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More Time-Saving Tips, Examples, Questions, and
Comments
Part Eight
The common thread of advice running throughout this entire
series has been to begin by creating a sound grantseeking
program, and then learn how to adapt it over and over. Learn
how to organize your time, and your approach. Don't let the
chaos of our world overwhelm you. Take it one step at a time.
Take a break. And then take another step.
We have continued to get comments and new ideas from our
readers. This has been a popular series - probably because
we are all hungry to figure out how to make a little more
space in our lives, and accomplish even more than we do now!
Betsy DeGory, the Director of Funds Development for Visiting
Nurse Association of Indiana County (Indiana, PA) sent
us some wonderful, pithy tips for saving time and for making
the most of the time you use:
Everything takes longer than you think it will. Or,
ironically, little things will take longer than big things. Build
an extra week onto your actual deadline, if possible. You
might be able to knock off a five-page narrative in an
hour, but a one-page fill-in-the-blanks form might stop
you cold. You might need to call or email someone
for help, and they're away, or the person whose signature
you need will be unavailable.
Proof and proof and proof again. In
particular, if using percentages in a budget, realize
that 49% plus 51% won't necessarily add up to 100% in
actual dollars. Likewise, if you divide dollar amounts
to fit a timetable, make sure those amounts will be right
if they're multiplied back.
Get complete instructions at the outset. A
regional officer for a Federal grant sent me application
forms and instructions with a vague reference to "sending
more information." She never sent it, and I never asked.
That information, with crucial instruction changes, came
the day after I had overnighted my completed application
to Washington.
Thank you for your input, Betsy. Straightforward reminders
like these can have a huge impact on the quality of an application.
I'd like to mention two additional comments we've received
from our readers. I hope you find them useful - as I certainly
did.
Karin Wandrei, PhD, LCSW, Consulting
in the 21st Century, said:
I saw your article on developing criteria to evaluate
whether or not to apply for a grant. I smiled because
I just taught a workshop six weeks ago on this very topic.
I had done a search [before my workshop], but had found
nothing else on this topic. I developed my own matrix,
which is longer than yours. The training was for two
hours (it needed to be for three) and was very well received.
Karin sent us a copy of the matrix she uses for reviewing
requests. I really like it - though it is significantly different
than mine in that it has more criteria, no weights, and no
overall score. I've attached a copy of her sample
matrix for your review. Thank you, Karin, for sharing
this with us.
The differences between the matrices Karin and I developed
demonstrate that each organization needs to create its own
set of criteria. What may be important to me, such as how
many letters of support I need to gather, may not be of much
concern to you and your organization (because you already
have strong partners that can write something up quickly
for you).
Regardless of how you develop your decision-making matrix,
it's vitally important to take the time to really think through
the criteria you are going to use to judge whether you will
pursue a particular grant opportunity.
Leigh Klein, MPA, Grants Manager for Planned
Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri (Overland Park,
KS), had this to say about one of the first articles in
this series in which we talked about not applying for grants
simply because the opportunity presents itself.
I agree totally with points in your article about
not chasing dollars. Though implied, the one phrase
that I did not see is "organization's strategic plan." If
grant applications are based on a really well-developed
strategic plan, [they] will be strong application[s]. In
addition, a really well-developed strategic plan will
have laid the ground work for a grant application, as
feasibility work will have been done. Starting with the
strategic planning process avoids wasting time in [the]
grant writing process. I am attaching the filter that
I have designed for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and
Mid-Missouri to use in the grant application process.
Leigh goes on to describe her filter:
This is a green light, red light, caution light process
to evaluate if a grant application should be made. Ideally,
all signals will be green before proceeding with a grant
application.
Take a look at this filter and
see if you might be able to adapt it to your organization's
needs, and thank you, Leigh, for sharing this with our readers.
Let me wrap up this series by referring to one other item
Leigh mentioned - the organization's strategic plan.
The importance of having a strategic plan in place before
writing grant requests cannot be overstated. If you have
a strategic plan, make sure it is up to date (and date stamped
as of the last review) before you begin.
If you haven't developed a strategic operating plan, start
the process now. There are some wonderful tools and resources
on the Internet you can use, including Carter McNamara's
distillation of the Field
Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation,
available through the Free Management Library, a complete
integrated online library for nonprofits and for-profits.
Good luck creating time and space in your daily lives to
develop an aggressive grantseeking program!
Note: To download, edit, and print the decision-making tools
mentioned in this article, click
here. |
