A Freelance Grant Writer Is A Jack Of All Trades

When you decide to start your own grant writing business, there are many skills to develop in order to be successful. You may, depending upon your success, end up hiring employees to do some of the tasks for you; however, that level of success is unlikely to be immediate. So you better learn how to be your own bookkeeper, secretary, custodian, and whatever else needs to be done (i.e., chief cook and bottle washer).

One of the exciting things about running your own freelance grant writing business is the opportunity to learn lots of new skills and to do everything yourself. This means you'll have to be organized and think ahead because there won't be anyone to back you up.

Here are a few of the skills that you need to posses, develop, or get some training in before you attempt to go out on your own as a freelance grant writer.

1. Keyboarding skills-in the past you may have been able to either type your own writing or dictate and have somebody transcribed for you; however, now you are dependent on your very best hunt-and-peck method.

2. Editing skills-unless you have a trusted, skilled, and inexpensive editor who's willing, ready, and able to edit your drafts; you are going to have to be your own editor.

3. Graphics skills-the quality of software available today for dcreation of graphics has raised the bar far beyond the elementary, cartoonish clip images we used to drop into documents to add a little pizzazz.

4. Filing skills/secretarial skills-being able to find which you need at the time you need it without wasting valuable writing time searching through stacks of paper is important.

5. Budgeting skills-you may have had the advantage in the past of relying on a steady stream of income and a set budget from which you could order materials and never run out. You may also have had the advantage of working in a large organization where if you did not have the materials  needed you could always borrow from another department. Without an accounting department, you will be responsible for paying your own taxes, Social Security fees, business registration fees, city business taxes, insurance costs (liability, worker's comp, etc), utilities, rent, equipment, materials and supplies, transportation, expenses, and, well... you get the picture.

6. Chamber of Commerce skills- this encompasses a large set of skills from understanding and following federal, state, and local rules/regulations, taxes, licensing, insurance, and a variety of other minutia that are requirements for running a business.

7. Marketing and sales skills-now this may have also been included under item 6 above; however, I've listed it as a separate item because until you run a business, you generally do not have to sell or market your skills to anyone except perhaps your immediate supervisor. Now as a freelance grant writer you will need to market your skills to a variety of agencies and individuals who seek your services. You will need to develop your elevator speech, your print materials, and your online presence. If you are uncomfortable selling yourself or speaking publicly then you'll need to seek a place to develop those skills such as Toastmasters.

Freelance grant writing is much more complicated than simply writing grants for clients. It means you're running a business and you must develop a comprehensive set of business-related skills in order to be successful in the long run. Look at it as a challenge and a growth experience because if you are already a good writer and a successful grant writer within an agency then you may have what it takes to go out on your own and experience the success, fun, and freedom of running your own freelance grant writing business.

What is a Grant Competition?

Grant writing is exciting because it's a competition, for money, so there's a lot at stake. The competition isn't so much against other grant writers as it is against the RFA criteria.  It's like the grant maker is throwing you a pitch and your job is to hit it out of the park!

The competition is what makes grant writing exciting for me, the winning and losing is what raises the adrenaline level of every grant writer. Grant Writer reputations are made and lost in grant competitions and people who don't understand what a grant competition is all about can be misled into thinking that a writer is less than competent if there grant is unfunded. Not that success is not important, because it is, but if the observer (a client perhaps) does not understand how a grant competition is operated and what goes into winning a grant award, then mis-assumptions are bound to be made.

Here's a list of key concepts at play in the grant competition that many people outside the process did not understand.

a. Grant applications are scored by readers who may, or may not, have expertise in the grant area.

b. Readers generally work in triads and it only takes one reader in the group who dislikes a particular proposal to sink its chances of receiving funding.

c. While most grant competitions allow applicants to protest the results, these protests are rarely successful because you are challenging the legitimacy of the process of scoring and those who will decide on the validity of the protest are the same people who designed and implemented the scoring process.

d. There are sometimes unstated priorities for funding that are not written in the RFP. These unstated priorities are generally unknown to novice applicants, non-grant writers, and program administrators of agencies. This is why it's important when hiring a grant writer to determine their level of experience with a particular grant, agency, and topic.

e. Often grants are scored on a 100 point scale and there are often priority points given that favor agencies with particular characteristics. In today's hyper-competitive grant environment, it is important to score as close to 100% as possible in order to ensure a possibility of receiving the funding.

f. Your legislator is unlikely to be of any assistance or value in helping you get a competitive grant approved. I am frequently asked by clients if their relationship with a legislator will be of any value and unfortunately it is not. Legislators can be helpful in contacting the agency to gain notice of successful funding or to request information about a protest. Aside from these limited areas, legislator intervention in the scoring process is not welcomed nor viewed positively by agency staff.

Grant competitions are exciting and a lot is at stake. Submission of grant proposals is a lot of work on the part of a lot of people in when you have that level of commitment you have a concomitant level of concern about the outcome. Winning a grant competition is a little like the clock striking 12 on New Year's Eve in I've done my share of victory dances down the aisle of my agency when we've successfully secured a large grant award.

It is important for grant writers, especially freelance grant writers, to help clients understand what the grant competition entails so that expectations are realistic and so that there is a shared understanding of the process and the pitfalls inherent in. After all, it is a human process and prone to human error.

By Derek Link
 
Related Posts:
 
Grant Writing Rejection
Federal Grant Selection Processes: Random or Fair?
Focus on Your Mission for Grant Writing Success

What If Your Grant got Funded: Will You Be Ready to Implement?

It's possible to get so wrapped up in the competition of grant writing that one might forget that there's a grant to implement when that funding approval letter is received. So it's important not to waste time in between the submission of a grant and the notification of funding or you may wind up behind in your implementation before you get started.
Now as a grant writer, especially a freelance grant writer, you may not need to pay attention to implementation. Your job as a grant writer is frequently (and perhaps hysterically gleefully) done the moment you have submitted the proposal and received that date-stamped receipt as proof of submission. But I suspect that many of you are employed to write and implement the grant so you don't have time to dilly-dally as if there's no further work to be done.

Here are a few things to consider undertaking in anticipation of a successful proposal:

a. Prepare position notifications so you'll be ready to advertise for staff.

b. Research capital equipment costs so you can find the best deals; or, prepare requests for proposals that can be publicized as soon as funding is received.

c. Remain in communication with any project partners and collaborators to ensure that they are ready to start the work as soon as funding is received.

d. Educate other people within the agency on the goals and objectives of the proposal if it impacts their work.

e. Meet with the accounting department to discuss the proposal and ensure they are aware that additional funding may be received.

f. If you are hiring an external evaluator as part of the evaluation plan, now is the time to investigate which of the available contractors would best match your needs.

g. You may want to prepare a press release in anticipation of receipt of funding. This may be more of an exercise in positive thinking than is necessary if the grant is not funded; however, it never hurts to put positive thoughts out into the universe in support of your proposal.

You may feel that it's unnecessary to undertake any work before grant is funded. I would certainly agree that a long shot grant may not merit much preparation until he funding letter is received. But generally speaking I don't recommend applying for many long shot grants, there simply isn't time. So most of the grants you apply for should be closely aligned with your mission, represent a level of competition that is acceptable in proportion to the work of developing an application; and therefore, some preparatory work after the application is submitted is a good investment in time. Remember that successful implementation of a grant is an excellent way to build grant maker confidence in your organization and in your ability to successfully implement grant programs.

By Derek Link

Related Posts:
Uh Oh: We Got the Grant But We Didn't Plan
Grant Writing Success is Just The Beginning
Control or Collaboration?  You Can't Have It Both Ways

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.

Do You Want to Become a Freelance Grant Writer: Are You Barking Mad?

Non-profit consultant and expert grant writer, Derek Link, shares his experience as a freelance grant writer with others who believe they are ready for the task:

 This is a serious question with serious consequences only to be considered by serious people because freelancing is a dangerous business.

First let us peer back through the annals of history to get some perspective on the term with the help of Wikipedia...

According to Wikipedia - The term was first used by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) in Ivanhoe to describe a "medieval mercenary warrior" or "free-lance" (indicating that the lance is not sworn to any lord's services, not that the lance is available free of charge). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freelancer, accessed on 9/16/10)

As you can see, the term referred originally to a mercenary warrior which is what we still are; however, to borrow an over-used phrase from literature, “The Pen is Mightier than the Sword” or in this case, lance.

Just as a mercenary warrior for hire wasn’t free, neither are freelance grant writers.  We charge for our services reflecting the skill involved and the grave difficulty of overcoming the wicked enemies (RFP’s, RFA’s, Dragon Naturally speaking, etc).

We’re also similar to the warriors of old, in that if we aren’t really good at what we do, we’re likely to die a premature death;  although, our death would be figurative and primarily financial involving a future of cardboard signs and shopping carts; while the warriors, on the other hand, simply died a hideous death.

You must possess certain qualities to become a freelancer. You must be brave to confront the possibility of failure and certain death, you must be skillful to defeat the enemies, and you must be active to find someone who will employ you (or you’re just a vagrant with a lance).

Ah indeed, the life of a freelancer is fraught with danger and intrigue.  It is a life on the road, never sleeping in the same place for two nights (Motel 6), eating whatever you can forage along the road (AM/PM, 7-11, conference buffets), and trying to earn enough money to keep your trusty steed healthy and well-fed (oil change on your ’87 Honda Civic and gas at $4 a gallon – scary).

But you think still this life as a freelancer is for you?  Ah, you’re hale and hearty if you do, but you’ll be forsaking allegiance to one master, a risky business (i.e., leaving your cushy government job).  There will be mistrust because you’re a stranger; there will be misunderstanding (because you don’t speak their language); there will be blind attacks from the right and the left (from nasty Board members and inept leadership); and there will be times of feast and famine (carry trail bars and water in the trunk).

If freelancing courses through your blood then prepare well, for all your skills will be tested and re-tested.

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Knight photo courtesy of Freerk Lautenbag.