Grant Consultant Chic: Top 10 Accessories for the Grant Writing Consultant

MaryEllen Bergh is our resident fashion guru, and she has come up with a list of chic (and helpful!) accessories for the savvy grant writing consultant:

  1.   Large bag to hold your accessories and other things that you absolutely must have with you no matter where you go. The bag should be flexible and strong enough to hold at least three 85-page Request for Applications (RFA) and in a bright color so you can always find it and others can see you coming. I prefer red. It is  neutral and goes with everything.
  2. Oversized sunglasses with a bit of bling (think Lady GaGa) when you just need a different perspective or want others to think you are sophisticated and have a certain “je ne sais quoi.”
  3. A magnifying glass to maintain your focus on the criteria (or in my case, just to read it).
  4. A colorful hat preferably with a floppy brim. The hat not only makes you look stylish when having a bad hair day but, in case you don’t have your sunglasses, can, with a tip of the head, cover up the eye roll (“You never asked me for that data.”).
  5. Earplugs to save you from saying, once again, “You want to do WHAT??”
  6. A chime to center yourself when you become unbalanced. I find chimes in the key of E work particularly well.
  7. A leather belt to cinch in the narrative when you are 6 pages over the limit. It’s also useful to flog the nearest object if you become unbalanced and don’t have a chime. 
  8.  Trendy leather boots with a bit of a heel (black is good) to protect your feet as you wade through all the sh**, uh, information.
  9. A wand with a crystal of some sort (the kind of crystal does not matter but it does make the wand work better…unless you are at Hogwarts in which case a simple wooden one works best) to wave when you need the deadline pushed back or to erase the dark circles under your eyes.
  10. Last, but not least, a long scarf to tie up loose ends. The scarf lends a bit of flair to your presentation and covers up flaws such as neck wrinkles as well.

————————————-
Check out all of the resources at GrantGoddess.com!

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

Grant Consultant Chic: Top 10 Accessories for the Grant Writing Consultant

MaryEllen Bergh is our resident fashion guru, and she has come up with a list of chic (and helpful!) accessories for the savvy grant writing consultant:

  1.   Large bag to hold your accessories and other things that you absolutely must have with you no matter where you go. The bag should be flexible and strong enough to hold at least three 85-page Request for Applications (RFA) and in a bright color so you can always find it and others can see you coming. I prefer red. It is  neutral and goes with everything.
  2. Oversized sunglasses with a bit of bling (think Lady GaGa) when you just need a different perspective or want others to think you are sophisticated and have a certain “je ne sais quoi.”
  3. A magnifying glass to maintain your focus on the criteria (or in my case, just to read it).
  4. A colorful hat preferably with a floppy brim. The hat not only makes you look stylish when having a bad hair day but, in case you don’t have your sunglasses, can, with a tip of the head, cover up the eye roll (“You never asked me for that data.”).
  5. Earplugs to save you from saying, once again, “You want to do WHAT??”
  6. A chime to center yourself when you become unbalanced. I find chimes in the key of E work particularly well.
  7. A leather belt to cinch in the narrative when you are 6 pages over the limit. It’s also useful to flog the nearest object if you become unbalanced and don’t have a chime. 
  8.  Trendy leather boots with a bit of a heel (black is good) to protect your feet as you wade through all the sh**, uh, information.
  9. A wand with a crystal of some sort (the kind of crystal does not matter but it does make the wand work better…unless you are at Hogwarts in which case a simple wooden one works best) to wave when you need the deadline pushed back or to erase the dark circles under your eyes.
  10. Last, but not least, a long scarf to tie up loose ends. The scarf lends a bit of flair to your presentation and covers up flaws such as neck wrinkles as well.

————————————-
Check out all of the resources at GrantGoddess.com!


How Did I Learn Grant Writing? – Phil Johncock

The latest post in our “How Did I Learn Grant Writing?” series is a guest post provided by Phil Johncock, The Grant Professor:

Here are the top 5 strategies that I used to learn grant writing:

Strategy 1 – Get Paid To Learn

Like most of the grant writing experts I’ve interviewed this year on my radio show, I started learning grant writing on-the-job. Luckily, I got paid to learn. In fact, I doubt that I would have learned grant writing at all had I not been paid to learn. That’s why when I designed one of the first grant writing certification programs in 2000, I made sure to include paid internships, so students would have the opportunity to get paid to learn, too.

Strategy 2 – Study Funder RFP’s

Here’s the story of my first grant:

On June 5, 1988 – actually the very next day after graduating with my master’s degree – I received a phone call from an administrator at the local community college. She was looking for someone to write a grant proposal for the college and asked me if I would be interested. I responded that while I was flattered to be asked, I had never written a grant proposal before; how could I possibly write a successful one?

“Don’t worry,” she replied. “The proposal is pretty straightforward. And if you need some help, just let me know.”

I spent over 100 hours on that first grant for $125,000. To provide some perspective, my last grant for $425,000 took 4 hours to write.

In that first grant, the guidelines were provided by the state Department of Education. Without any formal training, I started by studying – in great detail – the Request for Proposal (RFP). Why did I start there?

I had no grant writing experience to draw from. However, I had been successful with getting excellent grades in college by figuring out the grading criteria used by each university professor. The skill of studying a course syllabus and asking questions to clarify the rating scale used in a university class transfers to grant writing.

You see, the RFP from a funder is like the syllabus from a professor. It provides – occasionally not – how a paper will be evaluated. Whenever possible, ask questions to clarify the guidelines, and organize your proposal so that it can be easily and favorably reviewed. In college, you get good grades. In grant writing, you get money. How cool is that!

Strategy 3 – Interview Experienced Grant Writers

In that first grant, I tracked down the one experienced grant writer at the college and spent a lot of time interviewing him about his experience and any advice he had. He helped alleviate a lot of fears I had.

I have expanded this strategy to require students to interview experts in some of my courses. Also, I interview experts on my radio show. I find it helpful to have a beginner’s mind even with 22 years in the business and a 92% success rate.

Strategy 4 – Read Funded Proposals

Back to my first grant. I tracked down old grant proposals that had been approved at the college. While this was helpful to get some tips, I learned over the years that the best funded proposals to read are ones that the funder considers “well written.”

If the funder doesn’t provide you with a good proposal when you ask – my experience is that they almost always do – then check the funder’s 990 tax return to identify previous grantees. Find one that is comparable to your agency; call them up. Everyone I’ve ever asked has been flattered and more than willing to provide a copy of a funded proposal.

Strategy 5 – Teach Grant Writing

I was approached about teaching a grant writing seminar in 1993. A great advantage of teaching something is that you soon learn what you don’t know. One thing I didn’t know was a systematic way to teach-and-learn grant writing since I had no formal training.

So, I got a grant to attend a 5-day grant writing training offered by the Grantsmanship Center. They handed out this huge binder of materials that I haven’t looked at in almost 13 years. They did have one very good 49-page booklet entitled Program Planning and Proposal Writing by Norton Kiritz. It was touted as the “most widely used grant writing format in the world.” That got my attention.

The final part of the 5-day training was to write a mock proposal using the format presented in the booklet, which I now call the Kiritz Template. We could write by ourselves or team up with someone else. I was surprised with how few actually wrote a grant. I did, though. I found the template – summary, agency introduction, problem/need statement, objectives, method, evaluation, future funding, budget – very useful in organizing of a standard grant.

In fact, I liked it so much that I started using the Kiritz Template in my introductory classes. I expanded the Grantsmanship Center approach to …

  • Create a list of 25 study questions of the most important concepts in the Kiritz template.
  • Create a rating scale for the Kiritz template for students to critique draft proposals and experience what funder reviewers might experience when they evaluate proposals.
  • Include conducting a mock review. I discovered after teaching for a dozen years or so that turning in a first draft of a proposal like we did in the 5-day training was mediocre at best. Now, my students conduct a “mock review” of their proposals in a way that mirrors how reviewers might rate them. They then revise their proposals with the feedback they get from the reviewers. The result is a remarkable improvement in the overall quality of their proposals; the scores of revised proposals are significantly higher than those of the first draft. One expert claims that mock reviews will double even triple your chances of being funded. We need every competitive advantage we can get, right!

In summary, I learned grant writing by using these 5 strategies:

  1. Getting paid to learn,
  2. Studying funder RFP’s,
  3. Interviewing grant writing experts,
  4. Reading well-written (in the eyes of the funder) proposals, and
  5. Teaching grant writing.

———————–

Special thanks to Phil Johncock, The Grant professor, for contributing this post.  You can get more information about Phil and grant writing at http://grantwritingnewsletter.com/.

————————-

There is still time to sign up for Grant Writing 101, our popular online grant writing course!

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

How Did I Learn Grant Writing? – Phil Johncock

The latest post in our “How Did I Learn Grant Writing?” series is a guest post provided by Phil Johncock, The Grant Professor:

Here are the top 5 strategies that I used to learn grant writing:

Strategy 1 – Get Paid To Learn

Like most of the grant writing experts I’ve interviewed this year on my radio show, I started learning grant writing on-the-job. Luckily, I got paid to learn. In fact, I doubt that I would have learned grant writing at all had I not been paid to learn. That’s why when I designed one of the first grant writing certification programs in 2000, I made sure to include paid internships, so students would have the opportunity to get paid to learn, too.

Strategy 2 – Study Funder RFP’s

Here’s the story of my first grant:

On June 5, 1988 – actually the very next day after graduating with my master’s degree – I received a phone call from an administrator at the local community college. She was looking for someone to write a grant proposal for the college and asked me if I would be interested. I responded that while I was flattered to be asked, I had never written a grant proposal before; how could I possibly write a successful one?

“Don’t worry,” she replied. “The proposal is pretty straightforward. And if you need some help, just let me know.”

I spent over 100 hours on that first grant for $125,000. To provide some perspective, my last grant for $425,000 took 4 hours to write.

In that first grant, the guidelines were provided by the state Department of Education. Without any formal training, I started by studying – in great detail – the Request for Proposal (RFP). Why did I start there?

I had no grant writing experience to draw from. However, I had been successful with getting excellent grades in college by figuring out the grading criteria used by each university professor. The skill of studying a course syllabus and asking questions to clarify the rating scale used in a university class transfers to grant writing.

You see, the RFP from a funder is like the syllabus from a professor. It provides – occasionally not – how a paper will be evaluated. Whenever possible, ask questions to clarify the guidelines, and organize your proposal so that it can be easily and favorably reviewed. In college, you get good grades. In grant writing, you get money. How cool is that!

Strategy 3 – Interview Experienced Grant Writers

In that first grant, I tracked down the one experienced grant writer at the college and spent a lot of time interviewing him about his experience and any advice he had. He helped alleviate a lot of fears I had.

I have expanded this strategy to require students to interview experts in some of my courses. Also, I interview experts on my radio show. I find it helpful to have a beginner’s mind even with 22 years in the business and a 92% success rate.

Strategy 4 – Read Funded Proposals

Back to my first grant. I tracked down old grant proposals that had been approved at the college. While this was helpful to get some tips, I learned over the years that the best funded proposals to read are ones that the funder considers “well written.”

If the funder doesn’t provide you with a good proposal when you ask – my experience is that they almost always do – then check the funder’s 990 tax return to identify previous grantees. Find one that is comparable to your agency; call them up. Everyone I’ve ever asked has been flattered and more than willing to provide a copy of a funded proposal.

Strategy 5 – Teach Grant Writing

I was approached about teaching a grant writing seminar in 1993. A great advantage of teaching something is that you soon learn what you don’t know. One thing I didn’t know was a systematic way to teach-and-learn grant writing since I had no formal training.

So, I got a grant to attend a 5-day grant writing training offered by the Grantsmanship Center. They handed out this huge binder of materials that I haven’t looked at in almost 13 years. They did have one very good 49-page booklet entitled Program Planning and Proposal Writing by Norton Kiritz. It was touted as the “most widely used grant writing format in the world.” That got my attention.

The final part of the 5-day training was to write a mock proposal using the format presented in the booklet, which I now call the Kiritz Template. We could write by ourselves or team up with someone else. I was surprised with how few actually wrote a grant. I did, though. I found the template – summary, agency introduction, problem/need statement, objectives, method, evaluation, future funding, budget – very useful in organizing of a standard grant.

In fact, I liked it so much that I started using the Kiritz Template in my introductory classes. I expanded the Grantsmanship Center approach to …

  • Create a list of 25 study questions of the most important concepts in the Kiritz template.
  • Create a rating scale for the Kiritz template for students to critique draft proposals and experience what funder reviewers might experience when they evaluate proposals.
  • Include conducting a mock review. I discovered after teaching for a dozen years or so that turning in a first draft of a proposal like we did in the 5-day training was mediocre at best. Now, my students conduct a “mock review” of their proposals in a way that mirrors how reviewers might rate them. They then revise their proposals with the feedback they get from the reviewers. The result is a remarkable improvement in the overall quality of their proposals; the scores of revised proposals are significantly higher than those of the first draft. One expert claims that mock reviews will double even triple your chances of being funded. We need every competitive advantage we can get, right!

In summary, I learned grant writing by using these 5 strategies:

  1. Getting paid to learn,
  2. Studying funder RFP’s,
  3. Interviewing grant writing experts,
  4. Reading well-written (in the eyes of the funder) proposals, and
  5. Teaching grant writing.

———————–

Special thanks to Phil Johncock, The Grant professor, for contributing this post.  You can get more information about Phil and grant writing at http://grantwritingnewsletter.com/.

————————-

There is still time to sign up for Grant Writing 101, our popular online grant writing course!

How Did I Learn Grant Writing? – MaryEllen Bergh

The latest post in our “How Did I Learn Grant Writing?” series has been contributed by grant writing expert and Grant Coach, MaryEllen Bergh. MaryEllen’s post comes with the subtitle, “How I Grew a Left Brain.”

We all use both sides of our brain to some degree but in most people one side dominates. For me, the right brain has always taken precedence – creative, random, intuitive, holistic, and a whole to part perspective. This view has served me well for several decades as I only needed my analytical, logical, and sequential part to whole left brain perspective when I wrote lesson plans or balanced my checkbook. So how, you ask, did I learn grant writing, a mostly left-brain dominated task?

After many years as an educator and educational consultant, I thought the prospect of becoming a grant writer challenging and exciting as well as offering a great opportunity to unleash my creativity in helping clients design and develop programs and services. I enthusiastically jumped in with both feet and eyes wide open. I read successful proposals and tips for grant writing by experts in the field, and reconnected with journal writing to hone my writing skills, but, best of all, I was able to work beside a very successful grant writer who became my mentor. She helped me understand the nuts and bolts of the process and provided invaluable feedback (“Mmmm, I can see that you are excited about the design but where did you address the funder’s criteria?”). I was able to participate in her grant writing courses and learned how important it is to listen to clients and help them find the funding to make their dreams a reality. The first grants I wrote (and rewrote…and rewrote…and rewrote) helped me understand the need to create an outline of the narrative to ensure all criteria are addressed and to communicate complex ideas in clear, concise language. One day, after reading a draft of a proposal I had written, my mentor looked at me and said, “Finally, you’ve grown a left brain.” That did make me smile!

I have written many successful proposals over the last 10 years and, while I always don my “left brain hat” to actually write the proposal, I still begin the writing process by visualizing the big picture, drawing the project design, and scribbling my notes all around the design (usually in a variety of colors). So yes, I have grown a left brain over the years but I have found that there is still plenty of room for creativity in grant writing.

——————————–
 
You can read more tips from MaryEllen Bergh, the Grant Coach, at the GrantGoddess.com member site.
 
Free e-book – 12 Secrets of Successful Grant Writers.

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

How Did I Learn Grant Writing? – MaryEllen Bergh

The latest post in our “How Did I Learn Grant Writing?” series has been contributed by grant writing expert and Grant Coach, MaryEllen Bergh. MaryEllen’s post comes with the subtitle, “How I Grew a Left Brain.”

We all use both sides of our brain to some degree but in most people one side dominates. For me, the right brain has always taken precedence – creative, random, intuitive, holistic, and a whole to part perspective. This view has served me well for several decades as I only needed my analytical, logical, and sequential part to whole left brain perspective when I wrote lesson plans or balanced my checkbook. So how, you ask, did I learn grant writing, a mostly left-brain dominated task?

After many years as an educator and educational consultant, I thought the prospect of becoming a grant writer challenging and exciting as well as offering a great opportunity to unleash my creativity in helping clients design and develop programs and services. I enthusiastically jumped in with both feet and eyes wide open. I read successful proposals and tips for grant writing by experts in the field, and reconnected with journal writing to hone my writing skills, but, best of all, I was able to work beside a very successful grant writer who became my mentor. She helped me understand the nuts and bolts of the process and provided invaluable feedback (“Mmmm, I can see that you are excited about the design but where did you address the funder’s criteria?”). I was able to participate in her grant writing courses and learned how important it is to listen to clients and help them find the funding to make their dreams a reality. The first grants I wrote (and rewrote…and rewrote…and rewrote) helped me understand the need to create an outline of the narrative to ensure all criteria are addressed and to communicate complex ideas in clear, concise language. One day, after reading a draft of a proposal I had written, my mentor looked at me and said, “Finally, you’ve grown a left brain.” That did make me smile!

I have written many successful proposals over the last 10 years and, while I always don my “left brain hat” to actually write the proposal, I still begin the writing process by visualizing the big picture, drawing the project design, and scribbling my notes all around the design (usually in a variety of colors). So yes, I have grown a left brain over the years but I have found that there is still plenty of room for creativity in grant writing.

——————————–
 
You can read more tips from MaryEllen Bergh, the Grant Coach, at the GrantGoddess.com member site.
 
Free e-book – 12 Secrets of Successful Grant Writers.

A Glitch in the System

Our T-1 line has been in a terrible snit* for a few days. That may not sound very serious to those of you who don’t know what a T-1 line is, but to those of us “in the know,” we’re darkly aware that it’s very serious indeed.

The T-1 line brings us our telephone and Internet service so we’re pretty useless as consultants without a telephone or Internet connectivity; these are, after all, essential tools of the trade. It’s a bit like the Slurpee machine and the hot dog roller at the 7-11 going on the fritz, or Santa’s Elves emigrating to Thailand. Like convenience stores and Santa, there are some tools one must have to do business.

Oh sure, our computers still work. I can write fascinating blog posts (not necessarily this one), but I can’t post them. I can develop interesting videos and Photoshop pictures, but I can’t send them anywhere. Our T-1 glitch has rendered us electronically hamstrung as it were, and that’s frustrating to a bunch of propeller-heads such as we have become.

T-1 snits are unusual; these phone lines are quite reliable as a matter of course. This history of reliability brings me no satisfaction, it is but weak solace on this sunny afternoon. As I sit in electronic isolation, I fear it’s quite possible that the end of the world has come and I shall never know of it.

Oh joy! A technician has arrived to resolve the problem. After much trudging back and forth between his truck and the connection box, he informs us that a smidgen of corrosion on a connection has caused the snit just as a flight attendant in a snit can stop an airliner.

The problem has been resolved for today so we’re back online and there are pressing matters to attend to so I’d better end this short rant and move on to more meaningful activities.

*snit – adjective – An expression of aggravation roughly equivalent to a red-faced, screaming 2-year-old in the grocery store whose mother is waiting desperately for the person checking out ahead of her to learn how to use an ATM card. See also: Mel Gibson, Christian Bale.

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

————————————

Free e-Book on Selecting an Evaluator.

There is still time to register for Grant Writing 101, our very popular online grant writing course.  Learn grant writing on your own time in the comfort of you home or office.

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

A Glitch in the System

Our T-1 line has been in a terrible snit* for a few days. That may not sound very serious to those of you who don’t know what a T-1 line is, but to those of us “in the know,” we’re darkly aware that it’s very serious indeed.

The T-1 line brings us our telephone and Internet service so we’re pretty useless as consultants without a telephone or Internet connectivity; these are, after all, essential tools of the trade. It’s a bit like the Slurpee machine and the hot dog roller at the 7-11 going on the fritz, or Santa’s Elves emigrating to Thailand. Like convenience stores and Santa, there are some tools one must have to do business.

Oh sure, our computers still work. I can write fascinating blog posts (not necessarily this one), but I can’t post them. I can develop interesting videos and Photoshop pictures, but I can’t send them anywhere. Our T-1 glitch has rendered us electronically hamstrung as it were, and that’s frustrating to a bunch of propeller-heads such as we have become.

T-1 snits are unusual; these phone lines are quite reliable as a matter of course. This history of reliability brings me no satisfaction, it is but weak solace on this sunny afternoon. As I sit in electronic isolation, I fear it’s quite possible that the end of the world has come and I shall never know of it.

Oh joy! A technician has arrived to resolve the problem. After much trudging back and forth between his truck and the connection box, he informs us that a smidgen of corrosion on a connection has caused the snit just as a flight attendant in a snit can stop an airliner.

The problem has been resolved for today so we’re back online and there are pressing matters to attend to so I’d better end this short rant and move on to more meaningful activities.

*snit – adjective – An expression of aggravation roughly equivalent to a red-faced, screaming 2-year-old in the grocery store whose mother is waiting desperately for the person checking out ahead of her to learn how to use an ATM card. See also: Mel Gibson, Christian Bale.

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

————————————

Free e-Book on Selecting an Evaluator.

There is still time to register for Grant Writing 101, our very popular online grant writing course.  Learn grant writing on your own time in the comfort of you home or office.

How Did I Learn Grant Writing? – Derek Link

Non-Profit Consultant and Expert Grant Writer, Derek Link, provides the first contribution to our How Did I Learn Grant Writing?” series:

Often people ask, “How on earth did you learn grant writing?”  Obviously it isn’t one of the careers that a high school counselor suggested and I’d wager it’s not one of the careers indicated by any career assessments.
My entry into the world of grant writing started when I took a job in which I was expected to write “Continuation Applications” for federal grants the agency secured before my tenure in the position. Fortunately, the consultant who wrote the grants originally was under contract to assist with evaluation and I was soon under his grant-writing tutelage.
My new mentor liked my writing style which tends to be direct and to the point.  After his contracts with our agency ended, he asked me if I was available to moonlight with his company as a freelance grant writer, so I asked my boss if he’d object to me doing that.  My boss gave me the green light and before long my nights and weekends were spent at the computer pecking away at grant narratives.
Now I don’t want to give you the impression that I was some grant-writing prodigy, some technical-writing-Mozart sitting blindfolded at the computer whipping out successful narratives: I most certainly wasn’t!  My mentor was a brutal and brilliant grant editor and he wielded a micro-cassette recorder as he read my narratives providing biting, insightful commentary which I often swore at (I’m not proud of it but it’s true) as I listened to the comments revising my writing again and again.
Another key thing I did to learn grant writing was take a grant writing class.  The class I took was rather basic, especially after my recent experience in writing grants but it did reinforce some important concepts and practices vital to becoming successful.  The grant writing course taught things like organization, writing style, voice, use of data, integration of the RFP outline, etc.
So in summary, my process to learn grant writing involved a number of things including:
  1. I had a job that required me to write grants.
  2. I had a great mentor.
  3. I had the motivation to persevere in the learning process.
  4. I took a grant writing course.
The intellectual exercise of writing a grant is still a great challenge.  Being able to hold the whole program in your mind as you write ensures continuity and clarity and requires you to be fully mentally present throughout the process.  I find grant writing to be a strenuous mental exercise. Learning to write grants will kind of make your brain sweat.

——————————-

Grant Writing Seminar – Secrets of Successful Grant Writers

There is still time to sign up for our Grant Writing 101 course at the discount rate.  Don’t miss out!

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

How Did I Learn Grant Writing? – Derek Link

Non-Profit Consultant and Expert Grant Writer, Derek Link, provides the first contribution to our How Did I Learn Grant Writing?” series:

Often people ask, “How on earth did you learn grant writing?”  Obviously it isn’t one of the careers that a high school counselor suggested and I’d wager it’s not one of the careers indicated by any career assessments.
My entry into the world of grant writing started when I took a job in which I was expected to write “Continuation Applications” for federal grants the agency secured before my tenure in the position. Fortunately, the consultant who wrote the grants originally was under contract to assist with evaluation and I was soon under his grant-writing tutelage.
My new mentor liked my writing style which tends to be direct and to the point.  After his contracts with our agency ended, he asked me if I was available to moonlight with his company as a freelance grant writer, so I asked my boss if he’d object to me doing that.  My boss gave me the green light and before long my nights and weekends were spent at the computer pecking away at grant narratives.
Now I don’t want to give you the impression that I was some grant-writing prodigy, some technical-writing-Mozart sitting blindfolded at the computer whipping out successful narratives: I most certainly wasn’t!  My mentor was a brutal and brilliant grant editor and he wielded a micro-cassette recorder as he read my narratives providing biting, insightful commentary which I often swore at (I’m not proud of it but it’s true) as I listened to the comments revising my writing again and again.
Another key thing I did to learn grant writing was take a grant writing class.  The class I took was rather basic, especially after my recent experience in writing grants but it did reinforce some important concepts and practices vital to becoming successful.  The grant writing course taught things like organization, writing style, voice, use of data, integration of the RFP outline, etc.
So in summary, my process to learn grant writing involved a number of things including:
  1. I had a job that required me to write grants.
  2. I had a great mentor.
  3. I had the motivation to persevere in the learning process.
  4. I took a grant writing course.
The intellectual exercise of writing a grant is still a great challenge.  Being able to hold the whole program in your mind as you write ensures continuity and clarity and requires you to be fully mentally present throughout the process.  I find grant writing to be a strenuous mental exercise. Learning to write grants will kind of make your brain sweat.

——————————-

Grant Writing Seminar – Secrets of Successful Grant Writers

There is still time to sign up for our Grant Writing 101 course at the discount rate.  Don’t miss out!