Positioning Grant Writers For Success, Part 1

Unrealistic Expectations Can Doom The Best To Failure

(Read Part 2 here, on how to pay grant writers)

Some of the most heated discussion in the nonprofit world centers on grant writing. Why? Because so much is riding on it. It is the rare organization that could continue to carry out its mission anywhere near as effectively if its grants dried up, and for many, such an occurrence would sound the death knell.<

Of the three basic sources of money for non-profits—earned income, donations from individuals, and grants—the process of getting a grant is the most puzzling. All but the smallest organizations are likely to have people on staff or use outside counsel who specialize in grant writing. The demand for skilled grant writers, coupled with the mystery that seems to surround successful grant writing, leads to some troubled areas for development professionals and non-profit organizations.

Two questions are central: How do you evaluate the performance of grant writers and how do you pay them? We'll cover the first question in this blog, and the question of pay in the next one.

How Do You Evaluate The Performance Of Grant Writers?

I have seen many resumes with statements like the following, "The grants I write are awarded funds 80% of the time." A recent query to an Internet newsgroup by an executive director asked, "My grant writer has a grant success rate of 41%. How does that compare with the standard of other organizations?"

Grant writers touting a past high percentage of grant attainment to impress potential employers are in danger of setting themselves up for future failure. How many of us would want to go into a new work environment with the expectation that 80% of the grant applications we submit would be approved? Not me! 

Executive directors who see the success or failure of grant-getting as residing in the hands of the grant writer are failing to take into account something even more important than the grant application—the purpose of the funding. Poorly delineated projects, "soft" budgets, and a host of other weaknesses cannot be overcome by a well crafted grant proposal. The awarding of grants has more to do with function than form, and grant writers are not usually the ones who make the policy and practice recommendations that lead to a search for funding.

When it comes to measuring performance, I believe grant writers should be evaluated on the quality of their work. What I expect of a grant writer as written into a job description might read something like the following.

The grant writer will:

1. Through interviews and other means, gather information that will easily allow him/her to grasp the concept of a project or program for which funding is sought as defined by the person responsible for carrying it out.
2. Acquire and maintain sound knowledge and understanding of the organization, and use that knowledge and understanding to better comprehend all projects and programs for which grants will be sought and to recommend the seeking of grants.
3. Research grant-making organizations and analyze them to identify likely funding sources for specific projects and programs.
4. Compile, write, and edit all grant applications exhibiting strong expository writing skills and a high-level command of grammar and spelling.
5. Review the budget of a project or program for which funding is sought and make recommendations to better present it to grant-making organizations.
6. Develop individual grant proposals in accordance with each grant-making organization's preferences and follow exactly each grant-making organization's guidelines.
7. Keep in contact with grant-making organizations during their review of a submitted grant application in order to be able to supply additional supportive material.
8. Manage the process of supplying progress reports when required by a grant-making organization that has funded a project or program.

Any grant writer I hired was expected to carry out the above duties well. Doing so left me satisfied with his or her performance. Grant award or no grant award, the grant writer was successful. It was never my grant writer's job to get the grant, rather the job was to make the best case possible to appropriate funding organization. In my next blog, I'll cover how to pay grant writers.

Learn how FundRaiser can help support your campaign management with a customized software tour

Register for a live web-based tour