Being fundraiser: good to know

GOOD TO KNOW

1. Grant writers need to plan ahead – sometimes far ahead;
2. Grant writers should be comfortable handling all kinds of research – from knowing what funding opportunities are coming along to knowing where to find the substantiation and data that will support your organization’s case for funding;
3. Grant writers must be attentive to detail – all kinds of detail – including funder guidelines (that is key);
4. Grant writers must be diplomatic and provide wise counsel and not merely say “yes” to impossible deadlines and poorly designed projects or to opportunities that are, at best, “trawling for dollars”;
5. Grant writers are not program designers, but they are often looked to for advice in that regard and should be able to advise appropriately;
6. Grant writers should have thick skins, to withstand the faculty, staff, medical folks, board members and who all knows who else who will insist that X-number of grants must be written and sent everywhere so that funding is obtained and who will purport to know better than the grant writer on this score (they don’t);
7. Grant writers need to coach applicants who will not think about important project aspects, like evaluation (to ensure that what the grant purports to do gets done and has a measureable impact) or budget;
8. Grant writers must be able to persuade their organizations that developing a fundable project is not up to a single person – rather, it is a team sport and it requires cooperation and commitment, not dumping the entire “grants thing” on the writer;
9. Grant writers must be humble and able to find their kudos where they can – often, it is the grant’s principle investigator and not the grant writer who receives the accolades for “winning” the grant;
10. Grant writers must be willing to follow through – to track and monitor what happens to funds and to stay on top of what happens with a funded project so that it may be reported to the funder;