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Are We Ready to Apply for Grants?
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
If I had a penny for each time a client has instructed me to “write some proposals and get some money,” I would be swimming in pennies. It seems to be the rallying cry for countless organizational leaders who fail to realize that writing and submitting proposals needs much more preparation and groundwork than just writing and submitting alone. One of the key elements to getting funded is determining whether the organization is ready to apply. Contrary to popular opinion among non-grant professionals, one cannot and should not apply to every funder that exists within a hundred-mile radius.
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Contributed by:
Saadia Faruqi
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Crisis Governance
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Everyone has heard of crisis management, but is there such a thing as crisis governance? I would suggest there is. I would also suggest that there is a significant difference between the two, and that boards need to understand the difference if they are going to add real value through bad times.
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Contributed by:
Caroline Oliver
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Beatitudes for Friends of Grant Writers
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
So often as grant professionals, we bemoan the fact that those outside our field don’t understand our work, our passion, our challenges, and our frustrations. But recently as I reflected on just who my grant team members really are, I was reminded that countless others contribute to my success.
With many kudos coming my way in recent months, I am blessed to have the support of many other dedicated professionals. The following is dedicated to the unsung “heroes” that continue to make my success possible.
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Contributed by:
Rebecca Shawver
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A Grant Professional’s Challenge: How to Beat Burn-Out?
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Recently, my son was ill. Caring for him, while trying to maintain a balance between my family obligations and work life, left me tired, worn out, and over-worked. Striving to be a good mother, wife and grant professional, I find that I am continually challenged to maintain a balance between my personal and work lives. I know that a healthy balance between my different lives is critical to my success and happiness.
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Contributed by:
Arvetta Jideonwo
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Reviewing Governance Part 2 - The Process
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Part 1 of this article was about the when and why of governance reviews in community, public and mutual benefit organizations. It mentioned some warning signs that indicate a governance review might be warranted, noted some times when such a review should be deferred, and spoke to the benefits. So let’s now help you get on with carrying out a governance review. What is the process? Who does what? What happens afterwards?
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Contributed by:
Jane Garthson
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Is Your Story Worth Buying?
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Every grant professional that I know loves to read. And I’m sure that we can all agree, no one likes reading long, boring, and repetitive stories. Rather a short story or a full link novel, we want excitement in our books. And most of us are long past reading formula novels such as Nancy Drew mysteries and the Adventures of the Hardy Boy. We want our novels to be just that, novel. Interesting and exciting. Unpredictable and thrilling.
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Contributed by:
Rebecca Shawver
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Projections Should Be Based on Facts
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
From the start of my grant writing career, setting performance objectives has always been one of the most difficult challenges I faced with each new proposal writing assignment. As a grant professional, many of the staff and administrators assumed that I would know what figures to insert. But as every grant writer knows, the typical Request for Proposal does not indicate how many clients the funder would like its grantees to serve, nor does it indicate specific outcome measurements or success indicators. These are left to the discretion of applicants.
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Contributed by:
Rebecca Shawver
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Reviewing Governance Part 1 - When and Why
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
How do you know if your organization’s governance is good enough? If you haven’t reviewed it in the last few years, you simply do not know. More and more organizations are conducting governance reviews, and finding the reviews worthwhile even if they decide against major change. The discussions about why you lead as you do will still be worthwhile, and you are certain to find some change, however small, that really makes a difference.
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Contributed by:
Jane Garthson
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Show and Tell -- and Ask
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Funders stop supporting our nonprofits for a number of reasons – their endowments drop; they shift their programmatic focus; or, as often happens with government agencies, a specific grant program is no longer funded. All of these situations are out of our control. But sometimes, the reason why the donor walked away is within our control, such as when the donor doesn’t feel connected to our organization or no longer trusts it. Therefore, a stewardship strategy is an important part of a successful fundraising plan -- as important as writing the proposal.
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Contributed by:
Teri Blandon
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Ten Basic Fundraising Axioms: Simplified
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Yes, science, technology and skill sets are necessary to be successful as a fundraiser for nonprofit organizations. However, there are also several very basic axioms which, if followed, will greatly increase your success....
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Contributed by:
Norman Olshansky
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Developing Skills and Techniques to Make Yourself Valuable at Work
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Especially during times of economic weakness, we are interested in ways to make ourselves stand out at work — for bosses and other leaders to recognize our true value. Of course, as grant professionals, we are expected to raise funds by producing excellent grant proposals. That goes without saying.
But it has been my experience that colleagues and supervisors rarely understand the amount of work required to craft a truly excellent proposal, that it’s not “just writing.” We have also all experienced the phenomenon of everyone else getting credit when the proposal is successful but the blame falling only on us when it is not.
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Contributed by:
Cheryl Kester
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Are Your Board Members N.I.C.E.?
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
While the idea of fundraising can send shivers up the spine of some of the most experienced board members and a few executive directors as well, I contend that the real dilemma for many of those most fearful is that they don’t understand that fundraising is much, much more than asking for the gift. And that yes, they can succeed at fundraising.
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Contributed by:
Lynne Dean
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Securing Federal Grants: Best Practices from Proposal Planning through Award Notification
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Is your job performance or consultancy tied to your success in securing major grants? Have you been successful in achieving grant funds from local, state, and even national foundations, but always dreamed of securing a multi-million dollar federal award for your organization or your clients? Are you frustrated by the disappointment of spending countless hours planning, writing, and packaging a federal application, to no avail? Even the most seasoned grant writer can be stumped by what it takes to score the elusive federal grant....
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Contributed by:
Stacie Marsh
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Writing a Winning Grant Application - Needs Assessment
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
There are a number of key components required in most grant applications. In today’s competitive funding environment, successful grant applications must thoroughly address all components. The three most critical components are needs assessment, program design, and impacts or outcomes. This article will focus on how successful grant writers present relevant needs assessment statements.
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Contributed by:
Eva Booker
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You’re Strategically Aware and Ready for the Strategic Plan
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
You’ve taken the concept of strategic awareness to heart and you are making better decisions. You still want – or are perhaps required to have – a “plan,” but you’ve held back because the idea of creating a strategic plan seems a bit intimidating. What if strategic planning was the opposite of everything that most people think it is? What if it was neither rigid nor fixed, but rather continual, generative, informative, exciting and vision driven? What if it was quick, enjoyable, truly strategic, and provided a focus for all the organization, from the Board to staff to stakeholders? This article shows you how to make it so.
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Contributed by:
Steven Bowman
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Are Your Board Members N.I.C.E.?
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
How can I get my board more involved in fundraising? When we ask nonprofit leaders to share their most daunting challenges, they frequently regale us with sagas of boards with amazing passion for the organization but yet an unexplainable inability or even lack of will to transform that passion into fundraising.
Because we’ve heard that same answer so often, we’ve developed an array of suggestions, strategies and techniques to help organizations and board members overcome what many refer to as the “fear of fundraising”. While the idea of fundraising can send shivers up the spine of some of the most-experienced board members and a few executive directors as well, I contend that the real dilemma for many of those most fearful is that they don’t understand that fundraising is much, much more than asking for the gift. And that yes, they can succeed at fundraising.
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Contributed by:
Lynne Dean
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The Mystery in the Online Procurement of Nonprofit Consultants
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Many nonprofits need help with strategic planning and other managerial functions; and there are many management consultants out there willing to help them. Yet, nonprofits rarely seem to post online advertisements for management consultants – or consultants of any type, for that matter. At the same time, there are many websites available on which nonprofits post advertisements for full-time jobs in their organizations.
Why is there a difference in the way nonprofits select full-time staff and consultants; and is this a potential problem? I examine this mystery in this article and end with three recommendations intended to standardize the selection process for both consultants and full-time staff, and thereby improve the quality of the work that gets done.
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Contributed by:
David Kassel
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What Builds Trust Between Professional Donor Educators?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Why Ask The Question: The new generation of donor educators recognizes that it is essential to build trust with their peers, financial advisors, fundraisers and the client/donor. With that trust comes the promise of supporting giving, building collaborations, sustaining practices and growing the field.
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Contributed by:
Charles Maclean
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Hold Off on Your Strategic Plan (and Build Strategic Awareness Instead)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Strategic planning has such a bad reputation out there. Why do so many nonprofits shudder when the strategic plan cycle comes around again? Why do so many never complete or follow their strategic plan? Why do so many not have a strategic plan? In our experience of over 35 years in the nonprofit sector at senior leadership levels and advisory positions, over 85% of strategic plans we have seen are useless and the CEOs and boards readily agree these plans are useless.
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Contributed by:
Steven Bowman
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