Making Sense of Political Turmoil: The Grant Writer's Role in Politics

After the Scott Brown win in MA, I think it is normal for grant writers to wonder about the nation's political situation and ask how it affects them and the charities they work for as consultants or employees. The first thing I like to point out is that I have won federal money from Democrat administrations and Republican administrations. Despite what people say, I've found the federal government contests to be some of the most fair, easy to access, and reliable grant money to obtain on behalf of charities. As far as I can tell, the reason the federal government is fair is that control over it changes frequently enough that rules have been established to prevent the worst forms of political abuse. In addition, there is a great deal of attention focused on federal grants. This high visibility will also protect you from the worst abuses of partisan politics. Finally, federal grants are generally idea driven. If you have an idea backed up by research, then I think you will be fairly surprised by how well your idea gets funded. Despite all the political hype, the quality of your ideas does matter and fresh programs based on the latest research will always have a profound advantage.

One of our new clients, DonateGames is getting a ton of publicity in Orange County. See, http://ping.fm/XAwjZ

For Charismatic Leaders: The Book Preceeds the Charismatic Power

I just finished reading a touching book by Bryan Nash, called "A Phoenix Rising the Defining Moments: The True Story of a Child's Triumph over Abandonment and Abuse." Bryan's story touched my heart, in large measure, because he is the same age as me and because I know that the experiences he describes as growing up as an abused child in Orange County, California ring true.

I remember what it was like to feel the February 9, 1971 earthquake rattles through our home in Newhall California like a freight train running through the front yard. I've been in a couple of earthquakes since then but never anything like that.

Today, Bryan is using his book to call attention to the plight of children who age out of the foster care system without the normal tools to find work, settle in apartments, and maintain the financial security needed to become a safe and secure member of society. This task is not all that easy even for those of us who have reasonably loving parents.

Like George Washington or Mahatma Gandhi, Bryan is starting to discover that having a book published opens doors for him and attracts followers to his charity and larger cause. Also, I think the practice of writing out your life as a book has a certain healing impact on the individual psychologically. It allows them to reframe their life in terms of their present success and their aspirations for the future.

Although I make a living as a grant writer, I can't help but think that the founders of charities would be greatly advantaged if they set aside time each morning to work on writing out their life story. In the end, this simple practice might be more important to the financial success of their charity than anything I can do as a grant writer.

Drew & Associates Travel to Egypt in 2008

Here is a whole year of Drew & Associates' business travel in a one minute musical video. http://ping.fm/BXeRU

Quick Overview of Foundation Center's New Mapping Capacity

For a long time now, I've been sold on the advantages of subscribing to the services of the Foundation Center in New York. This year, their Professional-level services gives you access to the Foundation Center's latest tool, the Map of Cross-Border Giving. I checked out their webinar and I can see that the Map of Cross-Border Giving will be a powerful tool for me as I teach workshops on grant writing because it illustrates U.S. grantmaking to non-U.S. recipients.

The Map of Cross-Border Giving is limited to the top 30,000 grants totaling more than $8.5 billion.

This new feature should be particularly helpful to those of us presenting seminars on grant writing. For example, you will be able to show your clients and your students:

•See grants from U.S. grantmakers to non-U.S. recipient organizations.

•View grantmaker data from independent, community, company-sponsored, and operating foundations as well as corporate giving programs and grantmaking public charities.

•Filter your map view by fiscal year, grantmaker type, or giving based on recipient type, primary subject, or type of support.

•Mouse over a country to see the total dollar amount and number of grants awarded, along with the number of grantmakers and recipients giving and receiving funds. (In my experience, this is particularly useful in illustrating the uneven distribution of grants - particularly for countries in the Middle East.)

•Change your display options to see grantmaker or recipients lists, and then click to see descriptions of the grants awarded to recipients in each country.

This tool is also useful for illustrating the concentration of grants from places like the Ford Foundation. To get started, log in to FDO and look for the Map of Cross-Border Giving box on the left, then click the "Visit Map of Cross-Border Giving" link.