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 … Read More
Helping a Beginner Get Off to a Good Start!
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 … Read More
GPA Member Benefits are Endless
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 … Read More
Conference Experience as a Scholarship Recipient
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 … Read More
Most Useful and Pertinent Conference Ever
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 … Read More
Skeptical to Enlightened
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 … Read More
No Wining About This Event!
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 … Read More
A Conference for My Career Path
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, … Read More
Not a Popularity Contest: Winning Tips for GPF Scholarship Applications
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, … Read More
A Very Fortunate Series of Events
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 … Read More