Grant Writing A Day In The Life

| Read Our Blog Read Our Blog Blog Grant Writing: A Day in the Life Bryan Foster May 14, 2014 Workforce zero Hello. I’ve written a few blogs here, mostly about subjects just like the labor market or authorities policy. What I haven’t advised anybody is what I do at my day job. I’m truly the Senior Grants Specialist right here at National Able Network, which implies that I’m concerned in (and I typically lead) the process of designing service programming that fits the needs of grantmaking organizations whose missions match ours. My title is particular to our company’s staff construction, however the work that I do uses abilities frequent to nonprofits across the nation. So for anyone who’s ever puzzled what goes on in a nonprofit Development department, or needed to know what it's a grant author does (and I know you’re out there), let me stroll you thru the process. If we skip previous the relatively new idea of social enterprise, there are two main sources of fund development for a service nonprofit. The first is particular person donations, which are tax-deductible when giving to 501(c)three companies like National Able Network. Unfortunately, every nonprofit seeking to gather individual donations has to compete for a limited pool of funding that doesn’t ever appear to get greater (traditionally, Americans constantly give about 2 p.c of the country’s gross domestic product), and the employment assistance work that we do typically appears to “lose out” in donator’s minds. Luckily, I’m a Grants Specialist, so none of that's my fear. Instead, I reach out to two main forms of supporters, personal foundations and authorities companies, by responding to their requests for proposals to serve individuals in need. Many occasions, these funding organizations could have an issue in mind that they would like to handle or clear up, whether that’s long-term unemployment or homelessness among veterans. Instead of hiring workers to figure out tips on how to clear up these problems, they ask for competitive bids â€" much like a land developer may ask architects and construction firms for a constructing design â€" to permit the market to supply the highest high quality, most effective resolution. As an agency, we reply to requests like these by presenting a service plan, involving packages we already provide or applications we are able to construct. Often, even when we already offer companies similar to what a funding company might request, we’ll have to adjust them or plan where we can improve capacity. This implies that, earlier than I put pencil to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and write about the program we’d wish to suggest, I take part in truly designing or refining that program. Grant writing, it seems, isn’t only writing, but also involves a great deal of strategic planning and collaboration with both program employees and financial workers, so as to reach an ideal steadiness of quality companies and affordability. Many occasions I’m a project m anager, a designer, and a writer all wrapped into one job! The broad attain of my responsibilities means it’s my job to know the large picture in terms of providing our services as an company â€" which suggests I actually have loads of news and data collected to share proper right here on the blog. So stay tuned, and cheer on your friendly neighborhood grant writer and the rest of us here at Able as we work to prepare our communities to fulfill all of tomorrow’s challenges! Your e mail address will not be printed. Required fields are marked * Comment Name * Email * Website Subscribe me to your mailing record Receive our newsletters, breaking information alerts, and more! Veterans Forward Orientation Careers by National Able Network: An Online Orientation for Nebraska Residents! Careers by National Able Network: An Online Orientation for Illinois Residents! View More…