Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Relax....and Tell your Story

Sometimes we talk so much about the technical aspects of grant writing that we forget to stress the most important thing - It's all about telling your story. It's the story of where you have been, where you are now, and most importantly, where your organization is going. Your ultimate purpose is to communicate your story in a compelling enough way to convince a funder to invest in you. Even in a large federal competition in which readers are assigning scores to sections of your proposal (sometimes they even assign scores to subsections), it's still about how clearly you can communicate a compelling story.

I have read grants that were technically quite good, but they lacked any feel of authenticity, any sense of genuine commitment to the cause or vision.  On the other hand, I have also read grants that had many technical issues, but communicated a powerful sense of commitment, competence, and passion for the vision.

Don't get me wrong. The best scenario is to tell a compelling story within the context of a document that is technically superior, but the primary purpose of communicating your story should always been in the forefront of your mind.

The best grants, like the best in any genre of writing, are the ones that read easily, like a story well told. You are left with a clear understanding of what is being proposed, who is proposing it, and why they are proposing it. Technical prowess helps you use language to bring the story to center stage, but it can't take the place of having a compelling story to tell.

So relax.....and just tell your story.

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About Creative Resources & Research

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Woodland, CA, United States
Creative Resources and Research is a consulting firm specializing in grant writing, grant seeking, program evaluation and professional development training. We have worked with hundreds of clients including public and private schools, school districts, universities, non-profit organizations, and social service agencies throughout California, securing over $155 million from federal, state and private foundation funding sources over the past decade. Our primary grant writers and program evaluators have over 50 years of combined experience in the education and social services fields. At CRR we prefer a personal approach to the clients we work with; by developing long term relationships, we are better suited to match client’s needs with available funding sources. We provide a variety of services to help assist you, including grant writing, evaluation consulting, professional development opportunities, and workshops.