Grant Writing & Funding

In this episode of "Grant Writing & Funding," host Meredith Noble dives into the world of entrepreneurship and grant writing consulting. She shares personal experiences and insights, emphasizing the importance of problem-solving and surrounding oneself with successful people. She discusses the mindset and financial aspects of running a freelance grant writing business, as well as the significance of self-care and creating spaciousness for creativity. Meredith highlights the value of grants for nonprofits and the need for a shift away from a scarcity mindset in the industry. Join us as we explore strategies for building relationships, pricing services, and celebrating wins in the world of grant writing and funding. Also, find out more about the Nonprofit Consulting Conference coming up on August 23rd and 24th! Warmly, Holly Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts “Every time I listen to Holly’s show, I learn something”

Over a decade ago Mandy Pearce founded Funding for Good to equip organizations with all the skills and tools they need to become successful and sustainable. Mandy joins us to discuss how most partnerships are formed, the vetting process involved in potential partnerships, and how to know who will be a good partner for your business. She also explains the metrics you need to know before agreeing to a partnership, the type of business partnerships that you should avoid, and the downsides of affiliate marketing. Resources mentioned in this episode: ✨ Grant Easy Management Software ✨ How to Identify What Rates to Charge as a Grant Writer ✨ How to Know When to Grow Your Nonprofit Consultancy with Mandy Pearce ✨ Freelance Grant Writer Academy Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts “Every time I listen to Holly’s show, I learn something”

Marie Palacios is the Lead Consultant for Funding for Good, an expert facilitator, and is certified by The Institute of Cultural Affairs in the USA in evidence-based facilitation practices. Marie joins us to discuss the ways to understand processes, the benefits of having a clear grant writing process, and how to make your grant writing processes more streamlined. She also explains the benefits of building your own business, the importance of identifying your why for working, and how to grow a consulting business to six figures. Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts “Every time I listen to Holly’s show, I learn something”

Deborah Reed is a full-time consultant and grant writer who completely changed the way she was running her business after joining the Grant Writing Academy. Deborah joins us to discuss what she learned from the Grant Writing Academy, the ways it changed her grant writing business to be more sustainable, and the lessons it taught her about how to charge grant writing clients. She also explains what you need to build a grant writing consultancy, why consultants get treated better than employees, and the ways to position yourself as a thought leader. Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts: “Every time I listen to Holly’s show, I learn something”

Jill Turner was based in northern Idaho and got into grant writing after being asked to help some friends while in grad school. After writing grants as a side hustle, Jill turned it into a full-time business in less than a year, tripling her income and working with clients nationally and internationally. Jill joins us to discuss how she turned writing grants into a full-time job, the importance of having systems in your grant writing, and how to properly price your grant writing services. She also explains how The Grant Writing Academy helped her scale her business, the ways to manage your time to maintain a work-life balance, and how charging more for your services can actually help you win more clients. Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts: “Every time I listen to Holly’s show, I learn something”

As you write more grants the amount of time you spend tracking grants and analyzing data increases to a point where it can seem impossible to scale any further. Grant Easy Management Software can help optimize grant writing and make working with non-profits more efficient and productive. We’re joined by a team of grant writing experts to discuss their experience using grant management software and the ways it’s saved them time and improved their businesses. We also explain why we all moved to using Grant Easy Management Software, the different features it has, and why grant specific software is better than Google Drive. Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts: “Every time I listen to Holly’s show, I learn something”

This episode, Holly explains the problems with paying grant writers commission, the reasons why nonprofits miss out on funding, and how nonprofits should pay freelance grant writers. Nonprofits often think that paying freelance grant writers on a commission basis is a win-win, but this could not be further from the truth. Not only is paying grant writers a commission unethical and against industry best practices, but there are also some pretty serious legality issues. This episode, Holly explains the problems with paying grant writers a commission, the legality of paying grant writers on a commission only basis, and how most nonprofits pay freelance grant writers. Holly also talks about why nonprofits miss out on grants they’ve applied to, how to repurpose a grant for other uses, and the different reasons nonprofits have a website ------------------------------------------------ ✨

This episode, Holly explains the benefits of being a freelance grant writer, the opportunities for freelance grant writers during a recession, and how much freelance grant writers can expect to make. Becoming a freelancer during a recession can seem like a scary prospect, and with economic uncertainty, it’s natural to wonder if freelance grant writing is still a good job. But as inflation cuts into salaries, freelancers are able to adjust their prices, services, and clients to meet their needs while employees are stuck with a fixed wage and falling spending power. This episode, Holly explains the benefits of being a freelance grant writer, how freelance grant writers make money, and how competitive the freelance grant writing market is. Holly also talks about the number of federal grants that are issued each year, why a recession is one of the best times to become a freelance grant writer, and how the non-profit sector is able to grow during a recession. What you’ll learn in this episode: ✨The benefits o

This episode, Holly explains how to write a budget for a grant, the maths grant writers need to understand, and the different categories to include in a budget. The budget can seem like the scariest part of writing a grant, you have to use maths and maths isn’t everyone’s forfeit. Fortunately, the budget is very logical and if you follow the right framework it’s actually quite straightforward. This episode, Holly explains how to write a grant’s budget, the maths you need to include in the budget section of a grant, and the best time to write a grant’s budget. Holly also talks about the different categories to include in a budget, how to write a budget as a narrative, and common mistakes people make in the budget section. What you’ll learn in this episode: ✨ Why people become grant writers. ✨ The maths grant writers need to do. ✨ How to write a grant’s budget. ✨ When you should write the budget. ✨ How to efficiently write a grant’s narrative. ✨ The different categories to include in a budget. ✨The benefit

Steve explains how grant funding has changed in 2023, the impact AI is having on grant funding, and how Covid has impacted grants. With the worse of Covid behind us and the fast rise of ChatGPT and AI, it seems like 2023 is going to be a year of change for many industries, and grant funding is no exception. Steve joins us to explain how grant funding will change in 2023, the restructuring of the grant application process, and how government grants have changed since Covid. He also talks about the different ways non-profits can access grant funding, the ways ChatGPT is affecting grants, and the effect MacKenzie Scott is having on grant funding. What you’ll learn in this episode: ✨ Our grant funding forecast for 2023. ✨ The gatekeepers and barriers of entry to government grants. ✨ How the traditional grant application process is being restructured. ✨ The ways government grants have changed since Covid. ✨ How MacKenzie Scott is changing grants. ✨ The monopolization happening in the non-profit sector. ✨ Diff

This episode, Holly explains how to write a goal in a grant, what to include in a grant’s objective, and how to put a task in a grant. The goal of a grant is one of the most important sections of a grant application and is usually where you’ll get the most points. But what should you include in the goal section of a grant? How should you structure it? And how ambitious should you be? This episode, Holly explains why this section is so important, how to write a goal in a grant, and everything you need to include in this part of your grants application. Holly also talks about how to write a grant’s objective, the best way to include a timeline in a grant, and how to put a task in a grant. What you’ll learn in this episode: ✨ How to write a goal in a grant. ✨ What to include in a grant’s goal. ✨ How to write a grant’s objective. ✨ What to include in a grant’s objective. ✨ How to include a timeline in a grant. ✨ How to put a task in a grant. ✨ Why you need a work plan for grant funding. ✨ What to include in

It can be confusing to know what funding is available for educational programs and difficult to identify where the funding for education is. But there is still a sizeable amount of grant funding available for non-profits and schools, you just have to know how to find the right funding and how to properly apply for a grant. Chiara joins us to discuss how organizations can get support with Department of Education Grants, the different grant funding available for non-profit schools, and which Department of Education funds are still open for applications. She also explains the impact a grant can have on a school, the type of evaluation metrics you need to provide for a grant, and why it’s so important to have an evaluation section in a grant. Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts: “Every time I listen to Holly’s show, I learn something”

This episode, Holly explains how a grant proposal’s research section is marked, what you should include in the research section, and the type of data you need to provide. The research section is a vital part of your grant proposal, it’s a chance to showcase the importance of the work you’re doing and the impact you can have with the right funding. It can be tempting to write this section emotively, but your research section needs to be data focused, you can’t be scored on emotions but data can get you points. This episode, Holly explains how a grant proposal’s research section is marked, how should write the research section in a grant proposal, and the type of language you should use. Holly also talks about the ways to score points in the research section, the data you need to provide, and the most important aspects of a grant proposal’s referencing style. ------------------------------------------------ ✨

Often people get overwhelmed by grant proposals and it’s common to feel unsure about how to start writing a grant proposal. What do you need to include, how should you present it, and how do you make sure not to miss any important details in your grant? This episode, Holly explains how to get a template for your grant, how to use a template to write a grant, and how to access a grant’s instructions. Holly also talks about the subjective nature of grant reviewing, what the review process of a grant involves, and how different sections of a grant are scored. "Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts “Every time I listen to Holly’s show, I learn something”

Starting a nonprofit consultancy is one thing. Knowing when to grow it, is another. You may have a consultancy that serves nonprofit clients. Nonprofit consultants provide services for nonprofit organizations, and are contracted (not staffed) to do these services. Some of these services include: ✨ Grant Writing ✨ Grant Management ✨ Marketing Services ✨ Strategic Planning ✨ Board Development ✨ Fundraising ✨ Social Media Services ✨ Crowdfunding Campaign ✨ Accounting & Bookkeeping ✨ Website Development ✨ Leadership ✨ And more… Once you have your business up and running, and have nonprofit clients, you may choose to start outsourcing, hiring, or streamlining some of your tasks. Deciding on how to grow your nonprofit consultancy can be a daunting task. Why? Well, when is the time? Should you have a certain amount of savings before you hire someone? Should you invest and ask about a certain ROI? To help answer some of these questions, Mandy Pearce from Funding for Good joins me on the Grant Writing & F

Don’t just assume that gender inequity doesn’t exist in your nonprofit organization. Even though women represent 75 percent of people working in nonprofit organizations in the United States, we know that there are leadership positions and pay gaps rampant in nonprofit organizations. However, it’s not all doom and gloom either. There are ways to create gender equity for your nonprofit organization. Here are 15-steps for your nonprofit to create a culture of gender equity. -------------------------------------------------- ✨

Women represent 75 percent of people working in nonprofit organizations in the United States. One might think because they make up such a high percentage of staffing that they would have equal leadership positions and pay compared to their male counterparts. However, research shows that just because women represent a high percentage of positions in the nonprofit sector that there is no equity. Unfortunately, there are a large number of systemic issues tied to this, and we go deeper into this in our full webinar, “Celebrating Women in Nonprofits”. -------------------------------------------------- ✨

Freelance grant writing is a female-led industry, with 82 percent of grant professionals surveyed are female. In our definition here, a grant professional is a grant writer that owns their own business. As far as grant writers who work within a nonprofit organization, this percentage is at 67 percent, which is also quite high. Initially what the Global Development Solutions 2022 Pricing Survey found is that female grant professionals are charging more per hour than men. -------------------------------------------------- ✨

Nonprofit Jenni comes on the Grant Writing & Funding podcast to discuss cutting-edge books for nonprofit leaders. Nonprofit Jenni is founder of the Overhead Book Club, where she curates books for nonprofit leaders. She spends a massive amount of time researching books to bring into her book club, and shares some of her favorite books! -------------------------------------------------- ✨

Nikki R. Jones is a communications strategist, speechwriter, copywriter, and trainer with 16+ years of experience in the small business, government, and nonprofit sectors. -------------------------------------------------- ✨