Tough Times: Economic Crisis Means the World Needs More Effective Grant Writers

One of the ironies of the last couple of years is that our business has grown and added people even as the overall economy has gone down hill. This year, for example, we are proud to have added both Soka University of America and the Petersen Automotive Museum as clients. Obviously, we have come a long way.

In my experience, grant writing is always a little counter cyclical. In bad times, I have found that there is still usually plenty of money available from government grants and foundation resources - even as corporate donors cut back on both charitable gifts and marketing dollars.

As times get hard, I have found that it pays to go back to the basics that I teach in my grant writing workshops:

• Focus on the largest funders
• Organize yourself ahead of time
• Use technology to your advantage
• Apply product positioning strategies
• Keep your goals and objectives simple, and
• Hold tight to your winning message

In good economic times, it often seems like we all succeed no matter what we do. In tough times, however, it is good to remember the tried and true techniques which will always give you an advantage no matter the economic climate.