25 Oct

Posted at 19:49h in Competency Seven, Inspiration, Julie Assel, GPC, Professional Development, Professionalism
When I was a kid, I loved Halloween. I loved dressing up and pretending to be someone else - someone that was better, stronger, and more capable than I felt I would ever be. Fast forward through the decades and I recognize there are times when I want to pretend to be someone else - someone who is better, stronger, and more capable than I sometimes feel. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized what I was feeling was imposter syndrome. During my tenure with the Grant Professionals Certification Institute board of directors, I started to see that many grant professionals feel the same way.

14 Sep

Posted at 10:38h in Competency Seven, Competency Three, Courses, GPCI Competencies, Grant Management, Grant Training Series, Grant Writing, Grants 301, How-To, Tracey Diefenbach, Uncategorized

    Grants 301: Managing Up Session 5 of the Grants 301 Series One of the greatest challenges we face as grant professionals is getting the information and resources needed to craft project ideas and develop competitive proposals. This information is often spread across multiple people and departments…from finance to...

12 Aug

Posted at 22:17h in Competency Four, Competency Seven, Course Industries, Courses, Education, GPCI Competencies, Grant Training Series, Higher Education, IHE Series, Whitney Gray

Starting Small and Dreaming Big: Developing Collaborative Grantsmanship at Small Universities Session 2 of the IHE Starting an Office of Sponsored Research Series Starting Small and Dreaming Big will offer key considerations and practical advice for developing a collaborative culture of grantsmanship at small to medium-sized organizations....

15 Jul

Posted at 10:05h in Competency Four, Competency Seven, Course Industries, Courses, Education, GPCI Competencies, Grant Training Series, Higher Education, IHE Series, Whitney Gray

Building a Career as a Grant Professional in an Institution of Higher Education Session 1 of the IHE Starting an Office of Sponsored Research Series In Building a Career as a Grant Professional in an Institution of Higher Education, the presenter will describe her personal career trajectory that...

06 Jun

Posted at 20:39h in Competency Eight, Competency Seven, Julie Assel, GPC, Professional Development, Professionalism, Relationships
I am a grant professional for whom the written word is a more comfortable form of communication than face-to-face communication. Once I understood the concepts and intent of grant proposal writing, I fell in love with it. The majority of my time is spent alone in my office writing or in one-on-one conversations with program, financial, and executive leadership staff. Given that my learning style is also visual text, reading RFPs, gathering the information needed, and conducting the research is all easy for me to understand. Recently though, I have needed to be involved in meetings with program officers. These are not my favorite activity. Oh, I love hearing all the things funders have to say about their organization that help me better understand their mission. I also love to hear all the things about the program that my organizations say to the funder that I have not heard before in quite the same way. (Haven’t we all been here?) If my only task was to listen, these meetings would be easy, but these were conversations in which I was the lead for a significant portion of the conversation.

27 May

Posted at 12:44h in Competency Four, Competency Seven, Courses, Cultural Competency, GPCI Competencies, Grant Training Series, Grant Writing, Grants 301, How-To, Uncategorized

  Grant 301: Cultural Competency - The Power of the Pen Session 3 of the Grants 301 Series Proposal narratives must reflect the deep social responsibilities of grant professionals to tell the stories of the target population, not just the story of the organization. Words have power, and...

26 Apr

Posted at 17:46h in Competency Seven, Julie Assel, GPC, Volunteering
As pointed out in the Value Your Volunteers blog by Jennifer Murphy, GPC, it is important for grant professionals to properly communicate the value of volunteers, both programmatically and monetarily. Grant professionals should also be aware of ways they personally can volunteer their time outside of where they work. In addition to volunteering for organizations like food banks, youth development centers, and animal shelters, grant professionals can give back to their profession by volunteering their time.

26 Apr

Posted at 14:57h in Competency Seven, Competency Three, Courses, GPCI Competencies, Grant Readiness, Grant Training Series, Grant Writing, Grants 301, How-To, Relationships, Tracey Diefenbach, Uncategorized

  Grant 301: Motivational Interviewing: A Grant Centered Approach Session 2 of the Grants 301 Series Have you ever been stuck when writing a grant proposal because the program person you're talking to says, "Oh, but we can't...

03 Apr

Posted at 11:11h in Competency Seven, Evaluation, Federal Grants, Professionalism, Tracey Diefenbach, GPC, Writing
Hello April! I am greeting this month with big, open arms – ready for sunshine, warmer temperatures, open windows, and a good, deep spring cleaning (who doesn’t love washing windows and scrubbing baseboards?). If those are not enough reasons to love April, here’s one more: it’s National Volunteer Month – a time to celebrate and promote volunteerism and helping hands. As a grant professional in the field for over 16 years, I have come to understand and deeply appreciate the value of a helping hand. One of the most valuable helping hands I have seen is proposal reviews, particularly for federal proposals (perfect timing as spring is often a federal grant season!). I have been fortunate enough to experience both internal and external reviews from those who are unfamiliar with my proposal’s program or the agency. BONUS: I have also served as an external reviewer for federal grant programs. The benefits of these extra eyes and hands are invaluable especially in an ever growing, highly competitive environment.