Grant Writing & Funding

Join the Free, Live Training, "Earn an Extra $10K in 90 Days Writing Grants at Home" on Tuesday, October 14th at 4 pm - 5:30 pm EST. Click here https://grantwritingandfunding.com/academy-webinar.Are you not sure even what a SWOT Analysis is or how it relates to strategic planning? Well, I am definitely not saying get rid of the SWOT analysis altogether, but I am saying the old tired way of just shoving it in your planning and not knowing how to utilize is so over. How? Well, you do need a SWOT Analysis for your nonprofit’s strategic planning, however, it doesn’t have to be boring. It is actually one of the most FUN activities in your strategic planning. A SWOT Analysis A SWOT stands for: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats (or Challenges) 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: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzIfwJt0az9KKwKz1Uc8vg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollyrustick LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-rustick-0765b817/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grantwritingandfunding/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/grantwritingandfunding/ 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 ✨✨

Join the Free, Live Training, "Earn an Extra $10K in 90 Days Writing Grants at Home" on Tuesday, October 14th at 4 pm - 5:30 pm EST. Click here https://grantwritingandfunding.com/academy-webinar.This is a question I get a lot... “Holly, how do I find federal grants for my nonprofit?” Federal grant research expert Jason Adkins, gives us 5 steps to find those pesky federal grants. Well, er, they seem pesky until you find them, and then federal grants rock. I know you might feel like federal grants are elusive, but after Jason breaks down the steps (and gives you websites to find them), then you will be feeling like a pro. So if thinking about finding federal grants makes you immediately zone out and start stress-chewing your nails, then you will want to listen to today's podcast episode on finding federal grants (and save that precious manicure). Some Highlights We Discuss: Why sometimes having an English Degree doesn’t automatically equate to being a Grant Writer Why ‘failing forward’ is important Keeping a flipchart list of grants secured to make sure you have moments of celebration and don’t go from grant deadline to grant deadline How Jason uses the same strategies of writing a foundation and federal grant How being a federal grant reviewer has been helpful in writing federal grants Grant writing is best at a 9th to 12th grade level Why formatting a federal grant is  important Schedule time in your workday to find grants 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: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzIfwJt0az9KKwKz1Uc8vg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollyrustick LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-rustick-0765b817/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grantwritingandfunding/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/grantwritingandfunding/ 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 ✨✨

Join the Free, Live Training, "Earn an Extra $10K in 90 Days Writing Grants at Home" on Tuesday, October 14th at 4 pm - 5:30 pm EST. Click here https://grantwritingandfunding.com/academy-webinar.A common question I get, as a grant professional, from nonprofit clients, is, "Can you guarantee that the grant you write for us will get awarded?" There are a number of reasons that I say no. Very simply put, these are some of the determining factors: 1) It depends also on the nonprofit's capacity and experience in winning and managing grants that depend on their competitiveness with getting a grant awarded. 2) It depends on how well the grant project aligns with the priority of the funding source. 3) It depends on how 'trendy' the project is with current funding overall. 4) It depends on how many grant applications the funding source receives. These are just a few, but there are many more reasons. Listen to this week's podcast to hear them all and how you can respond to this question!

Join the Free, Live Training, "Earn an Extra $10K in 90 Days Writing Grants at Home" on Tuesday, October 14th at 4 pm - 5:30 pm EST. Click here https://grantwritingandfunding.com/academy-webinar.Did you know that you can do grant research as a stand-alone service or in a package that you offer nonprofit clients? You write grants, but did you know you can charge separately for researching and finding grants?  (jaws drop). Yes! Here's the thing...sometimes nonprofit clients will approach grant professionals with a list of grant opportunities and just want you to write the grants. But more often than not, nonprofit clients will also want you - the freelance grant writer - to research the grants, too. Sometimes nonprofit clients may not understand that this is an additional service or will increase your grant writing rate. Why? Well, grant research takes: an investment of your skillset (yes, grant research is an art), your time (the research rabbit hole), and money (most grant research databases charge you to use their database).  So grant research can actually be a standalone service you provide or in addition to the grant writing (first you find the best X # of best-fit grants, then you write them). In this week's podcast, I go into more detail on the how, why, and what of grant research! Be sure to give it a listen :) ✨✨ Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com to get the proven G.R.A.N.T.S. formula to write winning grants ✨✨ 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! Thanks for listening! Holly Rustick Expert Grant Writer & Bestselling Author https://www.grantwritingandfunding.com/

Join the Free, Live Training, "Earn an Extra $10K in 90 Days Writing Grants at Home" on Tuesday, October 14th at 4 pm - 5:30 pm EST. Click here https://grantwritingandfunding.com/academy-webinar.✨ Join my Free 5-day FB Challenge: Confidently Pitch Your Grant Writing Services to Nonprofit Clients" Click here: http://grantwritingandfunding.com/5-day ✨ Grant Writing Certificate. To have or not to have?  And then... from where? This is a question I get all the time.  I get this question from freelance grant writers and aspiring freelancers, but I also get it from potential nonprofit clients.  Do you have a grant writing certificate? This question, and 7 more common questions asked by nonprofit clients, I will go over in even more detail (and give you a fill-in-the-blank script) in my upcoming 5-Day FB Challenge, "Confidently Pitch Your Grant Writing Services to Nonprofit Clients" on March 8th - 12th. Sign up above. But for this week's podcast, I will uncover the answer to the elusive question, "Do you have a grant writing certificate?" Here's the thing though. Grant Certificate or not, it doesn't really showcase your grant writing abilities. To have long-standing credibility and a reputation and to implement your learned skills, you need to write grants. Real-world grants. Not just a sample in a grant workshop. You need a pen to paper (or, er, keyboard to monitor?) and get out there and write some grants.  So, yes, a grant writing certificate can increase your resume and improve your skills, but grant writing certificate or not, you need to actually write grants. If you aren't sure where to start, then check out nonprofits to volunteer at! And believe me, if you start volunteering the nonprofit won't ask you for a grant writing certificate! But you may be able to ask them to pay for your grant writing certificate and then you will volunteer ;)  So do you really need one? No. However, a grant writing certificate can be helpful in increasing credibility, knowledge, skills, and confidence. But you still will need to actually start writing grants. 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! Thanks for listening! Holly Rustick Expert Grant Writer & Bestselling Author https://www.grantwritingandfunding.com/

Join the Free, Live Training, "Earn an Extra $10K in 90 Days Writing Grants at Home" on Tuesday, October 14th at 4 pm - 5:30 pm EST. Click here https://grantwritingandfunding.com/academy-webinar.✨✨ Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com to get the proven G.R.A.N.T.S. formula to write winning grants ✨✨ These are 7 myths about grant writing and freelance grant writing that I have heard time and time again. In this week's podcast episode, I am going to break down each of the following: #1: Grants Are Easy To Get Grants are not super easy to write. In fact, if you are a grant writing you are probably chuckling right now. Grants are competitive. They aren't impossible to get, nor are they so easy that you don't need to learn the technique behind grant writing.  #2: Grants Don't Have to Be Paid Back No Matter What Sure, overall grants don't have to be paid back. However, if grants aren't spent properly they might need to be paid back. Always check with the program office if you need to modify a budget to get permission before you spend for something not approved! #3 Grants Can Cover My Personal Debt Moreover, you are not going to get a funding source to pay off your BMW. Grants are created for specific purposes, and those purposes usually don't include a direct deposit to pay off your personal debt. #4: Grants are Similar to Writing an English Paper Writing English literature papers is not like writing a grant. Grant writing has specific technical methods and is different than writing an English paper. That said, writers in other genres and disciplines can learn how to write grants! #5: I Should Write Grants For Free Eek! If you have the skillset and experience, you can definitely charge nonprofit organizations to write grants or get a position as a paid grant writer! #6: I Can Get Paid on Commission No, no, no. This is unethical, against Best Practices, ineligible to be charged for in federal grants, and is a product you create! You should get paid to write a grant with other funds.  #7: I Can Get Paying Clients With No Grant Writing Experience Okay, I know  I said you should get paid to write grants. You should - if you have the experience. However, if you are new to writing grants, then you may need to volunteer for a few months to get some grant writing experience, take a course to learn some skills or do an internship. This will help build your skills so then you can charge for it! Make sure you listen to the full podcast to get SO many more details and examples about the  7 Myths You Need to Know About Grants & Freelance Grant Writing! 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

Join the Free, Live Training, "Earn an Extra $10K in 90 Days Writing Grants at Home" on Tuesday, October 14th at 4 pm - 5:30 pm EST. Click here https://grantwritingandfunding.com/academy-webinar.✨ Click here to download the Infographic Top 10 Responsibilities of a Nonprofit Executive Director: https://grantwritingandfunding.com/158-3-tactics-you-didnt-know-to-become-a-nonprofit-executive-director-ninja/ ​ ✨ What if you had a checklist to help streamline your duties as an executive director of a nonprofit organization? Sometimes an executive director of a nonprofit organization is stereotyped as juggling a million things and getting paid peanuts. But this doesn't, nor shouldn't, need to be the case. For a nonprofit organization to thrive, the executive director should have a roadmap. Some nonprofit organizations may not even have an executive director yet, and are even drooling at this aspect of having one! But the deal is - if your nonprofit is so fortunate to have an executive director - don't burn them out! So here's the old hierarchal order of a nonprofit. There is a board of directors that provides guidance for the nonprofit organization and then the executive director implements this guidance. Of course, the board should still support the mission in governance ways, and other staff, volunteers, and consultants can help out too! The executive director is then often tasked with a lot of items, ranging from taking minutes of meetings to writing grants! This is why they get the stereotype of juggling a lot of diverse responsibilities. Well, if you know of a busy nonprofit executive director that feels like they are virtually drowning, or if you are one, then you will want to listen to this week's podcast! Sean discusses the following: How to communicate with your board of directors How to delegate How to manage time (time management hacks) What activities to focus on most of the time (high level) What you should ask for in a contract and why one is important Much more... ✨ Click here to download the Infographic Top 10 Responsibilities of a Nonprofit Executive Director: https://grantwritingandfunding.com/158-3-tactics-you-didnt-know-to-become-a-nonprofit-executive-director-ninja/✨

Join the Free, Live Training, "Earn an Extra $10K in 90 Days Writing Grants at Home" on Tuesday, October 14th at 4 pm - 5:30 pm EST. Click here https://grantwritingandfunding.com/academy-webinar.✨ FREE Nonprofit Client Start Guide: https://grantwritingandfunding.com/freelance-grant-writer-client-starter-guide/ ✨ Ready to Start Growing Your Freelance Grant Writing Business But Not Sure Where to Start? This podcast episode and free (and highly detailed) cheat sheet will give you, as a freelance grant writer or nonprofit consultant, everything you need to know to confidently reach out to nonprofit leads and start securing clients like a pro. (Yep, even if you’re starting with no clients!) Let's face it - starting a freelance grant writing business or nonprofit consultancy can feel overwhelming! Knowing how and where to find nonprofit clients can be like facing a large ocean of obscure possibilities. But it doesn't have to be that way! That's why I created this extensive roadmap for you! So how do you find those clients? Through the following 5 steps! (download the roadmap or listen to the podcast to get examples and the full system!) #1: Identify Your Skillset #2: Identify Your Passion/Knowledge/Experiences #3: Decide Which Services to Offer First #4: Create a nonprofit client lead list #5: Pitch to Nonprofit Clients If you follow the Roadmap and do all of these steps, you will have a minimum of 50 nonprofit leads on your list! So securing 10 of those 50 just became a lot more doable. Plus, these will turn into warm leads really quickly. No more cold calling when you use these strategic steps! Be sure to download the Roadmap and listen to the podcast! ✨ FREE Nonprofit Client Start Guide: https://grantwritingandfunding.com/freelance-grant-writer-client-starter-guide/ ✨

Join the Free, Live Training, "Earn an Extra $10K in 90 Days Writing Grants at Home" on Tuesday, October 14th at 4 pm - 5:30 pm EST. Click here https://grantwritingandfunding.com/academy-webinar.Being a freelance grant writer doesn’t need to be a career - yes, career, not just a hobby - full of pulling your hair out! Not at all, my friend. This can be quite the opposite. It can be one where you grow in a methodical way and start with a strong foundation. 👉 Click here to get all the links from this interview! 👈 What better way to do that than to listen to someone else’s mistakes and how they have traversed into a success! My guest and Freelance Grant Writing expert coach, Rodney Walker, gives you all the tips of the trade and goes behind-the-scenes to show you what to avoid! (wink-wink, some major confidence tips coming at you!). Plus, he shares the most common mistakes freelance grant writers make when starting out and how to avoid them. Whether you’ve been a freelance grant writer or a nonprofit consultant for years, or you’ve been a little overwhelmed to get started, this episode will ease those hesitancies and ensure you are sure-footed in your journey. Here’s a snapshot of a few things we talked about… • Having real confidence in starting a business • Why closed doors might be a sign to change direction • Why affirmations are so important • How he went from broke to making a prosperous income and what that took • Behind-the-scenes on the igrantwriters.com and that you might be featured there already! Thanks for listening! Holly Rustick Expert Grant Writer & Bestselling Author https://www.grantwritingandfunding.com/ “I’ve been devouring the episodes and learning a ton of practical tips in the process. They are full of great nuggets of information” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more changemakers — just like you — move toward the grant writing life and business that they desire. Warmly, Holly xo

Join the Free, Live Training, "Earn an Extra $10K in 90 Days Writing Grants at Home" on Tuesday, October 14th at 4 pm - 5:30 pm EST. Click here https://grantwritingandfunding.com/academy-webinar.In this podcast, I am going to bring up when your freelance company or nonprofit should stand up for movements or injustice. Here’s the deal. Sometimes I see nonprofits and freelance companies not sure if they should publicly support something. Most of the time it’s not because you don’t support something, but rather you might not be sure if your brand should make a stand. In this episode, I am going to give you indicators on how you can quickly decide if you want your nonprofit to stand on an issue and how you want to represent it. I am not going to shove down your throat what my stances are on issues, however, I will use my company’s stances as examples that I actually practice what I preach. Here’s the issue. Many times nonprofits and freelancers are just scared to publish a social media post or say they are in alignment with issues. They may fear losing donors, losing followers, or getting unsubscribes on their email list. They may not want to marginalize or polarize their audience. I am going to show you how to make decisions where those fears will not be an issue. Why is this important? Because we are moving more and more from a position where non-political players have an influence in the social, economic, and yes political movements. The invention of social media is has created a platform for sharing views and perspectives. I remember when celebrities first got on social media and suddenly there was direct access to their thoughts and beliefs. It was, and is, pretty cool. But social media is also your platform of your nonprofit’s view and ethics or your freelance grant writing businesses branding. To post nothing is to post something. ✨✨ Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com to get the proven G.R.A.N.T.S. formula to write winning grants ✨✨ 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 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 ✨✨