Lately, I’ve engaged in multiple conversations with fellow grant professionals and colleagues in the nonprofit space about the issues and challenges facing our country right now. From #MeToo to BLM to COVID-19 to the 2020 election, many things are changing and evolving in our world. And of course, that means changes to the nonprofit sector,…
Writing With a Mission is available for purchase on Amazon now! Bruce Ripley and I are so excited to announce that after many months of writing, editing, and dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, our third book has gone on sale TODAY. Writing With a Mission: How to Create a Successful Career as a…
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,…
Today’s topic is near and dear to my heart because I want to talk about burnout and how to avoid it. See, many years ago I worked like an absolute lunatic for my nonprofit and although I was proud of my work, I was so burnt out I was practically char-grilled. Let me set…
Marketing is sometimes last on the list of priorities for nonprofits, particularly if they are smaller. You’re juggling all the other things just trying to make sure you’re delivering great programs, fulfilling your mission, and keeping everything funded. So maybe you put up your latest event and class dates on your website, send out your…
So you’ve come to the realization that your nonprofit needs a little help with grants. Maybe you just need a few proposals written or maybe you need a full-blown strategy created. Either way, you’ve decided to hire a consultant to help out. Great! But now what? There are lots of grant writers in the world,…
Today’s article is both a cautionary tale and a set of lessons. All arts organizations go through growing pains and setbacks, especially in the early years when they are still small-medium sized. I’ve seen many of them fall into the same traps time and time again. And I would like to use these common pitfalls…
It occurred to me recently as I was writing the staff and board series, that there was one more area where we could definitely stand to air some things out. Much like the relationship between staff and board, the relationship between the rank-and-file staff and the ED is another area that can be subject to…
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…