Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?  This might be a strange topic to write about in the grant writing world – are grant submissions all considered fairly and equally and if not – why not?  Experienced grant writers I think would generally all agree that the selection and evaluation process at times is not what it seems – especially in the Government and Council sectors.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?  When discussing with our grant writing clients I am always upfront in that I cannot promise any outcome except that our grant writers will produce great documents that will wow our clients and if anyone independent was to assess our submission – they would think it was outstanding. That in essence is as much as we can do because from there it is in the lap of the gods.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?  I will now address what can go “wrong” in the selection process at Government/Council level and then in the Philanthropic world.  I am not going to rehash what a good grant writer will include in their grant application but rather discuss how the assessment process can and does get manipulated.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?  Certainly in the Government world with Freedom of Information and Right to Information “restrictions” and the supposed principle of equity, merit and the best grant application/s supposedly being selected – well as an ex public servant of 18 years including in senior roles I can assure you that at times not everything is as fair or based on merit and equity as one would hope.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?  Certainly generally and I say generally without any interference or undue pressure from above – public servants will assess applications fairly and generally without bias.  The problem comes when senior bureaucrats get involved and then when Ministers, Mayors, Councillors etc get their snouts in the decision making process.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board? ď ą Senior bureaucrats generally do the bidding of what the Minister or the Mayor or a strong interfering Councillor requires and these people are elected by popular vote. ď ą As such they will try and interfere at times in grant selection and approval processes to ensure that the outcomes might assist them in their vote winning requirements.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?  So Governments will ensure that projects in safe seats or in marginal electorates are successful as opposed to projects in safe Opposition seats. Why fund projects in seats where the Opposition political party has a very safe margin?  Similarly in Local Government – why fund projects where you wont get a return at the ballot box?  This could be seen as a cynical look at how projects are selected in the grant writing world but this is reality.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board? ď ą Similarly public servants at the local level might have an understanding of a local organisation, an affinity with certain organisations or even have links with some local organisations – there is nothing stopping them, despite the claims of merit and equity, from them approving projects where they have links or a preferences for certain organisation.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?  Even though there are Freedom of Information/Right to Information implications – this is all very subjective as to what is a good project – what is not and what projects meet the grant programs criteria and requirements and which don’t.  So being subjective makes it very easy to manipulate the outcomes.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?  In the Philanthropic world – it is even more difficulty to ensure good projects get approved – purely because there are no Freedom of Information/Right to Information applications and no issues of public sector probity.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?  If Philanthropic grant makers want to fund a certain project or organisation then can – there is no possible independent review of their decisions.  So if the Board members or assessment panel want to fund projects that only involve one legged red frogs – there is nothing stopping them from doing that.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board? ď ą In essence the skilled grant writer can only do their very best in the grant writing process and then yes it is in the lap of the gods when it comes to decisions. ď ą You can obviously try and lobby and inform decisions makers and elected representatives but that will be an article for another day.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board? ď ą Contact us at Red Tape Busters - http://www.redtapebusters.com should you require more information about this article or if you require specialist grant or tender writing experience to help your organisation or business win grant funding or achieve successes with tenders.

Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?

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Grant Writing – Is the selection process generally above board?

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