Grant Writing & Funding

Oh yes, I just typed the F-word. Yep, that one that makes most grant writers shiver in their sleep. No, I am not cussing. But maybe this word should be a bona fide swear word. Free. I know it haunts you. It’s interesting that as a grant writer your skills can have one of the biggest impacts on increasing funding for nonprofit organizations, however you will still be serenaded by nearly every nonprofit (not to mention individuals looking for that magic grant to fund a college degree) to write grants for free. This has always puzzled me. Grant writers have technical writing skills to find and secure funding and in many cases millions of dollars for nonprofits. However, many organizations seek out grant writers and some guilt them into writing for free or giving away all their knowledge at no cost. Here’s the thing. There is a time and place for the F-word. Yep. Free can be a pathway at times, but not all. You might be wondering why you don’t get paid well when you see those hundreds, or millions of dol

Why Female Grant Writers Struggle with Pricing & Rates Oh now, that is a fully-loaded statement. But worth the heavily weighed explanation. I have been going back and forth with other grant writers on this question of “Do grant writers get paid less because most are female?” and even down to “Are grant writer rates high enough?” Moreover, nearly every single female grant writer I know struggles with how to do her pricing and come up with rates that feel good. In this article, I am going to break down some of the gender-specifics on the grant writing industry. Some of these may surprise you because you have been living the life thinking you only need to Google “Grant Writer Salary” and the Internet will get some ideal number that you can just throw onto your freelance grant writing website or in that grant writer salary description. Here’s the thing. The most deafening question I get from my grant writing students is, “How much should I charge for my grant writing skills?” I am not going to give you a ma

Leveraging the Power of Celebrity to Fundraise for Your Nonprofit with Amy & Scott Malin ✨✨ Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com to get the proven G.R.A.N.T.S. formula to write winning grants ✨✨ Let's be real. We talk about more than this in today's podcast, but we do really go through the nitty-gritty of leverage to the power of celebrity to fundraise for your nonprofit! I know, I know. I've seen it all before. Starry eyes and a golden haze when a nonprofit drops a celebrities name. Why? You know why. The celebrity can leverage a huge audience to get eyes on your nonprofit organization's mission. But should this be your main aim? Should it be your only aim? Like any type of funding partnership it is a partnership. There needs to be a win on both sides of the partnership. There needs to be strategy in forming a partnership. Hollywood's Social Impact Experts Amy & Scott Malin also discuss their newest tech for good: Trueheart social impact search engine and how to value your service. Thanks for listenin

Online Marketing for Nonprofits in the New Normal with Brady Josephson. ✨✨ Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com to get the proven G.R.A.N.T.S. formula to write winning grants ✨✨ In 2020 we experienced a big shift in nonprofit organizations moving to online and digital fundraising. Now more and more nonprofits are wondering what type of online marketing for nonprofits there is to advance their missions. In the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a just a rush to, "Get Online"! But now, more than a year and a half into the pandemic, have nonprofit organizations optimized their online marketing presence? In this replay podcast, Brady Josephson will talk about Online ✨Marketing for Nonprofits: ✨How the NextAfter Institute helps nonprofit organizations ✨Counterintuitive fundraising practices ✨Resources and research for Covid-19 ✨Collecting data through donating to nonprofits ✨The Big Question: What are other nonprofits doing? ✨Increasing digital marketing trends for nonprofits ✨Using focused and authe

Why & How You Should Start a Cause Movement for What You are Passionate About Starting a nonprofit organization is not the only way to create and advance a cause movement that you are passionate about. Sometimes it's as simple as volunteering for a cause, donating to a mission, or cleaning up a beach. But sometimes you want to go a step deeper and have your passion drive your creativity into manifesting something new. That's what Rebecca Soriano has done! She has always been passionate about mental health and in her medical billing business serves a clientele of mental health providers. During the pandemic though, Rebecca started a movement she calls Roar to Soar where she started to write handwritten letters to help with her own isolation. She started to see the impact these letters had (both for those who received them, as well as for her personal growth), and started to reach out to strangers who also felt isolated. In fact, she posted online if people felt hopeless if they would like a letter and r

The Grant Writing Coach Tells All on Going from Biologist to Grant Professional You weren't an English major or Public Administration major? No worries. You don't have to have been a writer all  your life to transition into grant writing. In this podcast, Sheleia Phillips tells all on how she has gone from biologist to grant professional... all from the suggestion during an internship. This literally turned her life around as she realized she could apply her background in research papers and evidence-based practices to writing a grant. She then found out she loves grant writing as has pivoted her career! What we Discuss: Sheleia's transition into grant writing ✨How become a federal grant reviewer is important ✨Why she offers a hybrid of services to nonprofits ✨Nonprofit common challenges (and solutions!) ✨How to say no to too much work ✨How to set up a referral network Thanks for listening! Holly Rustick Expert Grant Writer & Bestselling Author https://www.grantwritingandfunding.com/ Favor, please? I

How to Save Time in Your Nonprofit & Grant Business with the Impact Method Capacity can really mean time and money. Sometimes money can leverage time and vice versa. But time seems to be the most valuable metric for nonprofits and grant writing businesses. In this week's podcast, special guest Sarah Olivieri goes over the Impact Method that she has created and how it is used for nonprofits and freelance grant writers. You will want this blueprint! What we Discuss What the Impact Method is What capacity means How to create an effective blueprint How to get more time back in your day How to have accountability How to delegate better Thanks for listening! Holly Rustick Expert Grant Writer & Bestselling Author https://www.grantwritingandfunding.com/ Favor, please? If you love this podcast, would you please do me a favor and leave a review on iTunes or your podcast listener? ✨✨ Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com to get the proven G.R.A.N.T.S. formula to write winning grants ✨✨

How to Take Time Off from Your Nonprofit or Grant Writing Business Yes. A summer sabbatical, two-week break, or maybe even a year abroad sojourn could be exactly what makes sense for you in your nonprofit or grant writing business right now. I've been hearing this term thrown around in entrepreneur groups lately of taking a sabbatical. No longer is this term only whispered in the halls of academia. This actual term of sabbatical is defined according to Merriam-Webster dictionary as: noun a period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other worker for study or travel, traditionally one year for every seven years worked. "she's away on sabbatical" adjective 1. relating to a sabbatical. "sabbatical leave" 2. ARCHAIC of or appropriate to the sabbath. So, yes, this is way more of an academia term yet also includes a nod to some thing sacred. Pretty cool, huh? What is also interesting as most entrepreneurs and grant writers would use this term as paid time away. This might mean having saved up fun

✨ Why You Should Stop Asking Your Board to Fundraise and Why Donors Rock ✨

How Nonprofits Get Funding from Grants, Fundraisers, and Donors For a nonprofit organization to be successful, it is important to have a healthy mix of funding from grants, fundraisers, donors, services, and more. For nonprofits to entirely rely on grants is not healthy. Is your nonprofit struggling financially? Do you only get grants or only do fundraising? If you nodded your head to either of these questions, you will definitely want to check out this episode. And if you are a nonprofit board director, executive director, or even a freelance grant writer looking to expand your services, then this podcast is for you. Guess who is back on the Grant Writing & Funding podcast with me this week? Dr. Beverly Browning! Woot-woot!  What we Discuss How your board of directors can contribute financially Why your start-up nonprofit should do monthly fundraisers and how it doesn’t have to be hard Why it’s critical your nonprofit is on Guidestar.org How you can get money to start a nonprofit How you can raise $40

Are you struggling to understand nonprofit strategic planning? Or maybe your entire team is suffering burnout as you move like a sloth from fundraiser to fundraiser. In this week’s podcast, Dr. Beverly Browning is co-hosting as she discusses how to create a strategic plan for your nonprofit and avoid burnout! To give you a bit of a sneak peek, this is why you need a strategic plan for your nonprofit: ✨ It gives your nonprofit a guide ✨ It helps your board know what to report on and what milestones to target ✨ It prevents 24/7 burnout ✨ Sometimes your funding sources require it (grants, etc) ✨ It sets target funding goals so you don’t run around in circles These are all important reasons! So who is this for? Well, this is for you if you are: ✨ Thinking about starting a nonprofit ✨ Need to grow your nonprofit and 2021 needs to look different otherwise you aren’t sure what will happen (but it won’t be good) ✨ Are a freelance grant writer and want to offer strategic planning as a service Thanks for listenin

8 Expert Tips For Raising $10,000+ in a Nonprofit Facebook Fundraiser ✨ Click here for Sean's free guide on Nonprofit Facebook fundraising✨ http://grantwritingandfunding.com/8-expert-tips-for-raising-10000-in-a-nonprofit-facebook-fundraiser/ Sound too good to be true? Nope! Sean Kosofsky, the Nonprofit Fixer, shares his expert tips for raising $10,000+ through a Nonprofit Facebook Fundraiser. This is a must-listen! You may be wondering if it's some complicated framework where you will spend 20,000 hours trying to figure it out. It's not. On the contrary Sean shares how this can be a very low-hanging, low-energy but quick to generate unrestricted funding for your nonprofit! Still waiting for the punch line? Or the BUT... There's not one. I was amazed and I know you will be to. Follow this expert advice (and get his FREE Guide) and let us know how you do in this Facebook fundraiser! It's not about creating advertisement, algorithms, or complicated data sets. It's a simple process where you can reach

Are you ready to check-in on your 2021 nonprofit goals? If you are either a nonprofit leader, staff, or volunteer and are trying to move the needle forward on your nonprofit OR if you are an aspiring freelance consultant and are stuck in overwhelm then this podcast is for you! Just imagine how much more accomplished you will feel having the steps to create a plan that will work. These 10 steps can be down internally in your nonprofit or business OR if you are a freelance grant writer or nonprofit consultant can be learned services you can offer! So if you want to make a huge difference in ending the cycle of stressing out about not having enough time, not securing the funding you need, and having real burnout and instead you want to feel in control of your life, have a higher quality of life, and have a plan that brings in real financial results, then this is for you. If you want to go WAY more into depth, get downloadables and checklists, and MORE, then get the Nonprofit Strategic Planning Master Course

Complete Guide to the 2021 Grant Funding Forecast If you are wanting to know what type of grant funding is forecasted out there for your nonprofit, government office, or business then look no further! In this week's podcast (and video), I share with you the following: Grant Funding Pulse 2019, 2020, and 2021 Grant Funding Federal Grant forecast State Grant Forecast Foundation Grant Forecast This is for you if you are writing or seeking grants! It might not surprise how many grants were given out in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but what about 2021? Will there be a plateau or leveling down of grants? The answer might surprise you!  Check out this week's podcast or video to find out! 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:

Yes, meaningful conversations are a must if you want effective solutions for your nonprofit strategies. I know. It's easier for many nonprofit leaders to just ask, "Can you just make me a fundraising content calendar within the hour?" But what if that fundraiser isn't really what your nonprofit needs to grow? I know it can feel taxing to try and fit in a conversation about why you even want the fundraiser in the first place (because we always have one) or what the real outcome you want that fundraiser to have for your nonprofit (er, money?). But the immediate answers aren't always the right ones. In this week's episode, Nonprofit Strategist Julie Platts guides me through how she goes deep with nonprofit clients to ask some of these specific questions. After all, she is a nonprofit strategist for a reason. What you hear might surprise you. But chances are, it will also inspire you to slow down for a few shakes so you can speed up with efficiency with your strategies. There are a lot of 'a-ha!' moments in

✨*Check out the links on https://grantwritingandfunding.com/173 * ✨ If you find yourself Googling when looking for grant funding or not even knowing where to start, then this podcast episode is for you! I've got Gauri Manglik, CEO and co-founder of Instrumentl on the show, and we go behind-the-scenes on how to use this platform. What is Instrumentl? It's a fundraising platform tool to help you find, well, funds. Looking for grants? This is your hub. What we Discuss in this Podcast About Instrumentl ✨ Why Instrumentl was created ✨ The new tools on Intrumentl (includes 990 magic) ✨ How to use Instrumentl for grant tracking ✨ How to use Instrumentl for grant research ✨ What types of grants are available on Instrumentl ✨ Secret (not-so-secret anymore!) announcement coming up! 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 ✨✨

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. form

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