Dr. Drew is an author, trainer and consultant on grant-writing. Contact us today (949) 338-5921 for a free consultation. No obligation, no strings attached. We look forward to speaking with you about how we can help you reach your goals.
Showing posts with label John and Tricia Drew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John and Tricia Drew. Show all posts
One of the most persistent traits I have observed in charities
that are going broke is a certain steadfast focus on what I like to call
"inappropriate perfectionism." I suppose that sort of perfection
would work in fields where you have unlimited time to complete a task. In grant
writing, however, it can lead to institutional suicide.
General Colin Powell, for example, teaches that military leaders
need to take action even if they only have 80% of the information they need to
make a decision. The problem, as he sees
it, is that if they wait for the other 20% they will be in danger of losing the
opportunity before them.
In a similar way, I think it is a mistake to try to obtain
anything like 100% perfection in your grant applications. This level of perfectionism takes up too much
time that might be applied - more profitably - to other worthwhile objectives,
including applying to other funders for grants.
In my experience, I really don't gain all that much more from
the funder with that extra 20% of perfection I've built into my grant
application. As long as I have all the
elements that the funders are requesting in their application guidelines, then I'm
typically better off spending my time writing some additional new grant applications.
One problem with setting 100% perfection as your standard is
that you become tempted to simply recycle existing, already perfected
material. Although this seems like a
smart idea on the surface, in my experience it leaves you with a grant that
often displays little attention to the articulated needs of the funder. You
have, in a sense, given them the perfect answer for someone else's grant
application.
The folks that read grant applications for a living seem to
develop an odd sixth sense that lets them know when an old grant has simply
been recycled for a new audience. They
can detect recycling through the consistency of your message and the way you
highlight (or de-emphasize) key elements of your proposal.
If you are willing to work a little harder, I think you can
create a fresh and convincing message without driving yourself nuts with
perfectionism.
I know that I have a tendency to be hard on proofreaders and their idiosyncrasies. Nevertheless, my success as a grant writing consultant would have been impossible without the help of the very picky people who seem to delight in triumph every time they catch me in an error or spelling mistake.
Plain Language Tips: Proofreading
Overtime, I have developed some rules I apply to working with proofreaders, rules that help them, and me, be more effective.
I save the proofreading for last. This means that before I involve a proofreader, I need to be personally confident that I have done everything I can to make the document perfect. This means reviewing the document after I have had a good rest.
I try to involve the client in the proofreading too. In every charity, there is generally at least one person who seems quite content to go over the application in great detail.
I use the on-line tools available through Microsoft Office. Using these tools, I can quickly review the grammar and spelling in the document. I can also recover from my bad habit of using the same word twice in a row.
I turn to the proofreader for help only after I have followed through on these three basic steps listed above.
Believe it or not, there is still plenty of work for them to do. The proofreaders now have final responsibility for making sure that the document is correct in all aspects.
The proofreader makes sure that we are using correct English grammar, exact spellings of words, and conventional English usage.
The proofreader is also responsible for double checking the spacing between words and between sentences.
The proofreader is also tasked with making sure that the document displays perfect internal consistency. This means that the same concept is identified and spelled the same way throughout the document no matter where it is used. A similar level of perfect internal consistency must occur in titles, headings, and the table of contents. Even the captions under the photos we use need to be perfectly consistent in style and size.
The proofreader checks that we have actually answered the questions posed by the federal government or the private foundation. To facilitate this aspect of their job, I include the questions I am responding to in the next to final draft of the narrative. This way, the proofreader can compare my responses to the specific requests of the federal government. I have won lot of money because of proofreaders who managed to make me aware that my answer was completely off-base or inappropriate simply by pointing out that I misread the question. After the proofreader has done their job, I remove the questions from the final draft. This gives the grant readers the impression that we just magically got all the answers right.
All in all, a professional proofreader is a necessity and worth every penny that you invest in their efforts. If you need the services of a professional proofreader yourself, then do not hesitate to send me an e-mail atjohn.drew@drdrewguaranteedgrants.com and I will make sure to connect you to an outstanding professional.
As you may know,
2015 was an exceptionally tumultuous year which left us extraordinarily
grateful for our friends, family and neighbors.
The year got off
to a great start including new opportunities to expand our grant writing
consulting business into the northern California area. Back at home, John led
the effort to replace the leaky copper pipes at our Del Prado HOA with new PEX
piping. On the surface, everything seemed as bright and cheery as new daffodils
on a spring day.
By the end of
March, however, Trish started to suffer from an inexplicable nausea and
unrelenting dizziness. By the beginning of June, she fell hard in the bathtub,
hit her head and temporarily lost her ability to walk or talk. John called
9-11. She ended up at Mission Hospital where a CT scan showed three subdural
hematomas inside her head. Our small group from Coast Hills Church and other
friends gathered around to pray and comfort us as Trish went in to surgery.
While the brain surgery undoubtedly saved Trish’s life, she still had a bad
case of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
For a number of
months, she needed a walker to get around the house. Thanks to our premium
health insurance, she got weekly visits from a social worker, a visiting nurse,
a physical therapist and even an occupational therapist who taught Trish safer
ways to get in and out of a bathtub. In addition to these professional
visitors, we also got assistance from May Drew, John’s mom, who came down to
Laguna Niguel to help with the cooking and other chores. Later, Michelle Drew
and her daughter Joy stopped by and helped out too. Michelle gave Trish a new,
stylish haircut that made the shaved parts of her head look like a compelling
attractive fashion statement.
Trish did not
heal up completely until late September after completing an intensive regime of
physical therapy and a three day a week outpatient program.
To get a break
from his nursing duties, John kept up his exercise program and oil painting
classes at the nearby Sea County Community Center. He broke new ground by
learning to paint his first portraits based on live models. Politically, John
was in the news briefly when he was interviewed by The Campus Fix regarding
freedom of speech on college campuses and his own experience as a token
conservative on the elite Williams College campus. He later contributed an
opinion piece on the same topic to Campus Reform.
All in all, we
are now pleasantly at peace, physically stabilized and looking forward to a
fresh crop of daffodils in the year ahead.
Tricia and I will be traveling around the State of California to teach my Two Day Grant Writing Retreat at a community college near you in the Spring of 2016. We have already received rave reviews for
this innovative program and I'm excited about offering it again.
As you may know, this retreat is designed to meet the educational needs of
grant writers from city, county, and state agencies as well as non-profits,
K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. You will emerge from this retreat with all - or a large
portion - of your grant proposal written and ready to submit to an appropriate
national, California or local funder.
The retreat will help you:
Develop a top-notch and quality grant proposal
Get funders interested in your project
Identify at least 10 funders for your project
Discover the best ways to approach funders
Develop effective budgets that make sense
Discover the best practices and trends in grant writing
Learn insider secrets on making great grant proposals
Save time with grant writing strategies and more
These practical,
down-to-earth retreats are scheduled as follows:
The retreats take place from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day. The special discounted price for these community college hosted events is $495 per person. Only twelve (12) spots are available at each location.
As you may know, the techniques I teach in my Two Day Grant
Writing Retreat rely on the same principles and techniques I used to recently win $2.5
million in competitive funding for schools in the Coast Community College
District. The Two Day Grant Writing Retreat provides you with inspiration and
motivation along with enough time to allow you to meet your fellow participants
and share your ideas in a supportive, non-judgmental environment.
These retreats are organized, step-by-step, to provide you
with my expert, professional guidance on how to draft each portion of your grant. We will also have time together for you to
read, write, and critique your application during the retreat.
This program includes a comprehensive booklet, sample grant
proposals, as well as PowerPoint presentations illustrating key principles regarding
each portion of your grant application, plus group exercises designed to
give you the experience of thinking about your grant proposal the way funders will think about your grant proposal.
Since these seats are filling up quickly, please place your
order now so that you can be part of this extremely useful educational
event.
Retreat Description
Dr. Drew designed these two-day grant writing retreats so
that participants would be able to emerge with a fully realized grant
proposal. These retreats are organized
to follow the standard elements of a grant proposal including the cover letter,
introduction, background, organizational history, objectives, plan of
operation, evaluation, and budget. In the
process, Dr. Drew will also teach the ideas he uses to improve staff and
individual resumes from the perspective of grant reviewers. Samples of each element of the full grant
proposal will be included with the course package.
Day One: 9:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Topics: Cover letters, introduction, background, and
organizational history.
Day Two: 9:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Topics: Objectives, plan of operation, evaluation, and
budget.
What Others Say About Dr. Drew
"I was intimidated about grants, but you made it so
easy." - Alex Mata, P.R.I.D.E., Pico Rivera, CA
"I took your workshop at Rio Hondo College and won
$20,000 for my choir." - Lloyd Chen, Whittier, CA
"Dr. Drew assisted our community college district in
winning over $2.1 million in grants." - Corine Doughty, Costa Mesa, CA
"Dr. Drew helped my agency win $350,000 in federal
funding for its top priority project - helping children and teens." -
Grant D. McNiff, Tustin, CA
Benefits of the Retreat Format
The benefits of these two-day grant writing retreats include my sustained focus and attention on your grant project, detailed
line-by-line instructions regarding grant language, buzz words, and
state-of-the-art practices, along with insight into the mind, emotion, and work
practices of an outstanding scholar, a published author, and an experienced grantseeker.
The best way to learn grant writing is to write a grant. Often
the fastest way to write a grant is to do so with the help of a friend and a
mentor. In these retreats, we can
quickly fix a delay or barrier that might otherwise prevent an agency or an
individual from succeeding at grant writing.
Often, little things can gum up the works of creativity and
success. With the individual
attention you'll receive at one of these retreats, however, your grant will
surpass the most important hurdle - your own expectations.
Kenneth A.
Korbut, 60, of Milford, MI died July 13, 2014, at the home of his cousin Kevin
Lawrence also of Milford, MI.
Kenneth was born
December 26, 1953, in Detroit, Michigan. His parents were Chester and Eleanor
Korbut. He was married to, and later divorced from, Henrietta Anaya. Kenneth
worked as a journeyman carpenter in the construction business. Over the course
of his life, he lived in various locations in both CA and MI. He enjoyed surfing,
camping and spending time with his friends.
Kenneth is
survived by his sister Patricia M. Drew of Laguna Niguel, CA; by his niece
Michele Smith and her two children Alyssa and Dylan Smith of Huntington Beach,
CA; by his cousin Kevin Lawrence and his two children Alexis Lawrence and Kelly
LoGiudice, and by his cousin Michael Faivor of Austin, TX. Kenneth is also
survived by his friend Ronald McNally. Kenneth was predeceased by his brother,
Jim Korbut, 62, of Seal Beach, California on April 20, 2013.
Kenneth graduated
from Warner Middle School in Midway, CA in 1968. While he was a student at
Warner, he was elected the Christmas Snowball King which recognized him as
being the school’s most popular male student. Kenneth played varsity football
during his junior and senior years at Fountain Valley High School from which he
graduated in 1972.
There will be a
memorial service for Kenneth on Sunday July 27, 2014, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00
p.m. at the Highland Adult Activity Center on 209 N. John Street in Highland,
MI. For more information on the memorial service, please telephone Kenneth’s
cousin, Kevin Lawrence, at (248) 755-1195.
Consistent with
the wishes of his sister, Kenneth’s cremains will be returned to CA and – at a
later ceremony -- scattered into the Pacific Ocean.
The family is
requesting that memorial donations be made to support the college education of
his niece’s daughter, Alyssa Smith. Please make all donations payable to Alyssa
Smith and send them to the following address: Alyssa Smith, 5772 Venturi Drive,
Huntington Beach, CA 92649. All memorial
contributions to Alyssa’s college education will be gratefully acknowledged and
wisely spent.
What are the advantages of assigning the first draft to the high speed grant writer?
You can produce more grants, you can provide your team with more time to perfect the grant applications, like a race car driver your own attention is focused more completely under high speed grant writing, high speed means the final document will most likely reflect a natural consistency based on your current state of mind, you can move quickly when money becomes available, you can reduce risks by addressing the reasonable challenges and potentially unwarranted fears which might keep you from even attempting to produce a grant application.
Moreover, it is more fun and less of a chore. You'll be able to take advantage of the full capacity of your brain's intuition, memory, associations and your innate artistic sensibility. In my view, the challenge of high-speed grant writing is all the more interesting and easier to teach because it becomes a physical and not and intellectual skill.
Secrets of High Speed Grant Writing: Use Voice Recognition Software
I want to introduce you to the incredible power of voice recognition software is a key tool for speeding up the grant writing process. It is very difficult to do this sort of work on a high-speed basis if you are not able to dictate what you're doing, or to record your dictation and quickly download it into print. I write like I'm in the middle of a hurricane to gain sharper focus and urgency.
Secrets of High Speed Grant Writing: Start at the Beginning and Produce an A to Z First Draft
Once you have your voice recognition software in place, I think it is helpful to create a first draft of the entire grant application from A to Z - in that order. Save time by starting at the beginning each time.
Secrets of High Speed Grant Writing: Write First, Then Do Your Research
I'm a little rough in the first draft. I create dummy numbers. I fill in all the blanks with the expectation that the staff will refine the document with the exactly correct numbers based on their experience. My technique is to do my writing first and then doing my research afterwards. This speeds up things by allowing me to research only the information that is relevant to the grant. In this sense, I think it pays to create a quick first rough draft because it forces you to digest the grant application requirements from A to Z. This process of actively answering the questions forces you to read all the questions and to get up to speed on the realistic requirements for a more polished grant application.
Secrets of High Speed Grant Writing: Write for an Overwhelmed Reader
In my workshops, for example, I explain that I'm writing for the hung over intern who is facing severe emotional problems. You can assume the reader is overwhelmed by late night hours, crushed by too much to read even as the reviewer is comforted by too much to drink. I write very clearly simply and cleanly. I point out the obvious connections between my answers and the written questions I'm responding to. It is essential to initiate work on the budget concurrently with the grant application. The tired grant reader may simply not read the proposal and just jump to the budget.
Secrets of High Speed Grant Writing: Apply the Golden Rule to Your Own Grant Writing
Ultimately, the high speed grant writer needs to write what makes sense to the high speed grant writer. If you are not sold on the grant, then it is likely the funder will not be sold on the grant either. You know you are on the right track when you get the feeling that you know why they have to fund your grant application. There is not enough time to go back and forth and interview your team and ask them what they think. There is not enough time in the world for the team to debate and decide every issue. There are too many unknowns. Ultimately, the best thing to do is to trust yourself. That is to trust your intuition and to deliver product that makes sense to you. The Golden Rule works because it is a decision-making tool in a world of constrained rationality. It is a rule that will allow you to gain greater decisiveness over time.
When you have a long string of successes, I think it is easy to start thinking that everything you do – whether rational or not – is worth sharing with an audience. I guess I'm sensitive to this issue, in part, because I just returned from a visit to the mixed results on display at the San Francisco Musuem of Modern Art. (See the YouTube video below.) Accordingly, I’m scaling back to the things I believe, objectively, will make the most difference for you.
This is because you can gain enormous advantages by learning how to write grants quickly and understanding that you need to properly use a team of people to create a winning grant application. In the next few posts, I want to leave you with 6 to 7 simple, easy-to-remember techniques that you can apply right now or when you go back to work, techniques that will allow you and your team to begin benefiting from this increased grant productivity immediately.
As you may know, I had an early talent in high speed writing. I have a PhD in political science, and one of my claims to fame is that I wrote my doctoral dissertation in about half the time spent by most graduate students. I was also surprisingly effective in working with my doctoral committee as I gradually won them over to my ideas. I think the evidence shows I did a good job too. My dissertation won the William Anderson Award from the American Political Science Association. I have been a professor at Williams College - the number one liberal arts school in the nation according to U.S. News and World Report. I know I was not the brightest graduate student in the nation. Nevertheless, I was the one applying these same lightning fast grant writing and team management techniques I’ll be sharing with you in these posts. I have applied this model to help produce $2.1 million in successful grants for the Coast Community College District (CCCD) and to compile an outstanding record that includes a 90% success rate.
Accordingly, I'm going to cover the most important techniques that have made the biggest difference for me including defining the proper role and timing needed for getting the most from the grant writer, the optimists, the pessimists, the budget preparer, and the proofreader.
