Even though I work mostly with non-profit organizations, I seem to be surrounded by for-profit entrepreneurs. In general, entrepreneurs have a reputation for positive thinking and an uncanny ability to turn the worst news into some sort of advantage for themselves and their companies.
I am noticing a lot of the traits of the entrepreneurial mind-set as I get to know my fellow business owners at my office in the WIN Business Accelerator in Irvine, CA. One of the things I am noticing is that nothing seems to get them down. It does not matter what is happening in the economy or in politics or foreign affairs. No matter what, they are planning paths around obstacles and looking for opportunities to meet the needs of customers who are injured by current events.
In my grant writing efforts, I find I have a similar approach to dealing with existential threats to the grant writing project. In virtually every grant campaign I have ever participated in there usually comes a moment when I just hit a wall.
The new information I have learned about the charity, or the problem it addresses, leaves me thinking that there is absolutely no way of making it work. No matter what, however, out of this pit of despair, I find a new solution comes to me, to my staff, or to the charity itself. As such, I have found it does no good to lie about the pain or to underestimate the challenge. Living in denial about the flaws of either the charity or the grant seems to fix nothing.
By facing the problem directly, I am often able to convince the charity to make needed changes in their program, mission, or focus so that their grant writing efforts pay-off. The secret of their non-profit prosperity is also the secret of the irrepressible entrepreneurs who surround me: Look for the pain and find a way to fix the problem.
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.
Friday, March 1, 2013
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:
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.
- 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.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Orange Coast College Wins $250,000 Grant for Student Mental Health Programs
I'm proud to announce that one of our favorite clients, Orange Coast College (OCC), has just won a competitive $250,000 grant from the California Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) for its new student mental health program. OCC was eighth on the list for its project beating out competitors like College of the Canyons, LA Harbor-City Consortia, Rio Hondo College and Santiago Canyon College. This grant will pay for specialized training for OCC faculty to learn how to identify and properly refer students in their classrooms who show signs of mental illness or potentially violent behavior.
In addition, the grant will pay for a regional educational summit on the challenges of dealing with students with mental health or dual diagnosis issues along with efforts to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness among community members.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Dr. Drew Says Reduce Your Risks By Working with a High Speed Grant Writer
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.
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.
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.
A Fresh Look at the Wonder of Lightning Fast Grant Writing
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Important Resources for Grant Seekers: Dr. Drew Culls the Key E-Mail Lists and Government Websites for Grants
As my recent grant victories indicate, one of my most important secrets of success is getting a jump on the competition. The sooner I get a rough draft outline distributed to the top staff, the sooner I start getting confident that the project will result in a large check.
This is not as tough to do as it sounds. One of the best ideas for speeding up the opportunity recognition process is to make sure that you are subscribed to the most important grant-related e-newsletters and funding alerts available to you and your non-profit or government institution. Many of the leading funders, for example, are more than happy to include you on their list of upcoming grant deadlines and newly available RFPs.
California Department of Education Grants
One of the most important resources for schools in California, for example, comes from the state's Department of Education.
You can sign up for their free alerts e-newsletter by going to this site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/af/
I think that every school principal, assistant principal and senior administrator ought to be receiving and tracking this sort of free online information. Once you discover a plausible opportunity, then you can simply hire a contract grant writer like me or take one of the many courses available to help you write the grant or, if you prefer, you can learn to write the grant in class as part of my uniquely focused Two Day Grant Writing Retreat. One of the cool things about the resources available through the State of California Department of Education is that they have a lot of programs with multi-million dollar budgets that give away a large number of smaller grants. These are the easiest grants for schools or non-profit organizations to obtain and a great place to start your new grant writing career.
California Department of Alcohol and Drugs
There is also a lot of valuable possibiities available to you at http://www.adp.cahwnet.gov/Funding/adp.shtml regarding the grants offered through the California Department of Alcohol and Drugs. One of the secrets of success I've noticed in winning funding like this is that it pays to travel to Sacramento and visit with the politicians with a special interest in each of these programs and with the top bureaucrats who are making decisions by implementing the rules. They will not give you any special favors, but they will help you make sure you have a realistic view of what the government funder is really looking for in a winner application.
Dr. Drew Reviews the Top YouTube Video on the Topic of Grant Writing
I thought it would be fun to look through the top YouTube videos on grant writing. I approached this task with no expectations and an open mind. By far, the highest rated YouTube video comes from Brian Loyal, a biomedical engineer who provides a concise look at how to win funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH). The whole video is only about 10 minutes long and I think it is well worth your time in terms of its content.
I'm not the only one to be impressed. So far, this YouTube video has received about 7,868 hits as of October, 2011.
One of the things he says that got my attention is that your grant proposal needs to be feasible, relevant and backed up by an appropriate team of people. I have always had a powerful intuitive sense of how that works. I'm glad to see Brian articulate this concept so clearly and simply for his audience. All in all, I think he boiled down the most important secrets of success in a shrewd and insightful manner.
One of the funniest things about this video is that Brian repeats the comments he heard from another speaker on grants, Anthony M. Coelho, Jr. Ph.D. According to Brian, Dr. Coelho has been very honest when painting a picture regarding the state of mind of the average grant reviewer. In my workshops, for example, I explain that I'm writing for the hungover intern who is facing severe emotional problems.
In this YouTube, however, Brian says Dr. Coelho goes in for the kill and suggests that it is smart to assume the NIH reviewer is probably overwhelmed by late night hours, crushed by too much to read even as the reviewer is comforted by too much to drink. The line, of course, gets a big laugh. The takeaway, however, that it is important to provide your NIH reviewer with a document that is relatively easy to read and easy to understand even under trying circumstances.
I also like the way Brian suggests that it is smart to telephone the government "contact officials" in charge of each grant and ask whether or not your project is a fit. To me, this advice makes great sense in any proposal writing situation.
Moreover, Brian illustrates how he goes about his grant writing work by placing an emphasis on the idea that he is not writing about pure science. Instead, he is seeking to market pure science. As the last two grant I won for Orange Coast College suggest, you do not need to be an expert in a field of study to write a successful grant proposal. You do, however, need to know how to market to the overwhelmed grant reader. Brian illustrates his talent in this regard when he reduces his own scientific interest in the field of proteomics "...as like searching for the needle in a haystack by first removing all of the hay."
As a word of caution, however, I would like to suggest that the grant writer succeeds through abstinence and sobriety even as he/she assumes the worst of the grant reviewers. If you have a YouTube video you think I should see and review, please send me an e-mail. Better yet, give me a call at 949-643-8058 because I'd like to hear from you.
I'm not the only one to be impressed. So far, this YouTube video has received about 7,868 hits as of October, 2011.
One of the things he says that got my attention is that your grant proposal needs to be feasible, relevant and backed up by an appropriate team of people. I have always had a powerful intuitive sense of how that works. I'm glad to see Brian articulate this concept so clearly and simply for his audience. All in all, I think he boiled down the most important secrets of success in a shrewd and insightful manner.
One of the funniest things about this video is that Brian repeats the comments he heard from another speaker on grants, Anthony M. Coelho, Jr. Ph.D. According to Brian, Dr. Coelho has been very honest when painting a picture regarding the state of mind of the average grant reviewer. In my workshops, for example, I explain that I'm writing for the hungover intern who is facing severe emotional problems.
In this YouTube, however, Brian says Dr. Coelho goes in for the kill and suggests that it is smart to assume the NIH reviewer is probably overwhelmed by late night hours, crushed by too much to read even as the reviewer is comforted by too much to drink. The line, of course, gets a big laugh. The takeaway, however, that it is important to provide your NIH reviewer with a document that is relatively easy to read and easy to understand even under trying circumstances.
I also like the way Brian suggests that it is smart to telephone the government "contact officials" in charge of each grant and ask whether or not your project is a fit. To me, this advice makes great sense in any proposal writing situation.
Moreover, Brian illustrates how he goes about his grant writing work by placing an emphasis on the idea that he is not writing about pure science. Instead, he is seeking to market pure science. As the last two grant I won for Orange Coast College suggest, you do not need to be an expert in a field of study to write a successful grant proposal. You do, however, need to know how to market to the overwhelmed grant reader. Brian illustrates his talent in this regard when he reduces his own scientific interest in the field of proteomics "...as like searching for the needle in a haystack by first removing all of the hay."
As a word of caution, however, I would like to suggest that the grant writer succeeds through abstinence and sobriety even as he/she assumes the worst of the grant reviewers. If you have a YouTube video you think I should see and review, please send me an e-mail. Better yet, give me a call at 949-643-8058 because I'd like to hear from you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)