Monday, August 28, 2006

Grant Writing- An Accidental Occupation

I fell into the profession of grant writing quite by accident. I had studied social work, hotel and restaurant management and ended up with a degree in business management. While working as a volunteer coordinator for a nonprofit organization in Northern Virginia, a grant opportunity with a very short deadline became available to the organization. The desire to be a team player and learn a new skill prompted me to actually volunteer to write this grant proposal. The organization was awarded the grant and a new career was born.

After several more years and a move to another state and work with another nonprofit, I was ready to become a freelance grant writer. Grant Consulting Services began in September 2000 out of a desire to serve organizations that help people in need.

The Market

The nonprofit sector has seen tremendous growth over the past decade. According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics there are over 1,397,263 nonprofits in America-a growth of 28.8% over the past eight years. While as a group nonprofit organizations cover a wide spectrum of size, scope and mission, the vast majority of nonprofit organizations, in the United States are small, with fewer than fifty staff, and have a mission focused on service.

Nonprofit organizations provide a wide array of services from healthcare, education, youth development, homeless shelters, adoption, crisis response, services to assault victims and batterers and much more. Services are typically provided at low or no cost to the beneficiaries, so other revenue must be obtained to help offset the cost of providing services. Grant writers help to obtain a portion of that revenue.

Grant writing straddles two business categories: writing and fund raising. The proposals must be written exactly to the individual specifications of each funder. Even when a grant proposal is perfectly written it is not always awarded, in fact I have been told that only one in three proposals are actually funded. So it seems that grant writers and hall of fame baseball players have something in common; a baseball player can bat at an average of .300 and be inducted into the baseball hall of fame. A grant writer can get a hit on only one out of three proposals and be considered successful. In the fundraising side of the business: networking, who you know in the community and getting your foot in the door to speak to the appropriate funder can really increase your chances of success. Grant writers work with people at foundations and agencies and not necessarily with individuals like other fundraising professionals who spend the majority of their time building relationships with individuals.

Necessary Skills

There probably aren’t many grant proposal writers who decided that pleading for money was their dream job when they were 9 years old and relentlessly pursued the profession. Nevertheless, sufficient training is necessary to hone your writing and fundraising skills. More and more professional organizations and colleges are offering classes in grant writing such as The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University that offers a certificate in Fund Raising Management.

Many community organizations offer introductory grant writing workshops or seminars. Look for one that is sponsored by an organization that provides services that are of interest to you. For example, if you are interested in the healthcare field, check your local hospital to see if they ever offer grant writing seminars, or if you are interested in education, check with your school district to see if introductory seminars are available. Depending on the area you live in, you may need to look at a county, state or even regional level to find the right opportunity. The Foundation Center offers a great introductory course to grant proposal writing titled Proposal Writing Short Course that gives an easy to understand overview of the grant writing process.

A combination of different skills are needed for success in the grant writing profession. In addition to some type of professional training, grant writers have to have the ability to collaborate, write like there is no tomorrow due to the looming deadline, have excellent written and verbal skills, understand needs of different people groups, and convey how the program or project will help to alleviate the need. Working with other organizations or multiple people within the organization is essential to proper program development. All aspects of the program or project must be planned out prior to writing a grant proposal. The writing of the proposal is typically one of the last steps in non profit program development. Most importantly people working with non profit organizations need to have a high level of compassion and desire to help meet the needs of people who may be experiencing very trying circumstances.

Hanging out your own shingle

Grant proposal writing is a profession that is easily managed from a home based office. A computer with a word processing program, fax, cell phone/business line, and copier are necessary equipment. The majority of draft and finished grant proposals can be sent to your clients via email.

Some states require a grant writer to be licensed and bonded so check with your state and local governing authority to determine if you are required to be licensed as a professional fundraiser. Follow all other sensible and legally mandated business practices.

Nonprofits typically hire consultants by word of mouth, so your marketing and advertising should include a very heavy emphasis on personal networking. The Association of Fundraising Professionals has local chapters in major metropolitan areas that offer wonderful networking opportunities. Go to as many non-profit networking type meetings as possible and get to know the who’s who of the nonprofit organizations in your area, and make sure they get to know you too.

Article originally published in:
The Dabbling Mum™ E-zine
National Publication for BUSY Parents
July 17,2006 Edition

Copyright, Valerie Nelson, 2006