Articles by CharityChannel Members
CharityChannel members who have years of experience in their field may apply to join a Contributor's Panel. Once accepted to a panel by the panel's editor, the member will work with the editor to determine article topics and to prepare an article that is ready for publication. With tens of thousands of colleagues in the CharityChannel professional community, this is a key opportunity to give back to your profession by sharing your hard-won expertise and wisdom.
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Preparing for a Successful (and Pain Free!) Grant Audit Contributed by:
Diane H. LeonardWednesday, March 27, 2013 (48 days ago)
Whisper the word “audit” and whether you are talking about a personal IRS audit, OMB A-133 Single Audit, or a grant audit by a funder, the response is typically one of fear, sweaty palms, and an increased blood pressure level.
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Putting the Horse Before the Cart: Gathering Statistics Prior to Writing Grant Applications Contributed by:
Diane H. LeonardWednesday, February 06, 2013 (97 days ago)
How will your funders feel after reading statistics about the number of hours a caregiver spends caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s disease versus the dollar value of work lost due to being a primary caregiver. Or vice versa? Might they react differently depending on their particular interest? I have found that one statistic does not necessarily fit all. So in order to strengthen your need statement I recommend you consider the following steps as part of your grant seeking and writing process....
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Increasing Grant Revenue: Focusing on Improving Funder Relationships Contributed by:
Diane H. LeonardWednesday, October 31, 2012 (195 days ago)
At the recent
Grant Professionals Association conference in Indianapolis, I had the privilege of being a workshop presenter. It was a fabulous conference full of inspirational moments and professional recharging and development opportunities. I went in with my presentation prepared on “Increasing Grant Funding: Improving Relationships with Grantors.” I was completely jazzed about the topic. I left the session even more convinced that this topic should be a key place to focus staff energy to maintain and grow a successful grant portfolio.
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Involving Youth in Philanthropy – Grant Professionals Can Make a Difference Contributed by:
Diane H. LeonardWednesday, September 12, 2012 (244 days ago)
Want to have a better understanding of how youth are being engaged in philanthropy? Learn about one facilitator's experiences as well as the benefits for youth participating in philanthropy programs.
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Tips and Tricks from the Foundation Side Contributed by:
Diane H. LeonardWednesday, July 04, 2012 (314 days ago)
Do you want to focus on improving your relationships and cultivation efforts with foundations as part of your strategy to increasing your organization's grant revenue? Get three key tips straight from a previous Program Officer that will that will help you focus on the way that you communication with foundation staff.
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Your Name In Lights… Contributed by:
Diane H. LeonardWednesday, June 13, 2012 (335 days ago)
As a professional grant writer, there are many active professional development opportunities available to help gain new skills related to the field. There are the traditional workshops, conferences, and peer meeting groups. Opportunities for professional development that are more passive, but are much more budget friendly include reading professional publications including journals, newsletters, and articles. It was only in the last six months that I have joined the Grants and Foundations Review contributing author list and begun to consider my voice for professional education through articles as opposed to workshops and webinars.
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You Know You Are A Grant Writer When… Contributed by:
Diane H. LeonardWednesday, May 16, 2012 (363 days ago)
Spend enough time in any profession, and the inside jokes that only your peers will typically laugh at annual professional conferences and the like, begin to build up. After reading Rebecca Shawver’s recent article about why more young professionals are not entering the grant writing field, I stopped to think about some of those common characteristics and traits that those of us who have been in the field for awhile can connect with.
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Reducing the Stress of Identifying and Utilizing an Outside Evaluator Contributed by:
Diane H. LeonardWednesday, April 18, 2012 (1 years 26 days ago)
As the expectations of funders grow with regards to evaluation, selection and utilization of an outside evaluation firm often brings on feelings of stress within a nonprofit team. This article provides straightforward advice on how to locate potential evaluation firms and key questions to ask potential evaluation firms - all designed to take the stress out of the process of beginning to work with an outside evaluator.
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Do You Continue to Write When An Application Doesn’t “Feel Right?” Contributed by:
Diane H. LeonardWednesday, March 07, 2012 (1 years 68 days ago)
Should you and your grant team continue working on a grant proposal with your gut feelings scream "stop"?
CharityChannel's WE REVIEW
CharityChannel members who have been admitted to the WE REVIEW Contributors Panel are eligible to receive recently-published books from a variety of publishers (and some self-publishers) to review. Reviews are not limited to books published by CharityChannel Press, the publishing project of the CharityChannel professional community. If you are interested in reviewing books, you are welcome to apply. Note that, even though WE REVIEW has been publishing reviews for over a decade, it has recently been reorganized and re-launched. We took the opportunity to remove prior reviews, since our focus is on newly published books.
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Grant Writing for Dummies, 4th Edition Review by:
Diane H. LeonardThursday, November 22, 2012 (173 days ago)
There are countless entry level and beginner books focused on grant writing skills and practices on the market. Rather than only review the
Grant Writing for Dummies from the perspective of an experienced grant professional, I assigned my current intern the book as a reading assignment and asked for her to make a list of the top five tips and bits of information that she learned from the book. Her top five things learned list will give you a sneak peak into the types of key learning summaries you can expect from the book if you are looking to select an entry level grant writing book as a reference tool.
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Grant Writing Revealed: 25 Experts Share Their Art, Science, and Secrets Review by:
Diane H. LeonardTuesday, October 30, 2012 (196 days ago)
Grant Writing Revealed: 25 Experts Share Their Art, Science, and Secrets that will help grant professionals reflect back on the best practices identified through the interviewed experts and see how can implement these skills and practices into your work.
Grant Writing Revealed: 25 Experts Share Their Art, Science, and Secrets will reinforce the idea that while there are numerous best practices and traits that successful grant professionals possess, grant writing is an art, not a science in that each grant professional has their own approach.
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33 Funder-Friendly Elements No Grant Proposal Should be Without: Review by:
Diane H. LeonardWednesday, March 14, 2012 (1 years 61 days ago)
In 33 Funder-Friendly Elements No Grant Proposal Should be Without! Kim Rogers makes the case that grant-seeking and grant writing approaches should mimic or embrace direct-marketing techniques. The idea that the success of an organization’s grant writing strategy relies on more than just a well written and on time proposal is accurate and widely accepted in the grant writing field.
33 Funder-Friendly Elements No Grant Proposal Should be Without! provides some interesting ideas within the outlined elements about what some of these other influencing factors can be.
CharityChannel Press Books
CarityChannel Press is the publishing arm of CharityChannel. Many of the sector’s most experienced, knowledgeable practitioners are part of the CharityChannel professional community. Because of its unique role in the nonprofit sector, CharityChannel Press enjoys a rich pool of prospective authors from which to draw. In addition, the CharityChannel professional community, consisting of tens of thousands of practitioners, forms a natural initial market for the books as does the greater third sector itself. Interested in writing a book or manual?
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CharityChannel Press Blog for Authors and Editors
CharityChannel Press is the publishing project of the CharityChannel professional community. In this blogging feature, the authors and editors of our books and manuals share their thoughts, ideas, insights, and advice on topics of interest to busy practitioners. Reading their blogs is a great way to get to know them and to learn about their latest books and manuals. Be sure to jump in and add your comment to blog postings.
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