Donuts

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, loves donuts….maybe a little too much. Here are some useful thoughts on sustainability and balanced funding:

Organizations sometimes consume grants like I eat donuts, fast and furious. Grants come in lots of flavors just like donuts. There’s federal maple bars and state chocolate covered, even foundation cream filled, and each is delicious!

Grants are sweet and taste good when you get them, but like donuts, they’ll always run out and leave you wanting more. Building a budget only on grant money is dangerous to your fiscal health, just like building a diet on donuts can be hazardous. Grants can leave your budget bloated with costs you can’t easily erase when the grant is gone. Just try to get rid of a valuable employee! Just as donuts can leave you with some extra pounds and health problems, grants can lead to budget problems.

Here are 3 things to remember about grants:

  1. Plan for sustainability from day one of each grant.
  2. Build sustainability into the grant as much as possible in terms of equipment costs, training for existing staff, and organizational capacity building.
  3. Pay attention to developing all legs of the fund raising stool while the grant is funded.

So treat grants like you should treat donuts, as part of a healthy balanced budget (diet). A few donuts won’t hurt, but making them the central part of your budget could lead serious shortfalls as grant funding runs out.

————————

Get the tools you need to round out your fund development menu.  Become a member of GrantGoddess.com!

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

Realism on Grant Funding

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, has a few thoughts to share on realism when you are seeking grant funding:

Grants are not a gift of money, and grants are not given blindly. Don’t think that because you have a good idea and a nonprofit, someone will simply like the idea and give you money for it. That is an unrealistic view of grants that I run into frequently, and which leads to disappointment.

Grants are:

  1. Investments, not gifts
  2. Established for targeted causes, not scattered about like birdseed.
  3. Given to credible organizations and people with credentials, not for pipe dreams.
  4. Carefully monitored fiscally, not an open checkbook.
  5. Measured for impact, grant makers care what happens.
  6. Limited, not a bottomless well.
  7. Time sensitive, even federal grant funds have a definite season for applying.

The bottom line is that in order to get a grant, there must be a credible organization run by credible people. It is not enough to be a nice person with a neat idea. Working to establish a detailed plan and budget, establish a responsible organization, and building a competent staff with credentials all contribute to being in a strong position to receive grants.

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Want support foryour grant writing efforts? Try GrantGoddess.com!

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

Realism on Grant Funding

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, has a few thoughts to share on realism when you are seeking grant funding:

Grants are not a gift of money, and grants are not given blindly. Don’t think that because you have a good idea and a nonprofit, someone will simply like the idea and give you money for it. That is an unrealistic view of grants that I run into frequently, and which leads to disappointment.

Grants are:

  1. Investments, not gifts
  2. Established for targeted causes, not scattered about like birdseed.
  3. Given to credible organizations and people with credentials, not for pipe dreams.
  4. Carefully monitored fiscally, not an open checkbook.
  5. Measured for impact, grant makers care what happens.
  6. Limited, not a bottomless well.
  7. Time sensitive, even federal grant funds have a definite season for applying.

The bottom line is that in order to get a grant, there must be a credible organization run by credible people. It is not enough to be a nice person with a neat idea. Working to establish a detailed plan and budget, establish a responsible organization, and building a competent staff with credentials all contribute to being in a strong position to receive grants.

——————————

Want support foryour grant writing efforts? Try GrantGoddess.com!

Top 3 Things I Love about Grant Writing

Grant writing is definitely not a boring profession.  There are challenges, but there are also some big benefits.

Here are the top 3 things I love about grant writing:

  1. Creativity – I love the who process of taking a few ideas, fleshing them out, and creating a detailed program design.  In fact, for the me the process is a lot like staring at one of those abstract holographic pictures.  At first, it just looks like colors and shapes – no order, nothing else there.  Then, after you have started at it for a while, a 3-dimensional image leaps from the background and you see it.  At that point, it is so clear to you, that it’s hard to even see the picture without the 3D image anymore.  That’s what grant writing is like for me.  At some point in the process of planning, reviewing research, collecting data, and talking to the client, the picture of a solid design clarifies.  At that point, putting it in writing is the easy part.
  2. Making a Difference – I have written about this before.  I also provide program evaluation services.  There are very few things in this life as satisfying as going to conduct some evaluation activities and meeting the people who get a direct benefit from the grant you wrote.  At one time there was nothing but an idea in your head, and then there are real people whose lives are better because of your work.  Wow!  It doesn’t get much better than that.
  3. Time Flexibility – Make no mistake about it, grant writing is work, but if you work for yourself, you can manage your time as you choose.  For example, this is a really busy time of year and I have lots of writing projects to work on, but I didn’t want to work today.  I wanted to stay home with my son, take care of some blogging. do some recreational reading.  So I did.  If I want to take off during the middle of the week to go to a baseball game during the day, I can.  I know this is a benefit that self-employed folks in many fields can claim, but I really like it.

There are lots of other things I like about my work, but those are the big three.

What about you?  What do you like most about grant writing?

—————————————-

Check out the new GrantGoddess Channel on YouTube! It’s new, but there will be more and more instructional videos added, so subscribe to it and you’ll be notified whenever new content is added.

Have you become a member yet?  If not, check out the member benefits and sign up soon.  The early bird rate will expire soon. Joining now will give you access to some exclusive member trainings coming soon – not to mention all the cool multimedia resources that are being added daily.

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

Top 3 Things I Love about Grant Writing

Grant writing is definitely not a boring profession.  There are challenges, but there are also some big benefits.

Here are the top 3 things I love about grant writing:

  1. Creativity – I love the who process of taking a few ideas, fleshing them out, and creating a detailed program design.  In fact, for the me the process is a lot like staring at one of those abstract holographic pictures.  At first, it just looks like colors and shapes – no order, nothing else there.  Then, after you have started at it for a while, a 3-dimensional image leaps from the background and you see it.  At that point, it is so clear to you, that it’s hard to even see the picture without the 3D image anymore.  That’s what grant writing is like for me.  At some point in the process of planning, reviewing research, collecting data, and talking to the client, the picture of a solid design clarifies.  At that point, putting it in writing is the easy part.
  2. Making a Difference – I have written about this before.  I also provide program evaluation services.  There are very few things in this life as satisfying as going to conduct some evaluation activities and meeting the people who get a direct benefit from the grant you wrote.  At one time there was nothing but an idea in your head, and then there are real people whose lives are better because of your work.  Wow!  It doesn’t get much better than that.
  3. Time Flexibility – Make no mistake about it, grant writing is work, but if you work for yourself, you can manage your time as you choose.  For example, this is a really busy time of year and I have lots of writing projects to work on, but I didn’t want to work today.  I wanted to stay home with my son, take care of some blogging. do some recreational reading.  So I did.  If I want to take off during the middle of the week to go to a baseball game during the day, I can.  I know this is a benefit that self-employed folks in many fields can claim, but I really like it.

There are lots of other things I like about my work, but those are the big three.

What about you?  What do you like most about grant writing?

—————————————-

Check out the new GrantGoddess Channel on YouTube! It’s new, but there will be more and more instructional videos added, so subscribe to it and you’ll be notified whenever new content is added.

Have you become a member yet?  If not, check out the member benefits and sign up soon.  The early bird rate will expire soon. Joining now will give you access to some exclusive member trainings coming soon – not to mention all the cool multimedia resources that are being added daily.