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.

08 Mar

Posted at 11:38h in Competency Five, Competency Four, Competency Seven, Competency Six, Competency Three, Competency Two, Courses, Grant Training Series, Grants 301

The following training courses are available in 2021 as scheduled live webinars, recorded individual trainings, bundled trainings, and custom scheduled trainings.   Grants 301 Training Series These sessions are designed to provide targeted content for individuals who are really passionate about grants and want to take their skills...

08 Mar

Posted at 11:30h in Competency Five, Competency Four, Competency Seven, Competency Six, Competency Three, Competency Two, Courses, Grant Training Series, Grants 201

The following training courses are available in 2021 as scheduled live webinars, recorded individual trainings, bundled trainings, and custom scheduled trainings.   Grants 201 Training Series The average nonprofit professional needs more than just initial grant training. Anyone working with grants can analyze their strengths and weaknesses and...

07 Mar

Posted at 19:00h in Competency Seven, Professionalism, Tracey Diefenbach, GPC
As we look ahead to International Grant Professionals Day, I cannot help but wonder – what does it really mean to be a grant professional? When I was a kid, I used to go to the beauty parlor (am I dating myself yet?). The beautician (yep, I definitely just dated myself now) had a sign hanging by her chair that said something like - “I am a hairdresser, a therapist, a coach, a cheerleader, and a magician.” Today, I wish I had this sign to hang in my office. As a grant professional, on any given day, I have conducted a therapy session with the development director who is in a sheer state of panic trying to juggle numerous grant deadlines; coached a CEO through what seemed like a never-ending conversation of should we apply or should we not; and magically transformed some bulleted notes into a program design. Whew…and that was all before noon!