Something I hear often from nonprofits that are newer to grant seeking or are maybe working on their own for the first time, without the benefit of a consultant or specialist staff member, is that they aren’t sure where to find good arts and culture grants. Never mind pulling together all the materials and actually…
Usually when you hear the terms “equity” and “inclusion” used in the same sentence as “grant writing” it means you’re talking about writing grants which will fund programming to address imbalances and inequities in various facets of society. Or you’re writing grants to fund nonprofits whose missions directly address these things. (Or maybe you’re just…
No one writes grants in a vacuum. By which I mean that even if you work at a small nonprofit or if you’re a “one-person shop”, you really never write grants all alone. You still need input from program directors, approval and buy-in from the Executive Director and the board, data collection from program staff,…
Let’s talk about evaluations. They are vital to your organization and yet I see so many nonprofits neglect them either because they have trouble making the time to get them done, they fear upsetting already overworked staff and board, or a host of other reasons, some good some bad. Today I am challenging you…
Alright, board members. It’s your turn! In my last blog post we got in the head of nonprofit staff members and outlined the things they wish their boards knew and some suggestions on improving that partnership. Now it’s time to turn the tables and let board members vent some frustrations and talk about some of…
Can we be 100% honest with each other for just a minute? Working with boards is tricky. It’s frustrating. It often feels like a power struggle with a million buried landmines. There is so much that nonprofit staff wish they could say to board members, but (usually) bite their tongues instead. For the next few…
Welcome back to the second installment of the GrantMasters Series: Why board engagement matters In this blog we explore how having a hands-on board contributes to being grant-ready and competitive for grant dollars. I cannot stress the importance of board engagement enough. A 2012 study by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative entitled Engaging Board Members in Fundraising…