About Me

I am a nationally recognized proposal writing consultant for education and nonprofit clients and have my own business, Ward and Associates. I provide grant development services which include:  project development, prospect research (federal, state, corporate and foundation funding sources); RFP analysis; writing and editing of proposals; proposal submission; and evaluation of grants programs. My clients have included school districts, education service agencies, foundations, higher education institutions, education, vendors, local governments and nonprofit organizations including a museum, an EMS organization, a hospital, arts organizations, and a leadership program. Currently, I am a grant writer for the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation in La Crosse, WI.

I provide grant seeking and proposal writing workshops across the United States and have presented at local, state, national and international conferences. I have presented two workshops for government employees in Guam and in 2004, I taught a “Grantwriting for Teachers” course at Trinity College in Washington D.C. Most recently, I did a series of proposal planning workshops for the South Eastern Minnesota Arts Council. In 2010 and 2011 I taught grantsmanship residencies for arts students at Winona State University.

I am a contributing monthly columnist for eSchool News and a former columnist for Education Grants Alert. My articles have appeared in Pro Principal, Board and Administrator, School Planning and Management, Technology and Learning, T.H.E. Funding Source, and Principal. I have been interviewed for several publications including Education Week and Advancing Philanthropy. In 2005, my book, Writing Grant Proposals that Win, 3^rd Edition, was published by Jones and Bartlett Publishers. The fourth edition was just published in September, 2011. My second book Effective Grants Management, was published in the fall of 2010.

I have over twenty years of experience in the development field in the areas of grantsmanship, individual donor and corporate solicitations, direct mail appeals, special events and annual funds. In 1999, I received my Master of Arts degree in philanthropy and development from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. I have the Certified Fund Raising Executive designation from the Association of Fund Raising Professionals and participated in their Executive Leadership Institute.