Unlock Your Grant Writing Talent

Today’s blog post is provided by my dear friend and grant writer extraordinaire, Charlaine Hood.

The biggest tip about writing a grant is to get over your fear: of failure, of not getting it right, of not including enough…what ever your mind is telling you to hold you back from ever trying to write that B-I-G grant.   However, the focus of this article isn’t about fear holding you back.  It’s about what could possibly be created if you unlocked your potential in spite of the fear.

Sandy has said many times:  ‘Reach into your heart and unlock your passion around fundraising.’  This is great advice for writing grants.  Close your eyes, (Yes, right now.) and think about what it is that you LOVE about your organization.  What just grounds you down to your toes in the work you do each day?  Now hold that image, breathe it in, experience it and let your potential flow.

From here, what would you write?  How would you speak about your clients, staff, organization, national focus and mission?  From this space of OMG I LOVE WHAT WE DO, take a sheet of paper and write:

Funding my project is important because:

We will accomplish ___ with the funds so generously given.

_#_ lives will be changed in ______ ways.

Evidence to support this is ____ (any empirical + all the years of success from past projects as well as lessons learned).

KEEP THIS TEMPLATE! Revise it, reuse it, replace components as your organization grows.  Stay away from the ‘I don’t know how’ mentality and go for writing at least one grant in this manner.

The grant request usually makes this even easier by specifying either a page or ½ a page for just this content.  And if it doesn’t, always remember that there is a committee who will be reviewing the grant requests.  Be sharp, focused and direct in what you are requesting and what your organization will be giving for those funds.

Using just this method over the last few years, I have written and received over 1.3 million dollars in grants.  Let your love of your organization inform what you do.

Charlaine Hood, LMSW is the owner of Vibrantly Alive Consulting & Nonprofit Mentoring.  She works with small to medium sized nonprofits to create strategic solutions for nonprofit issues.  She gained practical experience the last four years as a management executive at a large, faith based nonprofit managing a multi-million dollar budget with diverse programs around the East Tennessee region.  Visit her website:  www.charlainehood.com for more information of what she has to offer your organization.