Communication Matters

We're installing some new phone lines at the office.  Actually, we're switching out a bunch of expensive ones for some less expensive analog lines.  Yes, some people are really going back to analog.

Anyway, I started the process last April., and here we are today - 8 months later - with a technician here hooking things up. Hopefully, everything will work properly. Normally, I would assume hat it would, but not this time.  Why?  Because communication has been so bad.

The different technicians only know about their piece of the project and they come from different companies.  The only person who apparently is supposed to know the whole project is a project coordinator who is conveniently unreachable today, the day when everything was supposed to be coming together.

Each technician asks me questions and I have no answers.  Has XYZ happened yet? I don't know. Who's bringing and installing the modem?  I have no clue.

I'm frustrated. Very frustrated.

It hit me a moment ago, though, that I have experienced this exact same feeling before. I have something to accomplish.  It's my responsibility. No one is going to do it for me. But I don't have all the information I need to make it happen.

This is exactly the same frustration I feel in my grant writing world when a client hasn't given me the information I need to complete their proposal. I want to do my job.  I really want to complete my task so I can move on to other things, but I'm stuck. I'm stuck waiting for someone else to do their job. They may not think it's that important, but it's important to me.  It's the one thing standing between me and success.

The lesson from this for me is that communication really does matter. When someone else needs information from me, I need to be mindful of that and respond accordingly.

We're all connected in many ways. Information flows between and among us and when it's flowing, things are good.  When it stops flowing, someone can't do their job and it's frustrating.

Let's all do our part to keep it flowing.

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Don't forget! The GrantGoddess website has had a makeover. Check it out.

6 Things to Do After the Grant Has Been Submitted

After a grant application has been submitted, it's tempting to just walk away from the project and relax. You've been dealing with intense stress for weeks and you finally crossed the finish line. You deserve a break, right?

Right.

But first there are some things you should take care of right away....

1. Debrief the process.  Go through the entire process from start to finish and make notes about what went well and what didn't go so well. For those things that didn't go as well as you had hoped, what could you have done differently? What will you do differently next time? The longer you wait to do this, the more details you'll forget and less valuable the activity will be.
2. Send a final copy of the full proposal to your client or Executive Director. As excited as you are to have the project finished, they are just as excited to see the final product. Making them wait until Monday could make them a little anxious, so just do it now.
3. Confirm online submittal. If you submitted the grant online, be sure that you don't walk away from the project until confirmation has been received.
4. Fax signature pages to the funder, if required. Some grants require online submittal, but then you have to fax in signed signature pages within 3 days.  Don't wait.  Do it right away. It's easy to forget about this when you have mentally moved on to another project.
5. Gather up all documents related to the project and put them in one place.  This can be a separate pile on your desk to deal with later, if you'd like, or you can go through the process of filing everything away.  The point is that you don't want to leave your back-up materials scattered all over the place. If you're like most of us, you'll be starting your next project right away (or you have several going on at the time) and cleaning one up before you walk away from it will help you be more efficient as you move on to the others.
6. Send thank you notes or email to the people who helped you with the process. This is important. I prefer to send a handwritten note when I can, but a heartfelt email is better than nothing. Acknowledging the help and support of others will ensure that you'll get their help the next time you need it. Oh, and it's also just the right thing to do.

Now you can take that well-deserved break.

What other things you do immediately after deadline?

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First Grant of the Season

I just finished writing my first grant of the "season."  It was a 55-page proposal for an excellent program. I loved the client.  I loved the idea.

But writing it was like pulling teeth for me.

It happens to me every year.  There is something about that first big grant of the season that is a struggle for me. It must be something about the creative part of my brain that works part-time when it's not grant time.  When it's time for it to get back to full-time work (or more than full-time work), it drags its feet, whines, and rebels against all my attempts to impose any intellectual discipline.

Yes, it feels like my mind has a mind of its own.

After that first one, it's under my control again and the next grant goes well, as does the next one, and the next one, and so on until the end of the grant season.

Frankly, I don't know why it's so difficult, because I always win and end up with an excellent proposal.

I am the Grant Goddess, after all.  ;-)

How NOT To Do It

I usually like to publish positive tips for improving your grant writing skills, but every now and then I come across such a great example of what not to do that I can't help but share it.

21st Century Community Learning Center grants were due earlier this week.  A little over two months ago, I approached one of my longstanding clients about writing one.  The reply was a cool, "No, we've got people who can handle this one."  I replied as I always do to when a client declines my services.  I wished them luck and reminded them that if they need any help or would just like me to do a quick read (free of charge, of course) and give some feedback before they submitted the grant, I would be glad to help. I was assured that they wouldn't need my help.

Then I let it go.

I moved on with that grant with contracts I acquired with two other clients.  Everything progressed as expected.

Then, at 3:00 p.m. on deadline day (proposals had to be received by the funding agency by 5:00 p.m.) I got a call from someone representing that client who wanted their login and password for the online system so they could upload their proposal.

First of all, I didn't have their login and password for that particular system. If I'd had it, I would have provided it immediately. The other problem, though, is that this online system was a little strange. Applicants were required to complete a lot of forms online and submit them online.  Then, they needed to print some of them for signatures, and then combine those forms with the grant narrative and attachments and submit the hard copy to the funding source.  The whole package was not to be uploaded at all.

That meant that once these folks found a login and password, they would have to get those forms filled out, print some of them, gather more signatures, assemble their whole package, and hand deliver it to the funding source.  It would take them 30-40 minutes to get there to deliver the package.

I don't know how it turned out, but it's pretty likely they missed the deadline.

What's the big takeaway lesson here?

If you are submitting a grant through any electronic system, acquiring a login and password and checking out the system and submittal procedures is one of the first things you should be doing, not the last.

These folks fell into the trap of focusing on the preparation of the narrative, rather than seeing the entire process. It's a mistake that may have cost them half a million dollars.

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Try reading A Writer's Journey and Sexy Grant Writers for more tips, hints, and even laughs.

What to see some examples of successful grant proposals to help you improve your grant writing skills?  Visit Grant Samples.

The Difference Between a Gift and a Grant

Gifts and grants are completely different animals, yet they are often treated the same. Unfortunately, those who treat them the same usually end up in trouble.

A gift is just what you would expect it to be - a sum of money or a resource that is given to your organization with nothing expected in return or very little expected in return.  Most cash donations from private individuals fall into this category. Sometimes a donor may request that a gift be earmarked for a particular purpose (i.e., building fund, youth programs, etc.), and sometimes a donor may request a certain type of recognition or publicity (i.e., naming rights, public recognition, etc.), but that's about it.

A grant, on the other hand, comes with a contract and a set of expectations. A sum of money or a resource is given to you with the expectation that it will be used in a particular way, and appropriate performance is expected.  If you don't perform, the grantor (if it is a governmental agency) can take the money back. There are usually rules you are expected to follow as you implement the proposal that was funded.

Also, in most cases, a grantor expects that something measurable will change as a result of the money or resource you are given. Gift givers often don't expect change, but they are support the organization as it currently is (operational support).

Of course, there are some exceptions to the distinction I've just made, but the general rule is pretty clear.

Many organizations write grant proposals without understanding the difference, and then they are shocked at all of the :"strings" that come with the grant, even when those expectations were clearly delineated in the instructions before they applied. Part of the decision about whether or not to apply for a grant requires that you look into the future when that grant is funded and determine if you are actually willing to perform as expected.

If not, the grant you're looking at may not be the one for you.

Related Posts:

The Worst Reasons for NOT Writing a Grant

5 Mistakes That Can Lose Millions of Dollars in Grant Applications

If you need some successful grant proposal samples to help you along, visit GrantSample.com

Writing is Regal

“Content is King” may be an over-used term among techies but maybe you’ve never heard it. It refers to the fact that content – written and more recently video – is the primary driver of online traffic. This fact makes having quality content important. It’s more important than design, keywords, or graphics; all of that stuff ranks lower on the list.

Content being King gives me hope that while many parts of the Internet are increasingly automated by clever programming, there is still a place for me. I can write, and so long as content is on the throne, I have access.

Some days it is difficult to write anything at all. On those days I feel dried out on my topic of grant writing. That’s when I write about related topics like writing for the Internet or how to find a good chair for grant writing or about how darned sexy I feel (that’s right grant writers can be sexy too).

Scott Stratten, author of “Un-marketing” said in his keynote at the Blog World Expo Conference in Las Vegas last year that blog content has to be GREAT and if you aren’t writing GREAT content to just stop or slow down and write less. Scott asserted that nobody has ever read a really bad blog post and said, “That was terrible, but it was keyword rich.” Scott’s a funny guy, he’s Canadian and they’re a funny bunch (I know this from family experience).

When I run into a dry spell, I’ll sit down and just start writing. I know it sounds odd, a Canadian sort of thing like cheese whiz on toast or caribou coats, but it works for me. These narratives usually start out with something like, “I don’t know what to write today so I went for a walk…then I met a homeless guy who asked me for money and I told him I didn’t have any but he said, ‘That’s OK brother’, gave me a fist bump, and smiled before he walked away.”

I can get a lot of narrative out of that single interaction if I think about it just a little bit. I could write about thankfulness, homelessness, gratitude, acceptance, human interaction, living without technology, the economy, health, safety on the streets. That single interaction could be turned into any number of short blog posts reflecting on this man, his circumstances and my interaction with him. All of a sudden my blockage is gone and I am writing merrily away wishing I had more time to cover all the possible topics.

I try to remember another thing that Scott Stratten said – and perhaps it isn’t original, but I heard him say it first so it will be fixed in my mind as his from now on - “If you are your own authentic self, you have no competition.” Nice, I can live with that. Writing from my inner self is freeing in a way that helps me break out of the doldrums whenever I find myself there.

I like the idea of my content as King of the Internet, even if it’s read by a few, not millions.


Completely unrelated blog posts:

Bless His Cotton Socks

Ten Things Baseball Can Teach You About Grant Writing

Federal Grant Resources at Grant Goddess.com

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Photo Credit - Zsolt Zatrok Dr.

Uh-Oh: We Got the Grant, But We Didn't Plan!

Often when you are applying for grants clients get very excited and can tend to exhibit what Alan Greenspan called "irrational exuberance."

It is important to remember as a grant writer that developing grant applications without proper planning can create more problems than the grant funding would solve. There is a considerable amount of responsibility and work that goes along with implementation of a successfully funded grant. Careful planning throughout grant development is vital in order to ensure successful implementation.

Here are 10 things to consider when planning for submission of a grant proposal to ensure that your grant is well thought out, realistic, and is based on achievable objectives:

1. Establish a planning committee before the RFP is publicized. Be certain to include all relevant partners who may be interested in participating, impacted by the grant services, and who are logical partners to share costs and in-kind services.
2. Maintain meeting records for the committee including roster, minutes, and agendas.
3. Engage the committee in a needs assessment and program planning process.
4.  Work out collaborative agreements and partnerships.
5.  Develop memoranda of understanding and letters of commitment among the partners.
6. Gather resolutions from boards and leadership committees of the partner organizations.
7. Obtain commitments from the partners for materials, services, budget commitments, participation in governance, and commitment to contribute data.
8. Develop a program design that the planning committee is in agreement with to address the needs identified in item 3.
9. Create an evaluation design to ensure that partners are aware and committed to data collection that will validate the achievements of the grant program.
10. Engage the planning committee in reviewing the grant narrative as it is being developed in order to ensure its accuracy and feasibility.

Often it is the responsibility of the grant writer to act as the voice of reason and to share their experience with clients who may be irrationally exuberant (or irrationally hesitant) about a grant opportunity. This may seem counterintuitive, in that you may feel that you are losing valuable business; however, it's good business to bring funding to your client if it is going to result in positive programs and positive outcomes that make them look good and help them achieve their mission. Enabling clients to apply for grants that they are either unqualified to implement or are of a scale that is beyond their capacity is harmful to your relationship with your client in the long run.

My master teacher always told us that failing to plan was planning to fail. Grant writers must be proactive in assisting their clients in the planning process to ensure that the grant submitted is realistic both in terms of current reality and future feasibility for implementation.


By:  Derek Link


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Other posts from The GrantGoddess Speaks that you might like:

How Did I Learn Grant Writing?  - Derek Link

Grant Writer Stalked by Client

Rantings of an Opinionated Grant Writer

Help! Grant Writer Downing in Paper!

How Positive Writing Makes a Better Grant

Also, take some time to visit A Writer's Journey for more thoughts on writing.

Grant Writing Success – A Non-Profit Walmart State Grant

Non-profit consultant and expert grant writer Derek Link shares a grant writing success story:

A couple of years ago I was contracted to write some grants for a non-profit organization named Challenge Aspen in Colorado. My grant research led me to the Walmart Foundation’s State grant program and I was soon on my way to a grant writing success story.

The grant proposal we submitted secured a grant of $30,000 to support an important outdoor Challenge Aspen Military Options (CAMO) program for disabled female veterans. The program supports courageous women striving to re-build their lives after being disabled in the wars.

There were a number of important factors that contributed to this grant writing success:

1. Challenge Aspen does great work and documents what they do.
2. Challenge Aspen has a staff and a budget which ensured the work would get done that the $30,000 was targeted for.
3. There was a clear mission and measurable objectives for the proposal.
4. Challenge Aspen staff provided the documents I needed in a timely way and they gave me excellent feedback to ensure that the narrative accurately reflected the needs of the program.
5. Challenge Aspen had a competent grant writer (moi!)

Each grant writing success story involves a partnership between a functional non profit organization and an expert grant writer. It is always a joy to write for a non profit that is dedicated to its mission and can prove its effectiveness!

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What is a Grant Writer?

Non-Profit Consultant and Expert Grant Writer, Derek Link, answers the question "What is a Grant Writer?" in his own unique way:

So many times, in response to the standard “guy” question, “So, what do you do?” I get this deer in the headlights response to my answer, “I’m a grant writer.”  The predictable follow-up question is, “Really?  What’s a grant writer?” 

Most people (not all) have heard of grants but most people think it’s a gift-wrapped gold bar that Uncle Sam sends out to undeserving people who make obscene artwork.  So I explain what a grant is first.

What is a grant?

Basically, a grant is an effort on the part of the government to solve a problem, improve a condition, demonstrate the validity of an idea, and sometimes – it’s true (I wish it weren’t) – pay back a political favor. 

The government goes about this by organizing a grant competition.  This competition is assigned a budget and the size of the grants is usually pre-determined, and so the budget allocated to the program determines the number of grants to be given out.  Applications are developed and made available, deadlines for submission of applications are set, and criteria for scoring the applications are created. 

When all of the applications come in, they are sorted and checked to make sure the writers followed all the rules, those that did not are tossed into the trash can and the rest are scored.  The highest scores win the dough, everyone else gets zilch and has to wait for another round of competition.

What is a grant writer?

After I get the person to understand what a grant is, then they often must be helped to understand what the application entails.  This is when in the conversation they glaze over and their minds stray off into “I like pizza” mode.  So I usually cut it short with “A grant writer writes the applications for grants,” which is really all they wanted to know and more than they wanted to know all at the same time.

Guys usually ask you what you do because they’re trying to gauge your level of success to see if you’re someone they can relate to, aspire to be like or perhaps give a dollar to.  But being told that someone is a grant writer is impossible to quantify. 

Being a doctor or a lawyer implies one is making a substantial income but a grant writer is such an unknown that people who care about that stuff – and guys often do – really have a hard time wrapping their head around what it means.

I like that part of being an inscrutable grant writer, apparently savvy about the mysterious inner-workings of government, apparently owning the ability to help others access a trickle of the government wealth, and having an occupation with no common point of reference with which to determine my income level. 

I am a Grant Writer. With this title, I can remain somewhat of a social-class enigma at events and social functions (at least until I go out to the parking lot and fire up my ’97 Honda Civic).

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Federal Government Grant Priorities.....Whose Priorities?

I was scanning the grant opportunities at grants.gov this morning, and I noticed something that I have noticed for years, but today it struck me a bit differently. I'm accustomed to seeing hundreds of grant opportunities that don't apply to my clients.  Many are amusing (I've posted on Facebook about competitions for funds to save particular obscure animal species, etc.) and some are just incomprehensible. However, at a time when our economy is in trouble and people are suffering, some of the federal grant priorities seem just wrong.

Non-profit organizations that are often the last line of support for our most needy citizens are struggling for every dime these days, yet here are just a few of the hundreds of things that the government is choosing to fund instead:

Inventory of Cave Dwelling Animals in Wet Caves Grant - I think we could just go with last year's inventory numbers, don't you?

Azerbaijan New Media Project - This is $4,000,000 to support the development of new media and online communities in Azerbaijan. Supposedly it will help with the distribution of US aide there.

Establishing a Global System of Regional Wildlife Networks: Providing Support for Central American Wildlife - Wildlife here are so well protected that we have extra cash to be protecting wildlife in Central America?

Mexican Spotted Owl Grant - This announcement lists only "Mexican Spotted Owl" in the full description of the project.  Are we buying a Mexican spotted owl?  Several? Are we protecting it? Feeding it? Whatever we are doing to it, is it more important than $280,000 worth of food for the homeless?

Youth Empowerment Program in Kenya - $14,000,000 for this one, folks. I guess all of the youth in the US are empowered and well-educated, so it's time to move on the youth of Kenya.

Decentralization Enabling Environment - I find this one to be particularly ironic. This grant provides $2,000,000 to a nongovernmental agency in Honduras to help develop the "environment necessary for decentralization of government services to the local level in order to better respond to citizen needs." At a time when local organizations in the U.S. that do this very thing are suffering and the U.S. is going through a dramatic centralization of services and resources, we're giving money to another country to do the opposite.

MERIDA Small Grant Program for Community Youth at Risk - This one is for community-based programs for at-risk youth in Panama. See my comment above about the Youth Empowerment Program in Kenya.

Please don't misunderstand.  I am sure that there is some value in each of these programs. What kind of human being would I be if I didn't think doing something to or with Mexican Spotted Owls was important or that we shouldn't have an accurate inventory of wet cave dwelling animals?

Even so, I think we need to do a much better job of prioritizing.  Every family knows that you can't have everything. Some things that you think are important have to be put aside or postponed until you can afford them in favor of funding things that are much more important.

As for the grants I just cited (and the hundreds of others like them), just whose priorities are those, anyway?

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How Positive Writing Makes a Better Grant

Yesterday on my Twitter account (Grant_Writer if you want to follow me) I received a tweet from someone I won’t name and the gist of the tweet was that this person was watching a single Mom struggling on a teacher’s salary to put a child through college – “sigh”.


Well, I thought this warped perspective must have some relevance or I wouldn’t have been meant to see it. Before pondering the significance of this to grant writing, I replied to the person’s tweet something to the effect that the person is indeed fortunate to be “struggling” with a “salary” (of any kind in this economy) and a “child in college” (what a great burden). Life could be so much worse.

Grants must be written from a perspective of abundance and positive energy. While there may well be some difficult circumstances that caused the grant to be needed, like extremely low reading levels among 4th grade students, or hunger and homelessness, or whatever the need may be, the reader wants to hear about the hope the grant provides for overcoming those circumstances. The reader wants to believe that your grant will resolve those issues, and that you are confident and competent to accomplish the objectives.

Writing that presents a “woe-is-me” attitude simply makes me want to jump off a bridge. I may well sympathize with the needs presented, and usually this is the strongest section of even a bad grant because most everyone can point out what’s wrong. But pointing out what is right that will lead to a positive outcome is the key.

Take my twitter “followee” as an example. This person could have tweeted something like, “So proud of my friend putting her child through college on a teacher’s salary-hurrah!” - Or – “My friend’s struggle to put her child through college on a teacher’s salary will pay off! She’s my hero!”

It’s all in the perspective, so choose to write grant narratives in a positive tone, one that promotes your energy, that clearly illustrates your fresh ideas, and that forcefully expresses confidence in your competent ability to overcome the current reality and create a better tomorrow!

By Non-Profit Consultant and Expert Grant Writer Derek Link

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Check out some grant samples at http://grantsample.com/ .

Happily Slogging On!

Here are some thoughts from Non-Profit Consultant and Expert Grant Writer, Derek Link, on focus and perseverance:

Doing something difficult is always a trial of wills. You must enforce your will over the task, and over all other competing tasks. You must make a commitment that the task at hand is the one that matters most, and devote your focus on it entirely through the inevitably arduous march toward completion.

I’ve experienced this happy slog over and over in my life. Fortunately I got good advice about the slog along the way, and actually before I even began my first one (the university). I had a wonderful teacher in high school named Norm Barker. He was an architecture teacher and a terrifically talented person. He could do anything with his hands. I admired him because of those skills, and he was actually in my neighborhood so I got to see some of his handiwork first hand. He rebuilt a 1961 Porsche from paint to engine to upholstery, he built his own stereo speakers, he took an old wood-burning pot-bellied stove that he’d found in a field and welded up all the bullet holes and recast the missing parts and it was a thing of beauty when he finished.

What Mr. Barker taught me, in addition to some drafting skills, was that dedication to an endeavor produced good results. I recall that he was inspiring me to become an architect at one point as a student and he showed me a list of the courses at Cal Poly I’d need to take to become an architect. I remarked to him that I wasn’t good at math (truth be told, in high school I didn’t do my homework which mostly accounted for my poor math scores). He told me a valuable thing that sustained me throughout my Bachelor’s and my Master’s degrees: Mr. Barker said, “Derek, there’s nothing you can’t get through for one semester”. BRILLIANT ADVICE, Mr. Barker.

So, this is a long bird-walk to get to my topic of the Happy Slog. When you are in the midst of writing a grant and you’re feeling like you’ll never slog through it, just keep Mr. Barker’s advice in mind (with a little twist) “There’s nothing you can’t get through in three (fill in your deadline) weeks.” The deadline will come and go, so keep your mind focused and ignore all the competing distractions that are bound to come your way.

Slog on grant writers, slog on!

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Grant Writing - Five Last Minute Things to Check

In the grant writing process, the final hours are the most stressful. That’s the time when you are conducting your final checks to make sure you have included everything that needs to be included, labeled everything correctly, corrected all errors, calculated everything correctly, and followed the instructions to the letter. It is also one of the most dangerous periods of the grant writing process because it’s easy to miss things in the rush to finish.


Here are a few last minute things to watch out for:

1. Re-check all information on required forms. Go through all of the required forms, line by line, to make sure you entered the information correctly. It’s not uncommon to think that completing forms is so simple that you lose focus, and it’s easy to transpose numbers in phone numbers or enter email addresses or tax ID numbers incorrectly.
2. Check all budget numbers – then check them again. Just like on your taxes, math errors are among the most common when completing grant application budgets.
3. Review the program requirements and make sure they are all addressed (and labeled) in your narrative. If the program you are applying for has absolute and competitive preference priorities, be sure you have addressed them all and labeled your responses as such. Remember, you don’t want the readers to have any trouble at all finding your responses to program requirements.
4. Fill in all blanks in your narrative. Sometimes people leave blanks in the narrative for page references or things they plan on filling in later. If you don’t go back through specifically looking for them, it’s easy to miss them.
5. If you are submitting your grant electronically, open each section and to make sure the files are attached properly before you submit. I may be paranoid, but I always like to take one last look at every document before I click that “submit” button, just to be sure that the file I intended to attach is actually the one that was attached.

Successful grant writing is all about details. Taking a few extra minutes at the end of the grant writing process to check a few important details can make all the difference.

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Distinguish Implementation Objectives from Outcome Objectives

Writing good objectives for your grant can be a challenge.   This post is about distinguishing between implementation objectives and outcome objectives. You can also check out Five Tips for Writing Good Grant Objectives.

Implementation objectives define your targets for implementing the program (e.g., Fifty program participants will be enrolled by June 30, 2010, as measured by intake records) and outcome objectives define your ultimate achievement targets (e.g., Forty students will complete the program each year, as measured by achievement of a passing score on the XYZ exam).

Think of it this way: the achievement of an implementation objective proves that you are implementing the program. The achievement of an outcome objective proves that the program works. While implementation objectives are good, outcome objectives guide the true measures of your effectiveness. Generally speaking, funding sources are most interested in your outcome objectives, and when an RFA refers to "Goals and Objectives," it is referring to goals and outcome objectives.
Implementation objectives can also be used, but only when you clearly distinguish them from outcome objectives. Occasionally, a funding source will specifically ask you to list your implementation objectives. In that case, of course, you should follow the directions and provide the requested information, but typically implementation information is provided in the design section of the proposal.

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This is Tip 35 from 101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers.  Check out the book to see all 101 Tips!

Grant Writing Rejection

Grant writing rejection can be hard to take. Nonprofit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, provides some tips on what you should do if your grant is rejected.

One reason that grant writers can fail is by taking on too many low percentage grants that are unlikely to be funded. Selecting grants to write is a delicate thing because as a grant writer you get so many requests from unqualified applicants.


It would be easy to take on lots of contracts from clients you know don’t have a prayer of getting funded, but then your reputation is nothing but a house of cards. Unless you want to move from state to state on an annual basis where nobody knows how unsuccessful you were the year prior, success is important!

Your reputation as a grant writer relies primarily on one thing - getting grants funded. Be prepared for rejection from time to time, because not every grant can be funded; not even the best written ones. Grant rejection is hard to take when you’ve written what you believe to be a good narrative. Getting rejected means doing some damage control with the client as well as preparing for resubmission when the opportunity arises.
Here are some ideas about what to do when your grant is rejected:

1. Always ask for the readers' comments. Funding agencies don’t always have the staff to provide these so often your request will be denied. If you do get them, study them carefully and try not to focus on the things that the readers obviously missed. I’ve heard grant writers get all wound up about some reader missing something that cost them points. OK, it happens and it stinks, but move on to why did they miss it? Was it in the wrong section? Maybe it needed to be repeated, bolded, underlined. On the rewrite, make sure that point is easier to find and repeated so even the slowest reader can find it.
2. If you find that the readers really missed the mark on your proposal, then file a challenge and detail the reasons you think that the readers got it wrong. There has to be a truly egregious error for a negative funding decision to be reversed. Remember, they’ve probably already sent out the notices to all the people who were successful so it’s unlikely they are going to eat crow and reorganize the whole field to fund your proposal. But it can happen, so sometimes it’s worth a challenge. If it's a federal grant, your appeal needs to demonstrate that a standard other than the approved scoring criteria was applied.  That is nearly impossible to demonstrate.
3. If you can’t get readers’ comments then it’s a good idea to request copies of some of the winning proposals so you can compare them to what you submitted. Write down the reasons you think that the proposal was rejected and keep it on file for the following submission. It’s better to do it right after you learn why you weren’t funded.
4. If you planned with a collaborative that meets regularly, discuss the rejected proposal with them to talk about why it wasn’t funded and whether the group is capable and willing to make changes in the proposal design so it is more likely to be funded the next time around.

It’s a terrible experience to have to give a client disappointing news about a grant being rejected. Your clients put a lot of faith in your writing abilities and failure hurts your reputation as a “grant magician.” A failed grant in the early stages of a client relationship can ruin your relationship with them. Be wise about which grants you write and try to steer clear of lower percentage competitions with a client until you’ve had some success and demonstrated your competence. Once your relationship has been established, and your abilities are enshrined in the annals of their annual report, then you can survive a few rejections here and there.

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More Evidence for the Importance of Reading Everything in the RFP

You know that I am always saying you should read the instructions for any grant very carefully and follow those instructions. I also advocate this careful reading even if you have applied for the same grant in the past because things can change. One of our video Tips from the Grant Goddess discussed taking your research beyond the RFP and reading all ancillary materials referenced in the RFP.

Well, this week, I discovered two more examples of the importance of this. The first example is a case of writing a proposal that we have applied for in the past.  Last year, we wrote several of a particular variety of federal grant, so we thought we were very familiar with the requirements and the RFP.  Not so fast.

The name of the program is the same, and the basic priorities are the same, but the scoring criteria and much of the detail about the requirements has changed.  The narrative is even 10 pages shorter than last year! The week before a grant is due is a lousy time to figure this out.  How can this be avoided?   By reading the RFP thoroughly before you even start working on it.

The second example falls in the category of additional, but critical, information that is not in the RFP.  Of course, everything is supposed to be included in the Federal Register announcement, but we all know that it isn't always included.  In this case, there is a required letter of partnership that is not mentioned in the Federal Register or the RFP.  It is mentioned, however, in the non-regulatory FAQs.

The message? Read everything!  Read it thoroughly.  Read it early in the planning process.  Don't get caught off guard as the deadline approaches.

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Tip from the Grant Goddess - Connect the Sections of Your Grant

Here's this week's video Tip from the Grant Goddess:




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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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A Fool and His Grant Are Soon Parted - Follow the Instructions

I am continually surprised by intelligent, educated people who think they know better than the funding source. In a recent grant competition, folks from an organization approached me and asked if I would serve as evaluator for a project they are proposing.  They further requested me to write the evaluation section of the grant narrative.  I agreed. It is not uncommon for an evaluator to write the evaluation section.  In fact, if I'm going to be conducting the evaluation, I really prefer to design the evaluation myself.  It's difficult to be stuck with a non-evaluator's often flawed evaluation design after a grant is funded.
So, we got started.  We did some planning.  They wrote most of the narrative.  I wrote the evaluation section.  When they sent me a draft to review, I noticed that they had organized the narrative accoring to the selection criteria, but not in the order directed by the RFP.  I pointed out (politely, of course) that the RFP said specifically, "Address the scoring criteria in your narrative in the following order....."

I didn't like the order in the RFP, either.  The funder clearly had just rearranged the criteria from the previous year to make sure no one just submitted the same proposal, but the rearrangement made little sense. Normally, the order goes something like this:  Needs, Project Design, Management Plan, Evaluation.  If there is a Project Quality section, it goes either before or after Project Design. However, in this RFP, the order went like this: Project Quality, Project Design, Needs, Management Plan, Evaluation. It makes more sense to discuss your needs first, and then move on to how you plan to address those needs, but that's not what was specified in this RFP.

What's the number piece of advice on grant writing I always give?  Follow the directions.

The narrative that was sent to me for review was not compliant with the RFP instructions.  When I mentioned it, I was told that they knew some people in that governmental department who told them that it would be ok to write the narrative in any order that made sense to them.

Wow.

There's another instruction in the Federal Register - the legal authority for federal grant announcements - that is important.  Announcements in the Federal Register usually say that if you are given any advice that contradicts the instructions given in the Federal Register, the written instructions in the Federal Register should always be followed.

So, no matter how smart you are, or how smart you think you are, follow the instructions.

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Working with a Grant Writer - You Get What You Pay For

It has happened three times so far this season. We start working with a client on a project.  Before a contract is signed, they notify us that they have decided to go with another writer who will do the work for a lower fee.  Each time, I remain gracious, reminding the client of our success rate and our relationship, and I invite them to call if they need assistance.  Then I let go, and move on to others.

Last month, we got calls from the first two (with just a week before the deadline) telling us that their "bargain grant writer" bailed out on them at the last minute, and asking if we would take on the project. For one of them, we did, and we successfully met the deadline with a quality proposal. We were unable to help the other one because we just had too many proposals on our plate at that time.

Today, we heard from bargain shopper number three. This time, the client has been working with the new consultants, but after receiving two drafts, it became clear that the product was not going to be good.  So, with a grant deadline just 6 days away (counting the weekend), the client called and asked if we would take on the project. This is a long time client and normally we do everything we can to help, but this time, the answer is "no." Why? We have quite a few projects in the hopper right now, including another one due on the same date as the one the client wants us to take on.  Decisions have to made, and I choose to reward the loyalty of those who didn't allow themselves to be lured away by big promises and lower fees by focusing on their projects when time is tight.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying to get the best possible deal for your organization. In fact, I think it's your duty as a public servant to do so.  However, the "best deal" is not always just about money.  In the case of grant writing, you also need to consider success rate, experience with the particular grant for which you are applying, and experience in field you work. If your proposal is about health care services and you hire someone who has never written a health care grant (or maybe has written just a couple) and has no experience in the health care field, you will get what you pay for - the grant writer's on the job training.

In these tough budget times, everyone is looking for ways to cut corners.  Just remember that if you don't get the grant, have you really saved anything?  And if you do get the grant written by the more experienced writer, wasn't the slightly higher fee worth every penny?

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