How Can the Grant You Just Finished Help Make You a Better Writer?

The minutes and hours (and sometimes days) after a big grant deadline are typically filled with relief, rest, cleaning up reference resources, and putting life back in order before you get started on the next grant and do it all over again. What is often missing, though, is something that can really make a big difference for improving your grant writing in the future.

What is it?  Reflection.

Take some time after your next grant is submitted and ask yourself the following questions:

• What went particularly well in this process?  Is it something that normally goes well, or was this different?  If it was a pleasant surprise, is there some way to modify your process to repeat this circumstance so it does happen again?
• What didn't go so well in the grant writing process? What was the cause of this issue?  Is there something you can change to prevent it from happening again?

Writing down your answers to these questions (something like a journal) can be very helpful.  If you work with a team, addressing these questions individually and then coming together as a group to discuss them can also be very helpful.

Another suggestion is to pick up a copy of the grant you just submitted a week or two later.  Read it with the scoring criteria or scoring rubric at your side.  Make notes about what you improve. Make those notes general enough to apply to any grant you may write in the future, but also note the examples from this grant so it will be a good reminder for you as your review your notes later.

There are many ways to reflect on your work, but the act of reflection is critical if you want to continue to improve as a writer. It is worth the time.  In fact, if your livelihood depends on grant writing, you really can't afford not to.

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Lessons from Reviewing Grants

Non-Profit Consultant Derek Link shares the value of his experience as a grant reader:

Probably the most beneficial thing I’ve ever done as a grant writer is to volunteer to read and score grants. I highly recommend this strategy for anyone who wants to learn how to write a grant. Where else can you be educated, bored, entertained, aggravated, pampered, and condescended to all in one week?

I’ve been invited to read grants by state and federal government agencies. These agencies brought a group of us all together in one place – usually a hotel – and we’d be put up in rooms and given a stipend to cover our costs.

To read the grants we were given group training and organized into “triads”, groups of three as you may guess. One person with previous experience was elevated as the leader of the triad and usually had a larger room with a little dining area or a couch and chairs. This person organized the triad’s reading, hosted the scoring reviews, picked up and dropped off proposals and scoring forms, and generally attempted to ensure that the group accomplished what it was supposed to accomplish; namely, read and score a certain number of grants over a period of days.

Here are a few of the many reasons this experience is so instructive:

1. You are given detailed training by the agency staff on the important points of the grant program. This is useful if you ever want to submit a grant to that program;
2. The process entails carefully scoring proposals according to the agency criteria, then comparing your scores to the other members of the triad. Usually there is a predetermined tolerance for score meaning all scores must be within a specified range. When a score falls outside the range, the triad must “discuss” why a certain score was given and make adjustments to move the scores closer together. This can be horrific if a genetically recalcitrant person is part of your triad – I’ve experienced one or two very long weeks of grant reading with people who were never subsequently included on my Christmas card list;
3. You get out of town, take a plane ride, meet new people, stay in a nice hotel (usually), and meet government employees (can be fun or fascinating);
4. You’ll see some truly fabulous writing that may make you feel rather incompetent – and it doesn’t take a Steinbeck to inspire me (although he does);
5. You’ll also get to see some truly hideous writing that makes you feel better about your own – I even feel better about my serial hacking of grammar (lamented by many would-be English teachers).

In summary, there are more pros than cons to being a grant reader so by all means go and do it if you’re serious about becoming a good grant writer.  In a compressed time and through hands-on experience you’ll get a great education about good grant writing.

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Related Posts:

How to Be a Better Grant Writer (Part 1)

How to be a Better Grant Writer (Part 2)

The Value of Readers' Comments

Is There a Formula for Grant Writing Success?

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.

Stress Relief through Laughter

Whether it's grant deadline stress (something we know a lot about here!) or the general stress of living, one of the things Grant Coach MaryEllen Bergh recommends is laughter.  Here's her advice on the topic:

Life can be stressful and, in the current economic climate, we are dealing with challenging and serious concerns - individually and professionally - each and every day. I am here to tell you that there is a remedy that is fun, free and easy to use and it will improve your health, relieve stress, and improve your relationships. What is this magic elixir? It is none other than laughter.

Laughter is contagious! The sound of someone enjoying a good belly laugh infects everyone, even eliciting a tiny smile from the dourest sourpuss within hearing distance. Laughter makes you feel good and that good feeling stays with you even after you quit laughing – for up to 45 minutes, actually. Humor and laughter has helped me keep a positive, optimistic outlook even through sadness and pain. Laughter makes me feel lighter and, during the busy grant season when things can get a bit overwhelming, humor helps me relax and recharge; it relieves my stress which, in turn, improves my focus so I actually accomplish more. I love the laughter break!!

Laughter is also good for your health. Scientific evidence has shown that humor and laughter help people breathe easier and it massages the heart and other vital organs. It may also increase the release of disease-fighting cells in the immune system. Like the effects of exercise, laughter quickens the pulse and stimulates the cardiovascular system. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins promoting an overall sense of well-being and, in some instances, temporary relief from pain. In addition, humor can alleviate negative emotions -it’s hard to feel angry, sad, or anxious when you’re laughing.

Start now to bring more laughter into your life. According to Laughter is the Best Medicine (helpguide.org), here are some things that you can do right now to incorporate humor and laughter into your life.

1. Smiling is the beginning of laughter. When you look at someone or see something even mildly pleasing, practice smiling.
2. Count your blessings. Make a list of the good things in your life. Keep a gratitude journal that allows you to focus on the positive. Negative thoughts are barriers to humor and laughter.
3. When you hear laughter, move toward it. Sometimes humor and laughter are private, a shared joke among a small group, but more often it is not. People are happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it. When you hear laughter, seek it out.
4. Spend time with fun, playful people. These are people who laugh easily – both at themselves and life’s absurdities – and who routinely find the humor in everyday events. Their playful point of view and laughter are infectious.

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Would you like more tips from the Grant Coach on staying sane and happy in the grant world?  Become a member of GrantGoddess.com!

Assessing Results: Are You a Quant or a Qualit?

In this post, Non-profit Consulant Derek Link offers his thoughts on balanced assessment and evaluation:

In the world of social entrepreneurship the use of metrics for assessment of results has sparked an ongoing debate. The lines have been drawn between mathematically inclined folks who like to measure things using quantitative data (called Quants) and those who want to describe the social impact of programs using primarily qualitative data (called Qualits).

I would refer to myself as a hybrid, a Quali-quant. For me, the argument about which type of data is better is meaningless unless the right questions are being asked. Once you know what you want to know; in other words, once you know what will best demonstrate that your mission is accomplished, the kind of data needed to measure that reveals itself.

And the type of data is usually not one to the exclusion of the other. Typically a result is explained best by viewing it through data binoculars, not through a data telescope. I use the example of a child who comes to school on test day. The Quant will want to examine the child’s test score to see whether he has achieved to an expected level, whether he has raised his achievement from previous test administrations, how he compares to his peers, and how his test scores aggregated reflect on the teacher’s ability and the school’s curriculum and instructional program.

The Qualits, on the other hand, will want to modify the interpretation of the test score with qualitative information. Perhaps the child arrives hungry because the family was late getting up and she never had breakfast. Perhaps the child is sick or was up all night due to family violence. These qualitative factors impact the ability of the child to score well but are difficult or impossible to quantify.

In the end, I believe it is a disservice to the process/program/organization to have an imbalanced approach to assessment of results. Start off by asking the right questions.

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For more resources to help you with the evaluation of your programs, read some of the articles on our FREE Evaluation Resources page or view some of our free  recorded webinars on program evaluation. For an even higher level of support, become a member of GrantGoddess.com.