P1 AGE
qWhethertouseaprofessionalGrantWriterorsimplylookafteryourownfunding applicationisoneofthefirstquestionsyouwillaskofyourselfwhenyourorganisation decidestoentertheworldofseekinggrantfunding. qAfterall,nooutsidegrantwritingcompanycouldpossiblyknowyourorganisationas intimatelyasyou,right? qTrue,butthereissomuchmoretoconsiderwhenitcomestothemagicofgrantwriting andwhetherbeinga‘doityourself’GrantWriterwillgiveyouthebestchanceofsuccess.
qWithover2000grantsthatareusuallyactiveinAustraliaatanygiventime,thereisno shortagetograntsonofferforaGrantWriterinSydneytochoosefrom. qEvenbyusingoneoftheexcellenttoolsthatofferfilteringtoolstoGrantWriterstofind thosegrantsmostapplicableforspecificprojectneeds,youmaystillnarrowthisdownto 10-20options. Letusdigintosomeoftheseconsiderations… NavigatingaMyriadofGrantsAvailable
qNowimagineifyouonlyhavetimeandenergytoapplyforjust2grantsthengetrefused funding,whentheremayhavebeen2othergrantsinthelistthatwouldhavehada higherchanceofsuccess. qAnexperiencedGrantWriterhasabreadthofexperiencethatallowsthemtonarrow downtothegrantsofferingthehighestchanceofsuccessforyourproject’sfunding requirements.
qOneofthemostvitalskillsofaGrantWriteristoquicklyinterpretallrelatedgrant documentationandguidelinestoquicklyascertaineligibilityoftheorganisationforthat grant. InterpretingGrantApplicationDocuments
qOneslightmisseddetailsuchasnothavingthecorrectDGRstatuscanmakeyourentire grantwritingeffortawasteoftimeandresourceifyouwerenevereligibletobeginwith. qBesuretoreadalldocumentsoverandoverandensureyouunderstandeveryword,and ifyouarestillunclear,thenyoumaybebetteroffutilisingtheservicesofaGrantWriter.
qAsaGrantWriter,oneofthemostimportantthingstorealiseisthatthegrantfundingis rarelyintendedtobenefit‘just’yourorganisation. qThoseofferinggrantfundingarealwaysinterestedinthebiggerpicture,atacommunity, regionalandevenstate-widelevel. qUsuallythereisatleastonecriteriaquestionaskingGrantWriterstoaddressthewider benefits. SellingtheDream-WordsMatter!
qNotonlythat,buttherearealsolimitsonthenumberofwordsorcharactersthata GrantWriterNTcanusefortheiranswer. qTranslated,thisequatestoeverywordhavingarealdollarimpactonyourgrantwriting chancesofsuccess. qExperiencedGrantWritersbringsyearsofexperienceintoansweringthesecriteriaina waythatperfectlybalancesand‘sells’themicroandmacrobenefitstotheassessors, whichcanultimatelyaffectthesuccessorotherwiseoftheirgrantwritingactivities.
qEveryGrantWriter,includingthosewhohavebeengrantwritingfordecades,willhave ‘failures’intheirgrantwritingendeavours. qUsually,thesheernumberofapplicantsandtheirfundingneedswillfaroutweighthe amountoffundsonofferforanyindividualgrant. qWhilstfailureisagreatopportunitytogaingrantwritingexperience,theactualcostofa grantfailingcanhaveabigimpactonyourorganisation. DoestheCostofFailureOutweightheCostofUsingaGrantWriter?
qHowwillalackoffundingimpactyourorganisation,ataneconomic,communityand functionallevel? qSomegrantsonlybecomeavailableannually,soconsiderwhetherwaitinganextrayear forasecondchanceisanissueornotforyourorganisation. qAdditionally,thenextroundmayshifttoanewfocusareaofservicesnotofferedbyyour organisation,whichwillcompletelylockyououtofthatgrantuntilitchangesbackto youroffering.
qLastly,thefundsurgencyshouldbeconsideredasafactorwhenweighingupthe potentialforfailure. qAlwaysconsiderthetrueimpactoffailureandwhetheryouwanttolimitthatriskas muchaspossiblebytappingintotheexperienceofgrantwriterswhohavewritten hundredsofgrants.
qLetussayyouwanttogoitaloneandhaveagoatGrantWritingallbyyourself.Hereare somesimpletipstohelpyouimproveyourchancesofsuccess üStartSmall.Findasmallprojectthatispreferablynotvitaltoyourorganisationto winanddipyourtoesintousethisasyourlearningground.Thiswillgetyoufamiliar withtheapproach,thechallengesandwhetheryouenjoybeingyourownGrant Writer. GoingitAlone–TipsforSuccess
Whenyoufindagrantyouarewantingtoapplyfor,lookforthe detailsofa‘Enquiries’contactfromwithinthefundprovider’sorganisation.Make thecallanddiscussyourprojectfirstasthismaysaveyouawholelotoftime, especiallyifthiscallidentifiesthatthefundingisnotdesignedforyourproject’s intent.Ifthegrantisrelevant,thenaskabouteligibilityandanytipstheycangive whichwillenhanceyourchancesofgrantwritingsuccess.
üPickUpthePhone.
well.
üGiveYourselfPlentyofTime.Donotchooseagrantthatisclosingimminently.
Instead,chooseagrantthatgivesyoutimetoexplorethecriteriaquestionsand researchmaterialtosupportyouranswersandstrengthenyourcase.Arushed applicationwillusuallyreflectpoorattentiontodetailandlowprofessionalism.Ifyou wantfunderstoinvestinyourorganisation,youneedtoshowwhyyouarenotonly worthit,butthatyouareprofessionalandorganisedenoughtoutilisethosefunds
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P16 AGE ThankYou!!
