The Power of Subheadings

You have organized your proposal according to the scoring criteria as the RFP has required or suggested, but you find that you still have large blocks of text and you fear that some of your key points may be lost. There are several ways to highlight your key points.  You can use bold or italics. You can use text boxes or other graphics (if the formatting guidelines allow them). You can also use subheadings.

Subheadings are great way to highlight key points and develop more structure in the proposal. They also allow you to break up the text, which makes it easier to read. And remember, making it easier to read means that the readers will like you. That's a very good thing.

You can create subheadings for the sub-criteria in the scoring guidelines (and you should), but you can also add subheadings that target your key ideas or the core elements of your program design.

Subheadings - simple, but powerful.

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Read more tips like this in 101 Tips for Aspiring Grant Writers.

Ten Tips for Grant Writing Success

Learning about grant writing in one blog post is a little like learning about an iceberg from seeing what's above the water line. This article just shows you part of what’s above the surface, the rest is deeper and there's a whole lot more to it. I encourage you to search our blog articles and look at our web site resources to learn more. I write whatever feels right at the moment, and this Friday afternoon, writing a simple post about ten tips feels perfect. Here goes:

1. Learn to write short, declarative sentences;
2. Correctly target your proposal to the right source;
3. Follow guidelines and restrictions scrupulously;
4. Create a writing outline;
5. Collaborate with your client on program design;
6. Write objectives that measurably impact the needs identified;
7.  Keep formatting simple and uncluttered;
8. Use the services of an editor;
9. Budget line items should never surprise the reader;
10. Check the proposal for completeness against a checklist.

Veronica put 101 tips into her book and some of these are probably repeats because they’re each so fundamental to grant development.

Success in grant writing does not happen by accident. Grants are successful because someone can write well, follow directions, and translate a lot of discussion and data into an actionable plan.

If you want to learn more about grant writing, polish and perfect your skills, we can help you do that with our online courses. We also give grant writing seminars on site for groups and we’d love to work with your agency when you need to train staff to write proposals.

Other articles you may enjoy:

14 Tips to Stay Off the Naughty List

Grant Writing - Five Last Minute Things to Check

Photo Credit - jacob gerritsen

New Grant Tips LITE iPhone App!

Our new FREE iPhone App is available! You may have already heard about our Grant Tips iPhone App.  It includes over 100 grant writing tips, a Twitter feed, and inspiration for grant writers.  You can just go to the App Store on your iPhone and search for "Grant Tips." It only costs 99 cents (not 99 cents a month.  Just 99 cents ....period). The best part is that we keep adding tips, so you buy it once, and it becomes a resource that keeps giving.

Now we have the Grant Tips Lite version, which is 100% FREE. It is just like the full version of the App, except that it only has 50 tips.  If you like it, you can easily upgrade to the paid version.  If you don't, no harm no foul.  How can you go wrong?

You can find Grant Tips Lite by going to the iPhone App Store and searching for "Grant Tips Lite."  It will come up and you can download it for free right away.

And please don't forget to leave a 5 star rating and review!

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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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Visit GrantGoddess.com for more tips.

Time Management Tips for Grant Writers

Effective time management is one of the most valuable skills a grant writer can have. Grant writers live under the constant ticking of the deadline clock, and our progress is often impeded or supported by factors (a.k.a. other people) over whom we have no (or very little) control. Learning to manage time in the grant writing process can make the difference between success or failure of a proposal and, by extension, between success and failure of a grant writing career.

Here are some tips for time management:

• Develop a time line for the project.  It can be very helpful to take the time to write out a time line for the project, including tentative deadlines for yourself for various stages of the process. The more people there are involved in the process, the more important a time line becomes.
• Front load the time line. Get as much accomplished as you possibly can during the first week or two of the time line.  That's the time to gather as much data as possible. Sketch out the big ideas.  Do any research you need to do. Get a solid outline constructed. This pre-writing period is one of the most important, so don't skimp on it.
• Make a list of data and information you'll need from others to complete the project.  Share the list with those who can help you. It doesn't have to be a complete list, and things will definitely pop up during the process, but remember that others can't read your mind.  If you need something from them, put it in writing.
• Get the budget sketched out early and finalize it as soon as possible.  It is much easier and quicker to write a complete draft of the narrative when the budget has been finalized.  It also prevents having to go back into the narrative to adjust activities that you thought you were going to be able to fund, but that you couldn't fit into the budget.
• If you get stuck on the narrative, take a break and work on something else.  The budget narrative, forms, or appendices are good choices.
• Develop a prepared guide for writing good letters of support (including some samples) in advance that you can give to project partners at the beginning of the process. Get people started thinking about letters at the first planning meeting. As soon as your design components are clear to you, put a summary in writing and distribute it to your partners so they can get effective letters of support started. Feel free to refer folks to our blog post on Writing Good Letters of Support or our free webinar on Writing Good Letters of Support for Grants.
• Assign someone the responsibility of collecting letters of support and signatures. If at all possible, this should not be you.  Not only do you need to focus on writing, but the process of collecting letters is extremely time consuming. If it has to be you, dedicate an hour a day, from day 1, to the task so it doesn't get put off until the very end.
• Get the first draft done as soon as possible.  Remember it's a draft, so it doesn't have to be complete.  It doesn't have to have all of the data inserted. The sooner you get the first draft done, the more confident you will feel, and the easier it will be to see what information and data you are really missing, if any.
• Schedule your time line so you are completely finished with the narrative at least three days before the deadline.  If you end up with less time at the end, your proofreading process will be rushed and the likelihood of errors making it through to the final draft goes up dramatically.
• Remember that the back end of the process always takes longer than you expect.  I'm talking about proofreading, reviewing the draft to ensure that the narrative matches the letters of support, finalizing the budget and budget narrative (including double- and triple-checking your numbers), and assembling the appendices. Plan for this. Do as much of it in the pre-writing phase as possible.
• Get plenty of rest and eat right.  While this may not seem like a time management tip, it really is. Research has demonstrated that people are less effective when they are tired. Working late into the evening will not be as productive as the morning hours when you are well rested.  All grant writers have experienced late nights, and sometimes they can't be avoided, but you should avoid them when you can (unless, of course, you are one of those folks who works best at night). From the 10th hour of work onward, your effectiveness declines rapidly.
• Once you have developed a process that works well for you, stick to it. I'm not talking about superstition and sticking to a process because you think it makes you lucky, but developing a set of processes and procedures that are smooth and effective.  If you write many grants each year, having a standardized process will allow you to focus less on the process and more on the writing - and that will pay off for you.

Do you have any time management tips that have worked well for you? Please, share them!

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Would you like even more tips? Become a member! You'll gain access to a HUGE collection of resources.

Grant Writing is NOT......

I have been reading a lot of grants lately, and working with other grant writers.  I've seen good writing and not-so-good writing.  Rather than give you another list of grant writing do's and don'ts, I thought I share some things that grant writing is not.

Grant writing is not.....a scavenger hunt. The readers should not have to hunt through your narrative to find the key features of your project design. It should be well-organized and clear.

Grant writing is not.....creative writing.  If you have been reading this blog or listening to any of our Tips from the Grant Goddess shows on BlogTalkRadio you know that I often talk about the creative side of grant writing; however, that is different than creative writing. Grant writing is based on providing the information the funder wants. Don't make the mistake of saying whatever you want to say, regardless of what has been asked.

Grant writing is not.....the same for all funding sources.  I run into people all the time who say, "Yeah, I'm a grant writer, too."  Upon further conversation, I learn that he has written a few small foundation grants, sometimes successfully.  Recently, a potential client chose to go with another writer who had lots of experience with small private grants, but almost no experience with large federal proposals, and absolutely no experience with the particular program in question. As the deadline approached, the client learned the hard way that there are different kinds of grant writing.

Grant writing is not.....all about you. The writer should be invisible so the message can take center stage. This is not the time to impress the reader with your education or your ability to spin a fancy yarn. Remember this...if the reader is thinking about how good your writing is (or isn't), he's not focused on your message, and that's not good.

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Related posts and articles:

Working with a Grant Writer: You Get What You Pay For
Do I Really Need a Grant Writer?
Is Grant Writing Success Really Just About Luck?

Grant Writing Tools You Can Use

Every now and then we like to post about the amazing grant writing tools we have to help you be successful.  Most are totally FREE.  Those that aren't free are very inexpensive. Please feel free to share these tools with your friends and colleagues. Grant writers need all the help they can get.

New Text Message Tips. This is really new for us.  We're sending out grant writing tips and grant sources via text message. There are four different groups you can join - you can join them all or juts the one or two that interest you the most. The tips are totally free, but if you don't have an unlimited text plan with your mobile provider, standard text message rates apply. We're sending out 2-3 messages per week for each group, so you won't be inundated with texts and we do not sell third party advertising so you won't be flooded with ads, either. Here's how you sign up:

• Text GRANTS to 313131 for grant writing tips.
• Text EDGRANTS to 313131 for grant sources relating to education.
• Text KIDGRANTS to 313131 for grant sources for youth programs.
• Text NONPROFIT to 313131 for non-profit development and fund raising tips.

Free online webinars. Right now, we offer free recorded webinars on the following grant writing topics:

• Top 10 Tips for Grant Wsriting
• Collaborating with School Districts on Grants
• Writing Good Letters of Support
• Grant Research: The Basics
• Effective Grant Research

In addition to these topics, we have other webinars on various program evaluation and non-profit development topics.  All are between 20 and 40 minutes long (most are about 30 minutes) and all are available for viewing on demand.


BlogTalk Radio Tips from the Grant Goddess.  Every Friday at 3:00 p.m. (Pacific) we air our 30 minute  online radio show, Tips from the Grant Goddess, on BlogTalkRadio. If you miss the live show, you can listen to the recordings on demand at any time. There are currently over 35 shows archived for listening at your leisure.  Some of the many grant writing topics covered in these shows include:

• The Art and the Science of Grant Writing
• Tips for Effective Collaboration
• Budget Development
• Writing Good Letters of Support
• Grant Writing: The Basics
• Grant Seeking
• Developing a Logic Model
• Selecting Evidence-Based Programs and Practices

Grant Writing Resources Page. This page has quite a selection of great FREE grant writing resources and tools, including articles and links to other sites with good grant writing resources.

Past Blog Posts. Take some time to go back through the archive of blog posts here.The posts you find are different than the articles we put on the Grant Writing Resources Page. With the exception of news posts, most of our posts are about grant writing tips and techniques that you can still use long after they were initially published.

Grant Tips iPhone App. We took the time to put together an iPhone application with 101+ grant tips to help you succeed with your grant writing.  Currently, the app is available for 99 cents in the App Store. You can get more information here. Pretty soon, the FREE version of the app (Grant Tips Lite) will be available.  It will have only 50 tips, rather than over a hundred, but the other features will all be the same. Stay tuned for more information as we release the new app.

Membership at GrantGoddess.com. Everything I've told you about so far has been free (or very inexpensive). A membership at GrantGoddess.com costs only $9.95/month (or you can save some money and get an annual membership for $99/year). On the member site, you'll have access to the largest collection of grant seeking, grant writing, program evaluation, and non-profit development resources available on the web! The content is not duplicated from the free site; it's all developed just for members. We launched the member site in January 2010 and it's growing every day.  But here's the rub --- the early bird rate of $9.95/mo is only good until the end of May.  On June 1, the price will go up to $19.95/month.  Lock in your lower membership rate now!

Five Tips for Writing Good Grant Objectives

Writing good grant objectives is not rocket science, but I have seen it trip up more than a few writers. Think of your objectives as the cornerstone of your project design.  They are linked to your needs and your solutions, and they play a prominent role in the evaluation section. It is definitely worth the time to make them as strong as possible.  Here are a few tips to help you out:

1. Make your objectives SMART. That stands for Specific, Measurable Achievable, Realistic (I've also heard Relevant used here, but I prefer Realistic) and Time-bound. 
2. Use measures that are available to you. Unless there are specific measures that are required by the funding source, write your objective with measurement tools that you have available at your site.  While you should use existing assessments whenever possible, this might be the opportunity to add new assessments you have been considering using anyway. Just be careful not to commit yourself and the organization to the implementation of a new battery of assessments in addition to the implementation of a new program.
3. Make sure each objective has all its parts. The most effective outcome objectives are written as standard behavioral objectives.  Each should have four parts:
1. What will be measured?
2. When will it be measured?
3. How much growth do you expect?
4. How will you know that the objective has been achieved?
4. Distinguish implementation objectives from outcome objectives. Implementation objectives define your targets for implementing the program (e.g., Fifty program participants will be enrolled by June 30, 2011, 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 (doing what you said you would do).  The achievement of outcome objective proves that the program works.
5. Review the formal evaluation requirements of the funding source before finalizing your objectives. Since you will be required to demonstrate the degree to which you have achieved your objectives and you will be required to provide specific data to the funding source as part of a national, state, or organizational (if you have a private funding source) evaluation, it makes sense to try to tailor your objectives to the data that will be required for the formal evaluation.  Not only does this streamline your planning and help with implementation, it also demonstrates your understanding of the needs and requirements of the funding source.

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For more grant writing tips, check out the Grant Writing Resources at GrantGoddess.com or download our Grant Tips iPhone App.  You can also text the word GRANTS to 313131 to receive grant writing tips 2-3 per week on your mobile phone (Tips are free, but standard text message rates from your mobile carrier may apply if you don't have an unlimited text plan.).

Grant Writing Secret - The Power of Language Mimicry

The persuasive power of mimicry has been well established in the fields of sales and marketing, yet professionals in education and the social services rarely use the strategy to get an advantage.  It can be a very powerful tool for success in grant writing.

Language mimicry in grant writing is all about using the same language of the scoring criteria in your responses to the criteria. I'm not talking about merely restating the criteria, but using the exact language of the criteria somewhere in your response.

Here's a very basic example: If the scoring criterion is, "The degree to which the applicant identifies and addresses gaps in services," you would not discuss "services that are missing." You would specifically use the language "gaps in services."  You would also claim  that your project "addresses these gaps in services to a very high degree," or that it represents a "superior approach to addressing gaps in services." Of course, the detail is important, but using the language of the criteria signals to readers that you are focusing on those criteria.

Unfortunately, what many people do instead of mimicking the language is to simply restate the criteria. "Our project has identified gaps in services and addresses them," is an example of simply restating the criterion.

There are several reasons why this strategy gives you a leg up:

1. Grant readers become fatigued after reading several grants. Fatigue begins to set in with the third grant read in a sitting.  As they become fatigued, they start to look for key words.  What are those key words?  The key words in the scoring criteria. the later in the day your proposal is read, the more important those key words become.
2. Not all grant readers are experts in the disciplines of the competition. This is most commonly seen in the area of evaluation.  The criteria may include a requirement that your evaluation use both qualitative and quantitative data, and you may have given examples of both qualitative and quantitative data.  However, most grant readers are not evaluators and I have seen examples of readers not being able to identify listed data sources as qualitative and quantitative.  You need to write "The qualitative data we will collect for evaluation purposes are....." and "The quantitative data we will collect...."
3. In federal competitions, readers from other states may not understand programs in your state. For example, the criteria may say that the projects must include services for youth in schools going through a program improvement process.  Your state may have a particular name for that process that does not include the words "program improvement."  You cannot assume the readers will just know.
4. The psychological research in the area of mimicry tells us it works. When you mimic the language of the scoring criteria, the readers view you as more professional and more responsive to the RFP, in the same way that physically mimicking the person you are talking to in a meeting gives the impression that you are more interested and focused on that person's needs.

Language mimicry is not the only thing you need to pay attention to in the grant writing process.  It is not even the most important thing to remember. However, it is one of those secrets that separates a good grant writer with a moderate level of success from the great ones with phenomenal success.  Which one do you want to be?

End on the Last Page

This is my one of my favorite grant writing secrets - not because it's brilliant, but because it always brings a quizzical look to peoples' faces.

Here's the deal. If you are allowed 25 pages of narrative for a grant proposal, you need to end your proposal on the 25th page. Everyone else will.  If yours is shorter, the readers will notice that you didn't use all of the space allocated to you and that everyone else did.  Then the readers will start flipping through your proposal trying to find what you left out.  Once they start looking for something missing, you're done - because they will find something missing, some detail that isn't clear enough.

So, if you find that you are finished with a grant narrative and you haven't ended on the last page, go back and add more detail to your proposal. Where could data make your case stronger?  What element of your program design could be described more fully?

Add enough detail so your proposal ends on the last page.

Top 10 Lessons I Learned from My Grant Writing Mentor

I have had several mentors in my life.  They have all taught me many valuable lessons. My grant writing mentor taught me some great lessons about grant writing.  While he didn't teach me everything I know about the work, he helped me understand the importance of many things that I might have overlooked or not taken as seriously as I should have.  To be honest, some of the things I learned from him were things NOT to do, but that's ok. A lesson is a lesson, right? Here are the top 10 lessons I learned from him (in no particular order):


1- Whenever possible, add detail. For example, describing a plan for parenting classes is not complete unless you have provided as much detail as possible - the curriculum to be used, how often it will be offered, when it will be offered (days and times), how many will be served, how success will be assessed, etc.


2- Don't write for free. People will often ask if we'll write the grant for the right to the evaluation contract.  Not only is that unethical, but it doesn't make sense.  Grant writing and evaluation, while related, are completely different disciplines. Also, the evaluation is a job in itself, so writing the grant for the evaluation contract is essentially writing the grant for free.  If I want to donate the service, that's one thing, but doing it because a client has given me no choice is another.  Besides, what other professional works for free on a regular basis?

3-  It's ok to turn away work.  If you're good, there will always be a demand for your services. Never take on a project out of desperation. If the project doesn't have a good chance of success, it's ok to walk away.

4- Don't be afraid of competition. If you're good, you have nothing to be afraid of.  The only way to get better is to stretch yourself, challenge yourself, jump into the deep end of the pool with the big boys and swim. My mother expressed it by saying, "No guts, no glory!"

5- Listen.  The first thing to do when talking with a client about a new project is to listen.  Listen carefully.  Listen for what they are really saying.  Listen for their real motivation. Listen to what they really need.

6- Don't let failure slow you down. If you don't succeed with a project, reflect on the failure only long enough to figure out what went wrong and what you can learn from it.  That's all.  Don't let failure steal a moment of time from a current project.


7- Work better than everyone else.  For some, that may mean working longer hours (showing up early, staying late).  For others it means following a particular successful procedure or organizational structure.  Whatever it is, just remember that you can't be better than everyone else in your field by doing things exactly like everyone else.  You have to set yourself apart, and once you do, don't stop doing it.


8-Tell the truth.  The temptation to exaggerate in grant writing is strong.  Resist it. You will regret dishonesty. It always seems to come back to bite you.

9- Respect the people who help you do what you do. The very best grant writers are not loners. Whether you have a support staff that helps you or a support system of colleagues and friends who help, respect them and realize how important they are to your success. You need them, probably as much (or more!) as they need you.


10- Walk away from the work to keep your writing sharp. Don't work all the time.  Take time for family, friends, reading, hobbies, and faith. Contrary to what you may think, more time at work doesn't necessarily make your work better.  This is particularly true for writing. You have to keep your mind fresh by walking away from the work sometimes.  And never forget what really matters - faith, family, friends. Balance in your life not only makes you a better person, but it also makes you a better writer.

Current Federal Grant Opportunities

Today at 3:00 p.m. PST, Tips from the Grant Goddess on BlogTalkRadio will focus on Current Federal Grant Opportunities.

In this episode, the Grant Goddess will review several current federal grant opportunities for schools, school districts, and social service non-profit agencies. She will discuss the key features and requirements of each opportunity, her tips for success, and some things to consider in making the decision if each opportunity is right for you. You won't want to miss this one!

How Can You Be A Better Writer? (Part 1)

I often have conversations with people say they wish they were better writers. They usually speak as if writing were a talent that you either have or you don't. While I think it's true that some people have more of a natural gift than others, the core skills of writing in general, and grant writing in particular, can be learned and improved over time. Of course, as with most things that don't come easy, people usually just want to be better without putting in the time, effort, and work.

I have also been asked if there are any shortcuts. Well, I don't think you can get around the time part of the time-effort equation, and there has to be some effort involved, too, but I do have some suggestions for anyone who is on a journey to be a better writer.

Be forewarned - these are bigger picture suggestions, not technical suggestions like always proofread your work, use spell-check, take a class, etc., although I certainly think those are good ideas and important things to do if you are serious about improving your writing.

Here's the most important thing you can do to be a better writer.....

Be a reader.

I don't know anyone who is (or was) a good writer who isn't (or wasn't) also an avid reader. Everything you read teaches you something - about language, grammar, vocabulary. The beauty of it is that you don't necessarily realize it at the time.

And don't limit yourself to reading only within the genre that you write. Read anything and everything that interests you. Grant writing is ultimately about telling a story. Your grant writing skill can be greatly enhanced by reading fiction, as well as non-fiction.

Here's the list of what I have read within the last 7 days:

• Cross County (a novel by James Patterson)
• Today Matters (inspirational nonfiction by John Maxwell)
• The Holy Bible
• The Daily Democrat (our local newspaper)
• The Christian Science Monitor (a much better source for national and international news than our local paper, and it comes to my mailbox five days a week, which I really like)
• The Wall Street Journal (I get it every day, but don't read it every day)
• Many different internet blogs (I have about 15 favorites that I subscribe to....I read several every day, and the rest I review once a week or so)
• Various websites of interest
• 2 grant Requests for Proposals (RFPs)

This list doesn't even count all the email, regular mail, and catalogs I looked through this week. Also, I didn't read any magazines this week, but I usually do.

I read something for pleasure every day. I read something for inspiration every day. I read something for my own ongoing education every day. When all three of those come together in the same piece of reading, I get to experience pure joy.

The typical response when a share a list like this is that I must have lots of time on my hands. That makes me laugh. I try to remember what a good friend of mine told me long ago, "We make time for those things (and people) that are important to us." It's easy to see what you really value by examining how you spend your time. If you don't think your values are being accurately reflected in how you send your time, it's time for a change, don't you think?

The other issue with time is this ---I don't read all of those things every day and in large blocks of time. I prefer to read novels when I have a block of time of an hour or more, but all the other things I read I can (and do) read in smaller snippets of time - 5 minutes here, 20 minutes there. My favorite time to read is late in the evening after everyone has gone to bed, but I'll read wherever and whenever I can. If I find that I am not reading as much as I want to, I'll block out and schedule a period of time every day to do a certain type of reading. I keep it scheduled until it becomes a habit.

So, if you want to be a better writer, the first step is to become a reader.

Of course, reading is not all there is to becoming a better writer. Continue to Part 2 for the rest of the story. . .

Another Blog Your Should Read

I probably spend more time than I should scouring the Internet for resources and useful information. There are many blogs and websites out there that don't provide much useful information or, if they do, you have to pay to get it. Every now and then I come across some great resources that are useful and free. I'll be sharing them from time to time, so keep checking back.

The first blog I want to share with you is 79 Grant Writing Resources. The blog gives some excellent grant writing and grant seeking tips, as well as links to resources on a variety grant related topics. You'll also find some good warnings about little known tricks and errors to avoid.

Check it out. You will definitely learn something you didn't know before.

Finding the Balance Between Need and Showing Competence

When writing a grant, you usually need to devote a section to making the case for your need for the grant. Most people really go overboard with this. They write about all the things they need to serve their clients well. They write about how needy their clients are. They produce all sorts of statistics to document just how much they need help.

The problem with going overboard in documenting your need for the grant is that you run the risk of looking incompetent. Your readers might start asking questions like this: If the situation is really that pathetic, how did you let it get this way? If you haven't solved it by now (in your organization's 30 years of business), why should anyone think you'll solve it with the addition of a three-year grant?

The trick is to accurately demonstrate your need for the grant while also demonstrating your capacity to manage the funds well and use the funds to make a real difference and improve the situation. It also helps to highlight some strengths on which you can build. Ideally, you'll be able to show how the funds you are requesting will enable you to leverage other resources to really make a difference.

It's a balancing act. Don't go too far in the direction of showing too much need, or you may end up without the funds to help you work toward a solution.

New "Tips from The Grant Goddess" Video Podcast Episode

I just added two new video podcast episodes:


Don't Try to Say Too Much

and

Proofread, Proofread.....Then Proofread Some More


There are several ways you can access the podcasts. One way (and probably the easiest way) is to go to my helloWorld site. When you get there, click on the i-pod icon on the left side of the page. Then you'll see a list of all the video podcast episodes.