Category Archives: risk

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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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

Are You a Risk Taker?

Here are a few thoughts from our Grant Coach, MaryEllen Bergh, on taking risks:

Taking risks means daring to try new approaches or ideas with no predictable control over results or consequences; in other words, taking action when the outcome is unknown. There are very few things in life that come without any risk and quite a few of the most remarkable things frequently have a higher risk associated with them. For example, writing grants comes with quite a bit of risk but, if you are successful, amazing things can happen to support your organization’s vision. If you don’t take the risk, perhaps because you see that there will only be 8 awards in the entire United States, yet you know you meet the criteria and have an innovative design, you will never have the chance to be one of those eight awards!

The key to taking risks is to keep things in balance. Make sure that you do the research and the thinking necessary to make a smart decision about the opportunity but don’t over-analyze every possible outcome to the extent that you miss the opportunity. Ultimately, if the opportunity fits, just do it. If you didn’t have a wild success the first time, learn from your mistakes and try again. If you were successful, jump back in. In the words of T.S. Eliot, “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”

Are You a Risk Taker?

Here are a few thoughts from our Grant Coach, MaryEllen Bergh, on taking risks:

Taking risks means daring to try new approaches or ideas with no predictable control over results or consequences; in other words, taking action when the outcome is unknown. There are very few things in life that come without any risk and quite a few of the most remarkable things frequently have a higher risk associated with them. For example, writing grants comes with quite a bit of risk but, if you are successful, amazing things can happen to support your organization’s vision. If you don’t take the risk, perhaps because you see that there will only be 8 awards in the entire United States, yet you know you meet the criteria and have an innovative design, you will never have the chance to be one of those eight awards!

The key to taking risks is to keep things in balance. Make sure that you do the research and the thinking necessary to make a smart decision about the opportunity but don’t over-analyze every possible outcome to the extent that you miss the opportunity. Ultimately, if the opportunity fits, just do it. If you didn’t have a wild success the first time, learn from your mistakes and try again. If you were successful, jump back in. In the words of T.S. Eliot, “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”

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