Remember Your First Draft Will Automatically Energize the Charity

Often to get the staff excited about a grant project you need to deal with their objections and then implement procedures which make it fun for them to work with you.

 

Over time I've developed a couple of strategies which work for me given my look, my knowledge, and my experience.  Nevertheless, I think they will work for you too if you apply them carefully and adapt them to your personality.

Arial video of my community from a newly built RC helicopter with Zenmuse H3-3D gimbal at Kite Hill, Laguna Niguel, CA

The first thing to do is to find a project that your client really want to run and implement.  If the staff is not thoroughly excited about the new program they are seeking to develop, then it is harder to get them to take action in a crisis when you need a quick rewrite or an improved photo for the application cover page.

 

By distributing the Project Innovator form ahead of time, I encourage the staff to come up with the projects they are excited about. To access a blank copy of the Project Innovator form I give to my clients, click on this link here. 

 

I also pay attention to (and articulate) my level of enthusiasm too.  If I think the new program is a dud...I won't be quite so eloquent in promoting it either.

Even if you do not totally like the proposed program, there is still - usually - some element of it that you can concentrate on that will make it exciting and powerful for your to focus your best attention on it.

Next, I like to write the first draft for them.  Once they see the whole thing on paper, I have found the charity will make near heroic efforts to add additional text or seed in crucial information, information essential to really selling the project to the funder.

In addition, it is often easy for staff and administrators to become somewhat bored by their own institutions and existing programs.  I have found that reading the first draft, which I have created for them, often energizes them by providing a fresh, inspirational look that lifts their spirits.  This is particularly true when the charity has experienced hard times in the past.

Helping the charity put its experience into a winning perspective can often improve organizational behavior across the board.  It's fun to watch as staff and administrators re-frame their institutional experience in a powerful and empowering manner. 

Never Rewrite Anything the Same Day You Write It

One of the most important techniques I use to produce grants quickly...and to generate copy for the Drew & Associates newsletter...is to follow the rule of never rewriting anything the same day I write it. When I was an undergraduate student, I used to spend hours writing and rewriting the first sentence of my term paper until it was perfect. Then I would spend hours and hours writing and rewriting the first paragraph. This process was especially painful because I was using a typewriter to compose my document and a bottle of quick-drying correction fluid to cover up my mistakes. Then, I would write the rest of the five-page paper in about four hours - right before it was due. Looking back on my youth, I am amazed I had the strength and perseverance to pull this off. When I went to graduate school, however, I got better tips on writing and my productivity shot up. As you may know, I won an award from the American Political Science Association for my doctoral dissertation. I completed my dissertation more quickly than my fellow graduate students, in large measure, due to the principle of never rewriting on the same day that I first drafted a page or two of a chapter. Today, I speed up the writing process even more by using voice recognition software. Today, however, I'm taking this principle to a new level. One of my current rules is to start articles and grant applications by using voice recognition software. This software allows me to produce the first draft about three times faster than typing it out by hand. Although it is tempting to go back and repeat what I've just dictated in a slightly different fashion, I resist this temptation. (This can be difficult, by the way, because I usually have a better idea of what I really think after I've had a chance to vocalize my ideas.) Although my first drafts are wordy and repetitive, I can clean up these mistakes as I do the second draft...or after the staff of the agency has had a chance to help me improve the quality and realism of the proposal. Even if you are uncomfortable with this technique at first, even if you think it is impossible to dictate your thoughts verbally, please do not let these presuppositions hold you back from applying this advice and benefiting from it. Over time, you will eventually get more comfortable with dictation and you will find it hard to imagine producing documents in a slower, less efficient fashion. If you want to order voice recognition software, then please check out the following link: Link to Dragon Naturally Speaking Software As always, I don't make any money from recommending voice recognition software to you. My payment is your satisfaction with your improved productivity.