03 Jan

Posted at 19:25h in AGS Staff, Competency Seven, Professionalism, Writing
As we say goodbye to the year that seemed it would never end, we are looking forward to 2021 with renewed hope. In the spirit of new beginnings, our January blog series is focused on resetting. Be it working from home, adjusting offices to allow for social distancing, or changing jobs altogether, a lot of us unexpectedly found ourselves working in new spaces over the course of the last year. If you’re like some of us, your new workspace might not be what most people consider “permanent” (maybe because, also like us, you were hoping it would be a more temporary solution). Or perhaps you’ve weathered the storm that was 2020 in the same space you’ve worked for years. Either way, the start of the new year is a great excuse to reset, rethink, and reclaim your workspace so you can prepare to take on a new year of possibilities.

29 Dec

Posted at 08:07h in Competency Eight, Competency Seven, Funder Relations, Leah Hyman, Relationships
I’m not the type of person who sends out holiday cards. I want to be that type of person. I feel like I should be that type of person. After all, I love receiving them; the photos of our friends and family and their “year-in-review” recaps always bring a smile to my face. And I grew up with a mom who is great at sending holiday cards. I have vivid memories of her pulling out the notebook filled with addresses, often with amendments and notes penned neatly beside certain names. She’d carefully address and stuff envelopes with a card and letter detailing our family’s updates and accomplishments. By giving my brother and me some editorial power over our own paragraphs (so we could keep our very cool reputations intact) and soliciting our help with the envelope stuffing, she was giving us a primer in relationship maintenance.

20 Dec

Posted at 19:00h in AGS Staff, Competency Seven, Professional Development
It can be difficult to find positive aspects to this year. We don’t need to remind you of all of the unprecedented challenges we’ve experienced so far and will likely continue to live through well into the coming year. Instead, let’s focus on something more hopeful! Let’s spend the rest of this year (and early 2021) on something we may not have found much time for in the past: LEARNING!

14 Dec

Posted at 08:55h in Competency Seven, Inspiration, Professionalism, Tracey Diefenbach, GPC
This time of year naturally leads people to reflect back and start looking forward, generating new goals and resolutions. Respectfully, I ask, “How is that even possible with a year like 2020?” It’s been a year filled with fear, sadness, uncertainty, confusion, and constant change, to say the least. Even our everyday language has taken on a whole new plethora of words like COVID-19, pandemic, social distance, quarantine, contact tracing, essential businesses, and flattening the curve. By the way, if you are looking for that blog that says better days are ahead, here is my warning: STOP! This blog is about realness – real thoughts, real feelings, real struggles. I wish I could say that I thought of writing this myself, but I am not that bold. I owe it to a great colleague of mine who challenged me to bring out the realness and ugly truths that may help me (and possibly even others) sort this out in my head.

04 Nov

Posted at 08:08h in Competency Seven, Inspiration, Professional Development, Tracey Diefenbach, GPC
I always think of the last quarter of the year as the “learning season” when I attend the Grant Professionals Association (GPA) National Conference and begin thinking about the year past and ahead. This is not an easy process for me. As a grants professional, it is so easy to get bogged down in the daily grind, but this season really forces me and gives me permission to think about my own learning and goals. It reminds me of the Dr. Suess book Oh, The Places You’ll Go. A friend gave me this to me when I graduated college with my bachelor’s degree. At the young age of 20, I could not even begin to imagine where I would go. Some 20 years later, after working as an in-house grant professional and now working in a consultant role, I am using this learning season to really reflect on where I have been and where I will still go. There are so many different paths in the grant professional’s work. This just one example – my journey.

06 Jul

Posted at 17:49h in Competency Four, Competency Seven, Culture, Julie Assel, GPC, Narrative, Professionalism, Writing
I am the type of person whose brain is constantly thinking, even in my sleep. The harder the problem, the more likely I am to have several nights of sleep interrupted by fragments of thought my brain is trying to work through. Two weeks ago, this was my situation. I was preparing to submit a grant to a funder on the cutting edge of the equity discussion. As a significant funder with a large corpus, the Health Forward Foundation is leading by example and investing in organizations that otherwise might be overlooked by other foundations. My client serves a population not in Kansas City, Missouri proper, but one whose challenges mirrored those living in the middle of the city: high unemployment, low-paying jobs for those who are employed, high mobility for families struggling to pay their rent, and families in and out of homelessness when ends did not always meet. Families struggle with the trauma common to multi-generational poverty. Children struggle with adverse childhood experiences. But there are no mental health resources located in the community, and this is what my grant was trying to address. The grant had been drafted for over a week when the demonstrations against systemic racism began. As I watched, listened, read, and thought, this grant proposal started to bother me. Had I truly reflected the need of the population and the context of the situation? How had I described the population who would receive these services – as those in need or those with a need? Were we truly putting forth the best portrayal of the client organizations we serve? Were we showing the strengths of the clients they serve? Were we doing anything to push back against systemic racism?

04 Sep

Posted at 21:35h in About AGS, Competency Seven, GPC Credential, Press Releases, Professionalism

Lee’s Summit, MO (September 4, 2019) — Assel Grant Services announces that Emily Hampton, MPA, and Michele Ryan have joined the firm as Grant Associates. With the addition of Hampton and Ryan, the firm has grown to a staff of fourteen, eight of whom are credentialed grant professionals, or Grant...

24 Jun

Posted at 21:36h in AGS Staff, Competency Seven, GPC Credential, Industry News, Press Releases, Professionalism
Overland Park, KS (June 24, 2019)— The Grant Professional Certification Institute received accreditation of its Grant Professional Certified (GPC) credential from the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). The GPC is the first professional credential for individuals working in the grants field to be recognized by a national credentialing body. Grant professionals are individuals who develop, write, submit, and manage grant proposals and funding on the behalf of nonprofits, governments and other agencies. According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 Census of Governments, there are 1.56 million nonprofits and 90,126 federal, state, and local government units in the United States. Within these organizations are grant professionals who work exclusively with grants and organizations who have grant professionals that conduct grant activities alongside a variety of other activities for their organization.