Grant Writing & Funding

Have you ever wondered how to write the evaluation section of a grant proposal? Maybe you sat there at 2 a.m. (of course the night before a grant is due) and scratched your head as you came across this section towards the end of a grant. You think, “You want me to write how I am going to run a program and now you need to know how I will evaluate that the project is running how I said it will run?” Er, yep. Funding sources do want to know how you will evaluate what you say you are going to do. Are you proposing to house 30 sloths within 12 months? Well, you better include how you will evaluate that those 30 sloths will be housed! But seriously, we do need to showcase this in grants. In this week’s podcast, Dr. James Pann goes over how to write the evaluation section of a grant proposal (and he gives his top tips!). Thanks for listening! Holly Rustick Expert Grant Writer & Bestselling Author https://www.grantwritingandfunding.com/ ✨✨ Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com to get the proven G.R.A.N.T.S.

1. Get the FOA/RFP First you need to download the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) or Request for Proposal (RFP). These are usually for federal grants, state grants and contracts, and certain foundation grants. This is basically where the funding sources publish directions and guidance about the grant program. The grant funding sources also put in technical requirements (such as font size, margin sizes, number of pages allowed, and so forth). 2. Convert the FOA/RFP from a PDF to Word Doc PDFs can be really hard to work with! Especially if you copy something from a PDF and put it into a Word document. It might copy really strange and into a weird font or it might not even let you copy it. By converting the PDF file to a Word document you can work with the FOA/RFPs so much easier and it only take a few seconds to convert! 3. Copy the Scoring Criteria Section and Paste it Into a New Word Doc Now that the FOA/RFP is in a Word document you will want to go to the Scoring Criteria in the FOA/RFP. Copy th

As a 15+ year grant writing veteran I have seen some amazing resources come and go, and I've seen other ones evolve. I am highlighting 8 resources that I LOVE and some of these I use on a consistent basis! In fact, I am using one right now (after you read through my recommendations, have a guess at which one I am using at this moment!).  In full transparency, I do have partnerships (and receive affiliate payments) with some of these products below and offer coupon codes for you. I do this as I love, love, love these products and they are proven to help grant writers succeed!  #1) Federal Grants: Grants.Gov  This is for you if you are seeking federal grants. And this one is free!  This is a U.S. government e-platform and is where all federal grants are required to be published. I recommend joining the email list and checking the boxes on what types of grants you are interested in being notified of.  #2) Federal Grants: Federal Agency Websites Okay, this one has a lot of links. What I recommend you do is vis

What is the difference between an output and outcome in a grant proposal? The difference between an output and outcome in a grant proposal might not seem quite different at first. In fact, it might feel downright like the same darn thing. For many grant writers this difference between an output and outcome can feel a little abstract and confusing. You might be thinking, "What are the differences and why do grants have to be so meticulous?" Are grant funding sources just trying to trick you with these output and outcome words? Are they chuckling in the background while you scratch your head and think, “to-may-to / to-mah-to”? Nah, grant reviewers aren’t that bored, although they do have a good sense of humor. But it's good for you there is a quick way to know what this differences actually are and a way you can remember outputs and outcomes, and better yet, understand them. Once you understand what the differences (and similarities) are between grant outputs and outcomes it will make your grant writing

Find out where you can get SO many free nonprofit fundraising courses! Favor, please? If you love this podcast, would you please do me a favor and leave a review on iTunes or your podcast listener? This helps others find the podcast and I read each and every review! If you have any questions, feel free to email holly@grantwritingandfunding.com I’d love to connect with you! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzIfwJt0az9KKwKz1Uc8vg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollyrustick LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-rustick-0765b817/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grantwritingandfunding/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/grantwritingandfunding/ Thanks for listening! Holly Rustick Expert Grant Writer & Bestselling Author https://www.grantwritingandfunding.com/ ✨✨ Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com to get the proven G.R.A.N.T.S. formula to write winning grants ✨✨

✨ Get the Free Workbook: https://grantwritingandfunding.com/167-how-to-write-objectives-for-a-grant-proposal/ ✨ Learning how to write objectives for grant application proposals is essential to your grant writing success. This is often overlooked. Many people think an objective can just be a wish. Such as, "We hope to accomplish this program." Let's just start with Captain Obvious. Would you be willing to give someone money for a project if they only hoped to accomplish it? Or would you be willing to shell out dough for a project that had a goal of 'Ending Poverty for All" but there was no plan on how to accomplish that goal? Sometimes it helps to flip the script and pretend you are the funding source, rather than the applicant. But how do you create a plan (objectives) for a grant proposal? What is the secret formula? Check out this week's article and podcast! ✨ Get the Free Workbook: https://grantwritingandfunding.com/167-how-to-write-objectives-for-a-grant-proposal/ ✨ Favor, please? If you love t

Are you looking for tips to increase donor giving on your nonprofit's website? You might be frustrated because you finally went through the work of installing a donate button and connected it to your nonprofit's PayPal account, but you are getting nada.  Why aren't donors giving? Your website is up. The donor button is up. But still, no transactions. Ugh. It makes you want to crawl under your desk with a box of Kleenex. You might think, "Do people even care about my nonprofit?" The fact is, that plenty of people probably care about your nonprofit and the mission it provides. But have a think. Just think about all the times you have donated (or tried to donate) to nonprofit's online. Have you ever been on a website where you hit the 'donate' button and it brought you to a 404 Error Page? Or maybe your baby started crying in the background and the nonprofit was requesting a survey for you to fill out before you gave so you just hit the X button and closed out the page? There are a lot of reasons that people

Grant management needs to be made easy otherwise you will miss a grant or funding deadline!  Let me know if you resonate with any of the following: You've woken up in the middle of the night with a start and pry out your phone realizing you just missed a grant deadline Or maybe you submitted a grant a year ago but can't find the final application anywhere. Or a combination of the above! Yes, whether you are a nonprofit leader that is juggling your actual job and had the role of grant writer thrown on your lap or if you are a freelance grant writer and are having a hard time keeping up with grant opportunities (or plain management) of your nonprofit clients, then this episode is for you! In this week's podcast episode Rachel Waterman, CEO and Founder of GDS Grants, shares her Grant Management System Made Easy (GEMS). She also discusses her unique system of managing clients and her background on how she got started with writing grants. (wink-wink, it might include the Peace Corps). What We Discuss in This

Are you not sure even what a SWOT Analysis is or how it relates to strategic planning? Well, I am definitely not saying get rid of the SWOT analysis altogether, but I am saying the old tired way of just shoving it in your planning and not knowing how to utilize is so over. How? Well, you do need a SWOT Analysis for your nonprofit’s strategic planning, however, it doesn’t have to be boring. It is actually one of the most FUN activities in your strategic planning. A SWOT Analysis A SWOT stands for: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats (or Challenges) Favor, please? If you love this podcast, would you please do me a favor and leave a review on iTunes or your podcast listener? This helps others find the podcast and I read each and every review! If you have any questions, feel free to email holly@grantwritingandfunding.com I’d love to connect with you! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzIfwJt0az9KKwKz1Uc8vg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollyrustick LinkedIn: https://www.linked

This is a question I get a lot... “Holly, how do I find federal grants for my nonprofit?” Federal grant research expert Jason Adkins, gives us 5 steps to find those pesky federal grants. Well, er, they seem pesky until you find them, and then federal grants rock. I know you might feel like federal grants are elusive, but after Jason breaks down the steps (and gives you websites to find them), then you will be feeling like a pro. So if thinking about finding federal grants makes you immediately zone out and start stress-chewing your nails, then you will want to listen to today's podcast episode on finding federal grants (and save that precious manicure). Some Highlights We Discuss: Why sometimes having an English Degree doesn’t automatically equate to being a Grant Writer Why ‘failing forward’ is important Keeping a flipchart list of grants secured to make sure you have moments of celebration and don’t go from grant deadline to grant deadline How Jason uses the same strategies of writing a foundation and

A common question I get, as a grant professional, from nonprofit clients, is, "Can you guarantee that the grant you write for us will get awarded?" There are a number of reasons that I say no. Very simply put, these are some of the determining factors: 1) It depends also on the nonprofit's capacity and experience in winning and managing grants that depend on their competitiveness with getting a grant awarded. 2) It depends on how well the grant project aligns with the priority of the funding source. 3) It depends on how 'trendy' the project is with current funding overall. 4) It depends on how many grant applications the funding source receives. These are just a few, but there are many more reasons. Listen to this week's podcast to hear them all and how you can respond to this question!

Did you know that you can do grant research as a stand-alone service or in a package that you offer nonprofit clients? You write grants, but did you know you can charge separately for researching and finding grants?  (jaws drop). Yes! Here's the thing...sometimes nonprofit clients will approach grant professionals with a list of grant opportunities and just want you to write the grants. But more often than not, nonprofit clients will also want you - the freelance grant writer - to research the grants, too. Sometimes nonprofit clients may not understand that this is an additional service or will increase your grant writing rate. Why? Well, grant research takes: an investment of your skillset (yes, grant research is an art), your time (the research rabbit hole), and money (most grant research databases charge you to use their database).  So grant research can actually be a standalone service you provide or in addition to the grant writing (first you find the best X # of best-fit grants, then you write t

✨ Join my Free 5-day FB Challenge: Confidently Pitch Your Grant Writing Services to Nonprofit Clients" Click here: http://grantwritingandfunding.com/5-day ✨ Grant Writing Certificate. To have or not to have?  And then... from where? This is a question I get all the time.  I get this question from freelance grant writers and aspiring freelancers, but I also get it from potential nonprofit clients.  Do you have a grant writing certificate? This question, and 7 more common questions asked by nonprofit clients, I will go over in even more detail (and give you a fill-in-the-blank script) in my upcoming 5-Day FB Challenge, "Confidently Pitch Your Grant Writing Services to Nonprofit Clients" on March 8th - 12th. Sign up above. But for this week's podcast, I will uncover the answer to the elusive question, "Do you have a grant writing certificate?" Here's the thing though. Grant Certificate or not, it doesn't really showcase your grant writing abilities. To have long-standing credibility and a reputation and

✨✨ Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com to get the proven G.R.A.N.T.S. formula to write winning grants ✨✨ These are 7 myths about grant writing and freelance grant writing that I have heard time and time again. In this week's podcast episode, I am going to break down each of the following: #1: Grants Are Easy To Get Grants are not super easy to write. In fact, if you are a grant writing you are probably chuckling right now. Grants are competitive. They aren't impossible to get, nor are they so easy that you don't need to learn the technique behind grant writing.  #2: Grants Don't Have to Be Paid Back No Matter What Sure, overall grants don't have to be paid back. However, if grants aren't spent properly they might need to be paid back. Always check with the program office if you need to modify a budget to get permission before you spend for something not approved! #3 Grants Can Cover My Personal Debt Moreover, you are not going to get a funding source to pay off your BMW. Grants are created for specif

✨ Click here to download the Infographic Top 10 Responsibilities of a Nonprofit Executive Director: https://grantwritingandfunding.com/158-3-tactics-you-didnt-know-to-become-a-nonprofit-executive-director-ninja/ ​ ✨ What if you had a checklist to help streamline your duties as an executive director of a nonprofit organization? Sometimes an executive director of a nonprofit organization is stereotyped as juggling a million things and getting paid peanuts. But this doesn't, nor shouldn't, need to be the case. For a nonprofit organization to thrive, the executive director should have a roadmap. Some nonprofit organizations may not even have an executive director yet, and are even drooling at this aspect of having one! But the deal is - if your nonprofit is so fortunate to have an executive director - don't burn them out! So here's the old hierarchal order of a nonprofit. There is a board of directors that provides guidance for the nonprofit organization and then the executive director implements this guida

✨ FREE Nonprofit Client Start Guide: https://grantwritingandfunding.com/freelance-grant-writer-client-starter-guide/ ✨ Ready to Start Growing Your Freelance Grant Writing Business But Not Sure Where to Start? This podcast episode and free (and highly detailed) cheat sheet will give you, as a freelance grant writer or nonprofit consultant, everything you need to know to confidently reach out to nonprofit leads and start securing clients like a pro. (Yep, even if you’re starting with no clients!) Let's face it - starting a freelance grant writing business or nonprofit consultancy can feel overwhelming! Knowing how and where to find nonprofit clients can be like facing a large ocean of obscure possibilities. But it doesn't have to be that way! That's why I created this extensive roadmap for you! So how do you find those clients? Through the following 5 steps! (download the roadmap or listen to the podcast to get examples and the full system!) #1: Identify Your Skillset #2: Identify Your Passion/Knowledg

Being a freelance grant writer doesn’t need to be a career - yes, career, not just a hobby - full of pulling your hair out! Not at all, my friend. This can be quite the opposite. It can be one where you grow in a methodical way and start with a strong foundation.

In this podcast, I am going to bring up when your freelance company or nonprofit should stand up for movements or injustice. Here’s the deal. Sometimes I see nonprofits and freelance companies not sure if they should publicly support something. Most of the time it’s not because you don’t support something, but rather you might not be sure if your brand should make a stand. In this episode, I am going to give you indicators on how you can quickly decide if you want your nonprofit to stand on an issue and how you want to represent it. I am not going to shove down your throat what my stances are on issues, however, I will use my company’s stances as examples that I actually practice what I preach. Here’s the issue. Many times nonprofits and freelancers are just scared to publish a social media post or say they are in alignment with issues. They may fear losing donors, losing followers, or getting unsubscribes on their email list. They may not want to marginalize or polarize their audience. I am going to s

I actually get this question a lot. Why should I start a podcast?  And later after explaining it the following two questions: How do I start one? Can I earn revenue with a podcast? In this week's podcast, I speak to podcast expert Larry Roberts, podcast host of Readily Random and the 1 Big Win. Larry is quickly becoming one of the top coveted podcast consultants in the United States.  What we discuss in this episode: Why Your Nonprofit or Freelance Biz Must Start a Podcast ✔️ Your podcast is a platform ✔️ A foundation of your voice  ✔️ To launch speaking opportunities and products ✔️ You become a go-to in your nonprofit industry ✔️ Creates credibility ✔️ Brings people into your world ✔️ Share stories of beneficiaries ✔️ Connect with funders and donors in an intimate way ✔️ A place to create relationships with people you would never have the chance to meet How to Monetize a Podcast ✔️ Be your own sponsor ✔️ Insert your own commercial ✔️ Ask for donations (like a telethon) ✔️ Understand you won't moneti

✨✨ Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com/153 to get the Free Resource: Interview Like an Expert & 5 Tips to Boost Your LinkedIn Profile✨✨ Lynée Alves is a successful career coach and business coach. She helps individuals effectively position their skills and experience, and also provides guidance on job search strategies, interviewing skills and mindset strategies. In this podcast, she discusses how to interview like an expert and boost your LinkedIn profile! This is great for nonprofit leaders, volunteers, freelance grant writers, and more! ✨✨ Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com/153 to get the Free Resource: Interview Like an Expert & 5 Tips to Boost Your LinkedIn Profile✨✨ Favor, please? If you love this podcast, would you please do me a favor and leave a review on iTunes or your podcast listener? This helps others find the podcast and I read each and every review! If you have any questions, feel free to email holly@grantwritingandfunding.com I’d love to connect with you! Thanks for list