I had planned to write this blog post on becoming a grant consultant long before the COVID-19 crisis hit, but now this topic seems even more timely than it did a month ago. Last year my business partner, Bruce Ripley, and I wrote the book Granted: How to Break Into Freelance Grant Writing and…
Things are incredibly strange and scary right now. Everything seems uncertain, our routines, have been upended, and on top of it all most of us are worried about the wellbeing of our organizations as well. As you probably know, most of my clients and readers come from nonprofits in the arts and culture…
Grant writing case statements are a beautiful thing. If you’ve never used one for grant writing before, it’s time you started and this blog post is going to show you how useful they are and exactly how to incorporate them into your grant writing for maximum success. First, a little primer for anyone…
In January, most of us are full of optimism and plans for the year ahead. That’s great, but as the year rolls along and builds up steam most of us start to be pulled in lots of different directions. You have needs, your family has needs, and you still have goals you need to…
As a nonprofit pro, you’re probably interested in making sure that your grants, social media, and marketing strategies are as effective as possible. Luckily, there’s one secret to getting all of them right. Mastering this one thing will align your marketing, funding, and social strategies and have them working together like well-oiled machinery. So…
Preparation is vital in grant writing. Fail to plan and you’ve virtually guaranteed that something important will fall through the cracks. In my time as a grant writer, consultant, and mentor I’ve seen otherwise competent and well-meaning professionals miss deadlines, not make enough copies, fail to submit all of the required documents, forgo providing…
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – you just can’t get away with not having a website in today’s world. Your patrons, donors, and funders expect it and hey – how else are most people going to find out what you have to offer? If you’ve read anything I’ve written before you…
Most nonprofit employees I know are faced with a common problem: too much work to get done, not enough time to do it, and all of it’s important. Sound familiar? I’m betting it does, and these problems are compounded by the fact that most of us don’t exactly do our best work when we’re stressed,…
Most of what I write is intended for people working at arts and culture nonprofits. Executive directors, development staff, marketing managers, program directors…this is typically who I’m talking to. Today I’m going to write something a little bit different. This is a note to arts and culture funders. Of course, if you don’t personally…
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…