Tag Archive for: conference

San Diego and “Baby Got Grants”

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By TJ Hansell – Arizona Founding Chapter Scholarship

I know what you’re thinking…San Diego is pretty awesome, but “Baby Got Grants” is even awesomer. Yes, awesomer is not a word, but can any word really describe how awesome of an intro that was? I am sure a few of you are looking through your thesauruses and/or scrabble word list as I type this. Speaking of Scrabble, my grandmother was a spelling machine and would repeatedly laugh when she schooled me in Scrabble. I digress, but sometimes you just got to write what comes to mind.

Getting back on track. “Baby Got Grants” was the perfect introduction for a first timer to the GPA National Conference. That experience alone made the trip worth it in many respects, but the rest of the conference was amazing as well. Not only did I get to meet new people; I ran into quite a few familiar faces there. Arizona was certainly represented well in San Diego.

As a first timer, it was great to see so many grant professionals in one area. The wealth of knowledge, experience, and talent was unbelievable at times. When you look at some of the presenters and individuals presenting (Lucy Morgan, Bev Browning, Sharon Skinner, and others) anyone, even a seasoned grant professional, could pick up something to help them in the future. I know I definitely soaked in as much as I could over the conference schedule. The sharing of information was one of the best aspects of the conference. As a seasoned grant professional, I tend to think I know a couple things about grants, but I also know I really don’t know that much at times. The conference proved that and got me really excited about talking to many of you who attended.

I would not have been able to participate without the generous support of the GPF scholarship. Before I knew I was a scholarship recipient, it was a decision between attending myself or sending my team. Luckily, I didn’t have to make that decision, and all of us were able to attend. The scholarship not only helped me, but it helped two others gain valuable knowledge and relationships that will help for years into the future.

Now back to that amazing intro. I would love to see GPA encourage more of their members to come up with ingenious ways to make the grant world fun. I’m thinking “Grants, Grants, Baby” could be a sequel to “Baby Got Grants.” Just throwing that out there.

Helping a Beginner Get Off to a Good Start!

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By Jana Gowan – 2017 Nora Stombaugh Memorial Scholarship

Thanks to a scholarship from the Grant Professionals Foundation, I was able to attend the annual Grant Professionals Association Conference in San Diego this year (November 2017).

I accepted a position as a full-time grant writer at a public university in December 2016 with a beginner’s awareness of grants. I had years of experience in development, fundraising, and education, mostly at a small nonprofit with a mission very close to my heart and only about a dozen colleagues. Transitioning to a larger institution with over 600 employees and thousands of students while navigating federal grant applications for the first time has stretched me. Thankfully, my predecessor was a member of the GPA, so I was able to plug into this invaluable resource from the beginning.

The GPF scholarship made it possible for me to attend the annual conference. From the first event, I appreciated the sense of community encouraged by the association. Working as the only grants professional at my organization can be isolating, so one of my favorite parts of the conference was simply getting to meet fellow grants professionals and ask questions. I learned the most from these casual conversations during meals or mixers.

Of course, the conference sessions were beneficial too. In fact, there were so many offerings relevant to my work, that I am very grateful for the shared handouts on the Google Drive folder. From the sessions I was able to attend, I learned how to offer more effective training for my non-grants colleagues, build better relationships with the development team, and craft a stronger evaluation plan as just a few examples.

Thank you to the Grant Professionals Foundation for the scholarship and the opportunity to attend this conference. It was the perfect ending to my first year as a grants professional as it will help me start the second year on the right foot with sharper focus and a network of support.

GPA Member Benefits are Endless

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By DeaRonda Harrison

Taking the leap and sharing with my peers to work with nonprofits I could see the stare and gaze of concern in their eyes. In 2013, I attended my first GPA conference where I had never even written 1 grant, yet. I wanted to make sure I was making the right decision. This conference sealed the deal, and I knew this was what I wanted to do. The 2013 GPA national conference was my first BIG date with GPA, and I knew it was time to make a career transition and do more purposeful work. I desired to have a greater impact on people and just because you desire to do good doesn’t mean that it won’t come with challenges and I had to at least create a plan.

I joined GPA to surround myself with professionals that were experts in the field of grant writing. I knew it was a skill I wanted to pursue further as someone who was thrust into the industry; I thought it would be most advantageous to be around people that knew what they were doing and took their craft seriously. I desired to learn from those proficient in the field and little did I know it would be because of the GPA membership that I would acquire 90% of my clients as a consultant.

I get often asked where I get the majority of my clients, and I typically say through word-of-mouth, but through some shape, form, or fashion they have come from a GPA contact. It was not my intent to become a member to attract clients, but it has become a beautiful residue of my membership.

The GPA member benefits are endless. My membership has allowed me to create relationships with business professionals in the community to include other nonprofit associations and businesses. I have had the opportunity to work with successful grant writing firms as an independent consultant by making connections at both the national and regional GPA conferences.

GPA membership provides professional development. As the grant space shifts, I don’t want to get caught up in the way I’ve always been doing things but change and improve with the industry. The membership provides up to date training and webinars and addresses the concerns with solutions from professionals. I take full advantage of research tools offered to members through GrantStation and GPA’s own active Facebook-like community, GrantZone. In this forum, participants ask questions and provide suggestions to help each other and simply make new connections. Associating with other members who are willing to share their business practices and solutions is my top reason for being a member.

I am thankful that the association is ever evolving and comes up with new ideas and new ways to include and support their members. As a former regional board member, I enjoyed the opportunity to connect with other chapter leaders that share their successes with other regions. As a former chapter leader, I was able to garner new relationships with others that understand each other’s expertise to be able to serve nonprofits best because not one grant writer can be everything to everybody. I am grateful for the benefit the GPA membership provides with support from GPA staff, chapter leaders, and members.

Telling my peers that I was transitioning from government to solely work with nonprofits would usually lead the reaction “oh um that’s rewarding.” All I know is that I enjoy grant writing and even though it has its challenges and is not for the faint of heart I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. But with the change in culture and the direct impact of philanthropic efforts especially with the popularity of TED talk videos, it finally makes sense why someone would be interested in changing the world today. Ultimately, it resulted in a more positive reaction from peers of “what a rewarding and purposeful career.”

 

Conference Experience as a Scholarship Recipient

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by Karen Watkins-Watts, GPC

First, my sincere gratitude to the Grant Professionals Foundation (GPF) for the scholarship enabling me to attend the 18th Annual GPA National Conference in Atlanta in 2016! Defraying the cost of conference registration (and other travel expenses) made the 2016 conference possible for me.

I had the privilege of attending several past conferences, however, with a district-wide budget deficit and year-end reduction-in-force in 2016, my organization set a policy prohibiting district funding for out-of-state travel. Notwithstanding, district leadership understood the tremendous benefit of this important professional development opportunity for me as Grants Manager. With the GPF award, they provided me the professional development days and some travel expense reimbursement.

The annual GPA conference has been and continues to be greatly valued by my organization’s (Brockton Public Schools in Brockton, MA) leadership and myself as a key grants professional development opportunity. Attending the national conferences has been pivotal to my growth as a grants professional! The workshops and dialogue with grant professionals from across the country have increased my knowledge and skills of best practices in the profession, has produced better quality proposals, and increased public and private grant resources for our large, urban district. Serving a diverse population of nearly 18,000 students, many of whom face poverty and myriad of socio-economic barriers, this work is especially critical, compounded by an increasingly challenging funding environment in the public education sector.

I also credit the GPA conference for elevating my professional status in the profession as GPC in 2009. I learned about the GPC credential at a prior conference, then subsequently studied with a cohort of fellow members from across the country and took the exam at the annual conference in Long Beach, CA.

Since joining GPA and the GPA Massachusetts Chapter in 2007, I have served in a leadership capacity including responsibilities as Secretary, Vice President, and President. Then Immediate Past President, it was important that I attend the 2016 conference (and the Chapter Leadership session), to represent our chapter and to gain and share ideas from other chapters and chapter leaders. We had successfully convened our first New England Regional Conference in June of 2015 and had begun discussion on our next conference. We were eager to build on our success and learn from other chapters. The regional event is vital to the growth of our chapter and its presence throughout New England (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, and Connecticut).

I am extremely grateful for the work of the GPF to advance our profession and privileged to be an awardee of the 2016 GPF scholarship!

Most Useful and Pertinent Conference Ever

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By Polly Bates; St Rose Dominican Health Foundation

2016 Pamela Van Pelt Conference Scholar

Receiving the Pamela Van Pelt Scholarship last year allowed me to attend the Grant Professionals Association conference for the first time. After a 25-year career spent writing and editing a wide variety of communications, I found myself in a new position that was focused solely on grants. As the grant officer for the St. Rose Dominican Health Foundation, I am responsible for conducting grant funding research, preparing and submitting grant proposals, working with program staff to ensure contract compliance, attending program audits, reconciling grant payments, and developing an annual program plan. A year ago, most of these duties were still new to me. Attending the GPA conference greatly sped up my learning curve and deepened my understanding of the overall grant process. By far, this was the most useful and pertinent professional conference I have ever attended. Whether it was a keynote speech, a workshop, or a reception, I learned so much from the varied experience and perspectives of accomplished practitioners.

Each day was packed with relevant information—on program design and evaluation, persuasive writing, the sustainability question, and ethical considerations. A panel of local funders provided a wealth of guidance: get local employees to engage in what you do; build connections because “relationships determine results”; don’t ask questions that are answered on the organization’s website; leverage collaborations to solve big problems; put your request succinctly and clearly outline the problem to solve; remember that “people don’t give to you, they give through you,” and no one wants to be treated like an ATM. All the speakers were generous with their knowledge and advice. In fact, the atmosphere of the conference was so friendly and congenial that it was easy to meet new people and have interesting conversations. I also enjoyed meeting other grant professionals from my state of Nevada and going out to dinner with them. I was so inspired by the conference and the people I met there that I have decided to pursue the Grant Professionals Certification. It’s wonderful to embark on a rewarding new career, and I’m grateful for the scholarship that helped jumpstart my interest.

Skeptical to Enlightened

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By Matthew Fornoff; Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona

2016 Conference Scholar

I don’t like to label myself as a grant writer. Until I took my current position just over two years ago, I had only assisted writing a couple grants. So of course, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona (CFB) – an organization I’d been trying to get back into since I left my graduate school internship with them – hired me as the full-time, lead grant writer with a goal of bringing in $5 million in grant funding.

Actually, that timeline excludes a few steps, as you probably expected. A better starting point to explain is February 2007, when the U.S. Peace Corps flew me and a few others to Malawi for a two-year attempt at saving the world. Most Peace Corps volunteers are full of a noble, sacrificial energy and belief that they can truly make the world a better place. (And they often do, but usually not in the way they expect.) Generally speaking, Peace Corps volunteers implement ambitious, effective projects that make for heartwarming stories in their hometown newspapers. After two years, the volunteer leaves the tiny rural village in which they’ve been living – a community that faces deep systemic poverty, limited resources, and usually widespread chronic illnesses. Then the borehole that the volunteer helped fix breaks again. Or the school text books the volunteer acquired fail to find their way back to the school. Or the small business the volunteer helped a single mother establish doesn’t flourish. Even when you implement a successful project, you will experience some of this. And it begged the question: how can one person go into a community and truly contribute to improving the lives of the people who live there without fear of working in vain?

At least partly this is the question that led me to pursue a Master of Public Health degree. I wanted to plan and implement programs that could change behavior and systems in a lasting way. I wanted to know how to work with individuals or small groups or big groups to identify needs, resources, and solutions, and then how to put together the jigsaw puzzle of variables that would make their lives and the world a better place. During two years in academia, I studied the core tenets of public health, supplemented by focused classes in behavior change theory and program planning and implementation. After graduation, someone hired me to develop programming around local food systems in a town on the U.S.-Mexico border. This was the experience that the CFB saw and that they apparently desired in a grant writer.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: The grant writer does 90% of the steps in the proposal development process, including all the writing, drafting the outputs and outcomes, and pulling together the budget. When the grant is awarded, program staff have limited, if any, familiarity with the information in the proposal because they had limited, if any, involvement in the process, including discussing with the grant writer how many trainings or participants should be included or where or how often activities would happen. Of course, none of us enlightened GPA members do this. We’ve either learned differently from the beginning or been reformed. For me, it was the former.

In graduate school, I learned to plan programs based on a proven behavior change theory and framework using a needs assessment that I conducted with direct input from the community. During my time in the border town, I put this into action, learning to distinguish the safe and structured academic experience from the messy, protracted real world. When I was hired as the Grants Program Manager, I could not imagine planning a program without close collaboration with at least one program staff (and usually more) and at least one finance staff (usually more). Often that team consisted of 6-8 people. The CFB has dozens of programs and subprograms and a budget in the tens of millions. In no dream world could I craft a grant proposal in a silo. Even though I had the title, I wasn’t a grant writer. I was a critical thinker, a problem-solver, an evidence-based program planner, interested in figuring out how we can solve the root causes of hunger, food insecurity, and poverty.

I was skeptical of the development team – this group of people who (in my mind) said what they needed to say or shook the hand they needed to shake to get the money in unrestricted dollars in the door. Maybe the cared about the cause; maybe they only cared about the size of the check. But did they really know what our program staff was doing each day? Did they know how to teach a Spanish-speaking single mother how to install drip irrigation in her potted tomato plants? Did they understand the struggles local farmers face just trying to make a living and, even so, how difficult it is for them to change their habits in order to make their operation more productive?

On top of that, I’m skeptical about professional associations and national conferences. I’ve been to a few that are pretty good, but usually, they’re an opportunity to get out of the office for a few days and reenergize, and maybe to visit a new city and socialize with coworkers in a different setting.

The GPA has changed my views on both these points. I’ve learned that most of us enlightened grant writers are critical thinkers and problem solvers. That winning grant awards is fun and what keeps us in business, but that the merit of the program and whether it works is almost as valuable, if not more. I’ve learned that my development team colleagues value me as a link to deeper information about our programs, and they are making stronger efforts to interact and learn directly from program staff. Further, at the risk of sounding like an advertisement, the GPA conference is the best national conference I’ve been to. Every breakout session is informative and applicable, the networking at the conference is outstanding, and the continued connections afterward help to keep that energy fresh throughout the year. Receiving the GPF conference scholarship definitely eased the burden when I went to persuade my supervisor to pay for my membership and conference expenses.

I told my supervisor recently that I have no interest in becoming a fundraiser. I understand why grant writing is part of development, but I have no desire to sell proverbial candy bars door-to-door. With grant writing, I have to really understand the problem and the need, and I get to really think about how that problem can be fixed and who can do it, and we get to come up with a concrete action plan with measurable outcomes, so we can see if we’re actually doing it. Only in the past year or so have I begun to self-identify as a grant writer now that I understand my role more clearly. And, even though my office has no windows to the outdoors, I can’t do this job in a silo. The cross-sector team that makes me an effective grant writer includes several people in my organization, and now it includes the GPA and the network I’m building through my involvement with the association.

No Wining About This Event!

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A fun new event is happening at the 2017 GPA Annual Conference in San Diego from November 8-11. In addition to our regular Silent Auction (which will be digital this year!), GPF will also hold a Cork Pull. A Cork Pull is a fun little mystery game involving wine. And what’s not to love about wine?

Guests attending the Welcome Reception (and continuing, if still available) will have the opportunity to ‘pick a cork’ for a donation of $20. The cork is assigned a number that corresponds to a matching mystery wine bottle for you to take home or enjoy in your room. The wine ranges in value from $10-$50 per bottle and has been generously donated by members of the GPF, GPA, and GPCI boards.

Don’t forget-you still have time to donate an item to our Silent Auction. Sign up here. Thank you for your support, and see you in San Diego!

A Conference for My Career Path

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By Rachel Smoka-Richardson, MFA, CFRE; Senior Development Officer, Institutional Giving at Minnesota Public Radio

2016 Conference Scholar

Graduating from college with a double major of theater and English, I knew two things – that I wanted to write for a living and that I needed to work in the arts. But although I love performing and writing, I also enjoy critical analysis, and started looking for a career that provided that balance.

Grant writing seemed to be a perfect meld of creative and analytical thinking, and over the past 16 years I’ve been lucky and grateful to work for two large theaters and a public radio station. I use my talents and passions to support organizations I truly believe in. And I get to write and solve problems every day.

Last summer I attended a marketing and development conference for public media, and I was disappointed that most of the fundraising sessions were geared towards membership and individual giving. I was hungry for professional development in my own field, and it seems most grant writing classes are aimed at beginners.

The conference had just concluded, and I was in my hotel room waiting to go to dinner, when I received an email that I had been selected for a 2016 GPA Conference scholarship. I was both shocked and delighted. My frustration for the just-concluded conference quickly turned to excitement for the upcoming conference aimed specifically for my career path.

In true grant writer fashion, I submitted a federal grant application about 30 minutes prior to my ride to the airport. The two weeks prior to the conference had been a frenzy of meetings, draft approvals, and budgeting – with little sleep. But it was wonderful to meet new friends who understood exactly what I had been going through.

My favorite part of the conference was the very first session when we broke into our special interest groups. I met so many arts and cultural grant writers in a short amount of time, and since the session took place so early in the conference, I could connect with my peers in every session and at dinner.

Overall the conference was outstanding, filled with excellent breakout sessions, incredibly smart and talented people, and delicious food. I went back to Minnesota with new ideas and a fresh outlook. Thank you so much to GPA and the foundation for offering this experience – and for making grant writing a priority.

 

Not a Popularity Contest: Winning Tips for GPF Scholarship Applications

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By Judy Riffle, Ed.D. – GPF Board Member and Marketing Committee Chair

I received a Pam Van Pelt Memorial Conference Scholarship from GPF in 2015, and felt honored and privileged to attend my first annual GPA conference in St. Louis. As soon as I met the people behind GPF, I felt an instant, warm welcome instead of a closed group, clique-type attitude. That is why I’m surprised when people tell me they won’t apply for a GPF scholarship because only certain popular people will receive one or that they’ve tried so many times they’ve given up. We ARE grant professionals—why in the world would we let that stop us? I can assure you—it is not a popularity contest. I give back to GPF willingly as a scholarship recipient, because I believe in our cause, and because I am part of a fantastic, dedicated, fair group of grant professionals.

On May 1, 2017, we will open our GPA conference scholarship applications to coincide with the annual conference registration opening date. The annual GPA conference will be in San Diego November 8-11, 2017. Mark your calendar, and be sure to apply for one of our scholarships. The following tips from GPF Board Members, the GPF Scholarship Committee, and #grantchat participants apply to all our scholarship opportunities.

Adhere to the GPA Code of Ethics.

We are looking for details on the applicant’s professional background in the #grants field.

Micki Vandeloo, GPC, GPF Scholarship Committee Chair: Keep an eye out for applications and due dates. Read the application questions carefully before answering.

Heather Stombaugh, GPC, GPF Board Chair: What are you doing for GPA or GPF now (serving local chapter as officer or committee member, writing GPA News articles, serving on a national committee or Board, mentoring a new grant pro, etc.)? What will you give back to the profession after receiving a scholarship?

The two biggest application mistakes are a lack of editing and failing to produce a compelling need statement. Use your grant skills! Watch grammar, spelling, & proof your work. A strong need or argument is not because you or your organization cannot pay for it (not because you need the money). Put your personal reflections into the narrative, and make the need logical.

You are a grant professional—write the scholarship application like you would a grant application and put your passion, creativity, storytelling, and editing skills into it. It’s free money, people!

Bethany Turner, GPC: Be sure to really describe your “why.” Why are YOU in the #grantprofession? Why do you do what you do?

Fear may be the biggest barrier to people applying for our scholarships. You don’t need to be a GPC to apply. GPF is not a clique, and the application process is not a popularity contest. Applications are reviewed fairly on their merit and to the degree questions are answered thoroughly and compellingly. It’s not about who you know; many GPF scholarships have been awarded to strangers by the Scholarship Committee and GPF Board. Case in point-me. Feel the fear and do it anyway!

Note: In 2017, we will

  • Award 18 scholarships (directly from GPF)
  • Administer 7 national scholarships (“endowed”)
  • Administer 15 scholarships (through GPA Chapters)
  • Award approximately 4 regional sponsorships

Total = 44

 

A Very Fortunate Series of Events

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By Liz Ratchford; Keystone College, Director of Grants
2016 Susan Kemp Conference Scholarship Recipient

Like many of my fellow grant professionals, I did not start off my career in the grant world. I don’t think any of us when asked as a child what we wanted to be when we grew up answered: “grant professional!” But through what I consider a very fortunate series of events, I was asked by the small community I live in, with my husband and two daughters, if I could write a grant to help rebuild a park that had been destroyed by a winter flood. I had some experience as a technical writer before becoming a stay-at-home mom so I thought sure, I would like to help rebuild the park where my children play.

So now 21 years later, I am honored to work in this profession that is responsible for so many great projects and programs coming to fruition through the work we do every day. That park grant and the completion of the project to rebuild that park led to me becoming a full-time grant professional for a government organization.

I am now at a nonprofit, private college in the northeastern tier of Pennsylvania. Keystone College is a small, rural college, in the heart of the Endless Mountains region. I love the work I do, I love that every day I learn something new, I tackle a new challenge, and I get to work with professionals that have a passion for the work we can do together.

Being the director of grants at an educational institution afforded me the opportunity to become a member of the Grant Professionals Association. The college believes in education and life-long learning, so even though financial resources are limited, our president believed it was important for me to be a member of this professional organization.

The college faculty, staff, and administration are committed to educating our students and keeping the cost of a post-secondary education affordable for the students we serve. This vision is something I truly believe in and so I work to obtain grant funding to serve our students, staff, and faculty. I am so fortunate to have found that I have skills and talents that allow me to be a successful grant professional.

My next goal after becoming a member of the GPA was to attend an annual conference and improve my professional skill set (because we are always about articulating our goals and objectives). Since the college’s resources are limited I decided I would apply for a Grant Professionals Foundation (GPF) Conference Scholarship.

I submitted the scholarship request and hoped I had made a convincing argument for my need and my institution’s need for the support. I was so honored to receive the Susan B. Kemp Scholarship.

I had a wonderful experience at the conference in Atlanta! The networking, educational sessions, workshops, grant vendors, and especially volunteering at the auction were professionally enriching experiences.

I came back to Keystone energized and ready to take on any new grant challenge that came my way to serve the college and our students! My attendance at the conference was only possible because of the GPF scholarship. For the first time in my grant career I was in a room of professionals that understood the joys, challenges, and disappointments we encounter as part of our work. It was a pleasure to spend a few days with you in Atlanta, and I hope to see you all again very soon.