Tag Archive for: membership

Long-Distance Trail Running and Grants Management– It All Depends on Community

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by Lucien Darjeun Meadows, Fort Collins Museum of Discovery
2016 Membership Scholar

As I write this blog post today, on a much warmer-than-average morning in Northern Colorado (52 degrees!), I am in the midst of training for the Quad Rock 25/50 Trail Race in Fort Collins, in May. I am also in the midst of finalizing a major foundation proposal, revising several letters of introduction, preparing a few corporate grants, and beginning to draft a major federal grant for my organization: Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, the only discovery museum in our region.

Today, I will research, read, and write for several hours, then go for a sunny 7-mile lunchtime run, then return to my grant writing projects. And while I sit at a computer for grants and prance down the trails for running, I realize, through the education I have gained as a recent GPF membership scholar, success in grants management parallels success in long-distance trail running*—it all depends on community.

Grants management is usually an independent process (since a keyboard generally works best for only two hands at a time), as is long-distance trail running (even for a group run, you have to decide to lace up your shoes and power them down the trail). Still, I find that above all, it is the community that gives each of us the greatest chance of success.

Though 95% of my running occurs alone, with just me and the trail, I rely on my local running community for inspiration, advice, and support—even consolation. Last year, I was just three weeks away from a race that had been on my to-do list for two years when I had an injury that kept me from running for two months. While going from rigorous training (that had been building for months) to zero was hard, my fellow runners helped me keep this setback in perspective. Through them, there were opportunities to stay involved, successes to celebrate, others to support, and, always, future races and group runs to look forward to. And when I ran the Black Squirrel Trail Half-Marathon that September, this race-day community watched out for each other throughout the technical course, encouraged each other when the hills became steep, and celebrated each other as each crossed the finish line, from the sub-1:30 winner to the 4:00+ final finisher (who received rousing applause from everyone).

In a similar way, I am blessed with the support of my museum’s team, who willingly brainstorm, read drafts, provide feedback, and celebrate all results, whether the grant is gained or declined—since fundraising is, like long-distance trail running, a long-term process.

But of special thanks over the last year is GPF, and the community they granted me access to through a GPA Membership Scholarship. While grants management connects to many of my prior interests (10+ years of library experience, grant-seeking as a researcher and graduate student, ongoing fascination with nonprofits), GPA gave me the tools I needed for high success in my first year as an official grants professional. Because of GPF’s scholarship, I have been able to enroll in GPA webinars, share thoughts with grant professionals nationwide, and learn from this incredible network of knowledgeable, inspiring, and, above all, supportive professionals.

Because of the GPA community, I exceeded grant-funding goals for my organization in my first year as a grants professional. Because of your support, I realize a declination is no reason to be sad, because it means someone, somewhere, read this proposal—and as a result, there is now more awareness of my organization in the world. Thank you, GPA. Thank you, GPF for the gift of a membership scholarship.

Happy trails—er, drafts—everyone!

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*Of course, I am far from the first grants professional to see similarities between this profession and running! Diane Leonard, GPC shares how grant writing is like training for a half-marathon, Scott Herr, Ph.D. explores what running marathons have taught him about grant writing, and Dawn Newcomb, Ph.D. discusses the overlap between marathon running and “marathon” research. From them, we learn successful grant writers, like successful long-distance runners, prepare for inevitable setbacks (Leonard); avoid being greedy in asking for more than is reasonable, in budget or pace goals (Herr); and take time to relax and refresh between challenges (Newcomb). Absolutely!

How My GPA Membership Scholarship Advanced My Professional Development Goals

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By Carolyn Caldwell, GPC; Raising Awareness, Raising Funds, LLC
2016 Membership Scholar

We all write proposals and complete applications as part of our daily work, so what makes applying for a scholarship from the Grant Professionals Foundation different from the rest? In my case, completing the application for a membership scholarship from GPF required me to think hard about my time with GPA, back to the beginning. It forced me to take stock of what GPA has meant to me in the past.

When I first joined GPA in 2010, my career path wasn’t so certain. I started in grant writing with enthusiasm, but success wasn’t a foregone conclusion, or sudden, by any stretch. I needed experience, I needed a mentor, and I needed to learn the “hard and fast,” as well as “soft,” rules of the road. I have a tenacious nature, and I can say I’m glad I stuck with it. GPA was with me the entire way.

Being a GPA member opened doors for me that otherwise would have stayed closed. When I think about my time in GPA, I think about the colleagues and friends I have made along the way, I think about the advice they have given me, and the chances they have taken with me. It has all paid off. I feel like a knowledgeable professional, I can offer my clients sound advice, and I can genuinely call myself a grant professional.

Answering the scholarship application questions required me to write about my commitment to the grants field, which made me think back through all the years I have been with GPA. I felt like I could finally answer that question, not just with the naive enthusiasm I had back in 2010, but truly as a grants professional who has committed to the profession. I recalled all the frustration and doubt I felt in the early years, when it wasn’t completely certain I would succeed. What a difference my involvement in GPA has made! I have not only gained in knowledge, and understanding of best practices, but I now have a highly-tuned radar for ethical land mines.

Every day in our work, we ask for money, and tell our prospective funders how deserving our organizations are. I had to think about what my story was, what was unique about my circumstances, and what about my application was compelling. But it was difficult to tell why I should receive a scholarship because it meant remembering a time when there were more questions than answers. I thought back to the missteps I made, and to all the things I did to advance my career that didn’t pay off. What did pay off was my membership in GPA.

If you took all the monthly sessions my chapter offers, the GPA webinars, and sessions at the 2011-2016 conferences I attended,  and laid them end to end, I am SURE there’s a master’s degree in there (or at least a bachelor’s). Between all the educational opportunities GPA affords me, I can say that I have an advanced degree in grantsmanship! Add to that the mentor I met through GPA, and we may be able to say I have a PhD!

This past year was even more fruitful because I studied for, and took, my GPC exam. Testament to how much I’ve learned over the years is the fact that I passed! To me, that was proof positive that I’ve absorbed everything I’ve been exposed to through GPA.

I have so much to be thankful for through the years with GPA. I appreciate the Grant Professional Foundation awarding me this membership scholarship. It guarantees another year of professional advancement for me, and another year of growth as a grants professional.

Giving Back and the Ultimate Transaction

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Nancy BBy Nancy Battersby

2015 Leadership Member Scholar, St. Louis Chapter

Early in my career, a mentor surprised me by referring to our agency’s work with our clients as the “ultimate transaction”. As employees, many of us thought we were performing selfless work that benefited others. My mentor pointed out that we were receiving unsuspected rewards from our work, probably in greater quantity than what we had given. Our participants were teaching us and enriching our lives.

After that conversation I began seeing such transactions in other parts of my life: my service club, volunteer projects and in my professional associations. In these I received much more than I gave. GPA is one of these.

Throughout my years as a member I have been continually grateful for the ways GPA has fostered my professional development through training events, conferences, advice from colleagues, publications, and resources that are constantly useful. More importantly, however, I realized that each time I invested my time or talents, value came back to me.

I “retired” from non-profit work a few years ago, intending to be a consultant and write grants part-time. However, as they say, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Shortly after beginning this new chapter in my life, my husband’s company unexpectedly closed, dramatically reducing our household income. Fortunately though, my grant business began to take off. While my business was building, watching our budget was crucial. When I heard about the availability of scholarships to renew my GPA membership, I gratefully applied.

I was pleased and relieved to have a membership scholarship awarded to me. I was also even more committed to giving back and to helping build the field.

I serve on our chapter’s board, as a chapter officer and a committee chair. I provide communications and newsletters to our chapter members and act as registrar for our events. Recently I also presented one of our chapter’s monthly program seminars.

In good “ultimate transaction” fashion though, the Grant Professionals Association provided much more in return. It has given me mentors and guides, inspiration, heights to aspire to, training, information, and a network of support.

Through studying for the GPC exam and the certification process, GPA increased my confidence in my abilities and helped me see the value of my skills. It has urged me on and motivated me to resist my insecurities (like fear of public speaking) and provided new friends.

I owe a great deal of my success and my satisfaction in my work to my relationship with GPA. I encourage others to think about their own GPA relationship and recognize both sides of this transaction in our professional lives. Whatever we invest in our organization comes back to us many times over.

You actually LIKE writing grants?

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Katy

By Katy Shoemaker, Grant Writer, Thanksgiving Point Institute

Leadership Member Scholar – Utah Chapter

Upon graduating college or entering the first few years of your career, the question, “What is your direction and what are you going to do for a profession?” is constantly posed. Society creates a pressure for those entering their career, those exploring new careers and those who have lost their way to find direction. Directions could be found in the most unobvious places, when one is most unsuspecting. My direction, whether it be life, career or both, was found through writing grants and becoming a part of the Grant Professionals Association-Utah Chapter.

GPA has been my connection and entry-way into the grants field in so many ways. My year of public service that I completed with AmeriCorps VISTA led me blindly into a GPA-Utah Chapter training one sunny afternoon, and I was hooked. The people, professionalism, topics and the networking were just profound. I immediately felt as though I was among a group of my peers in the grants field and this was a welcoming feeling. After this training, I was graciously provided with a membership to GPA through the organization that I was employed with. I joined the Communications Committee and was soon asked to be the Vice President of the chapter. This soared me to levels I never even imagined possible. I found myself representing GPA everywhere I went, to whomever would listen. I wanted everyone in our community to know what a great organization GPA is and what a wealth of helpful professional development resources for grant and development professionals it provides.

As such, the feeling was profound when I was notified that I was selected to receive a membership scholarship through the Grants Professionals Foundation, a smile fell across my face and I felt so grateful. I was at a point in my career where I was unsure if I would be able to financially afford the cost of the membership on my own, and this was detrimental to my professional growth and development. I couldn’t imagine my life without being involved in GPA and this scholarship allowed me the opportunity to continue to be not only involved, but to professionally grow and develop within my grant community.

Being involved in GPA in fact has made me become a more passionate grant professional in my community. My favorite question is, “You actually LIKE writing grants?”. Every time I am asked this question I actually laugh out loud (which probably makes me seem even more crazy), but it is true, I find it so funny that other people, especially in the nonprofit sector ask me if I like my job. Well of course I like my job, if I didn’t like it; I would choose something else to do. I choose to be a grant writer because I want to make a difference in my community. Grant writing and being a grant professional makes a different type of impact than say someone who is working directly with clients in a programmatic way and oftentimes, it is hard for the other half to see how I am making a difference. Being involved with GPA though, has taught me that no matter how small or large, grant professionals make a huge impact. We are the wheels making the vehicle run and are essentially vital to the success and impact that our organizations make for our communities.

My GPA membership is invaluable and I would not trade it for anything else. This membership scholarship has allowed me to continue to lead my chapter into great and innovative directions. My career has grown because of this opportunity, meeting other professionals in the field and even becoming involved in contract grant writing work. It has allowed me to reach my professional goals, attend training that furthered the fundraising mission of the organization I am employed with and to push myself as a grant writer and fundraising professional. I am so completely grateful for this opportunity and for being selected to receive a scholarship from the Grant Professionals Foundation.

GPA Membership = Networking & Collaboration

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Janell Harvey

By Dr. Janell Harvey, Associate Professor of Business, DeVry University

Renewing Member Scholar – S. Shore Indiana Chapter

As a Professor of Business and fundraising professional, membership in the Grant Professionals Association has afforded me a wealth of opportunities. Networking with like-minded people has allowed me to better understand fund development trends in a number of areas. For example, I am a member of the Faith Based Special Interest Group (SIG). Recently, the group leader sent out information allowing members to introduce themselves and the groups that they advocate for. This engagement certainly sparked interest between members resulting in ongoing communication. Most importantly it shed light on the causes that we care for most. I anticipate that great collaboration will emerge from there.

My involvement with the Grant Professionals Association has also led to the publication of a journal article and participation on both the GPF and GPA’s national board of directors. I am so elated to have the opportunity to work with such brilliant individuals while promoting integrity and sustainability within the grant profession.

Last year, I was awarded a membership scholarship by the Grant Professionals Foundation. I have a wonderful seven year old son who is hearing impaired. Costs associated with some of his necessary equipment led to the need for additional support. When I received the funds, I was so elated. I couldn’t imagine any gaps in my membership. I whole-heartedly thank the foundation for rendering their support as I know there were others who too were in need.

I look forward to the lifelong learning experiences that the Grant Professionals Association provides. Ultimately, I look forward to sharing my knowledge with other professionals who are not yet members with hopes to spark their interest.