One of the most important resources in nonprofit organizations is the staff. They form relationships with the people they serve. They build relationships in the community to find the resources clients need. Without them, the nonprofit programs and services which affect millions of lives would fall silent. While we are advocates of writing grants which describe how the target population is involved in the program, this does not mean that organizations should stop describing the strengths of their staff. Here are four ways to highlight the quality and importance of your staff in your next grant:

Institute of Museum and Library Services Last week, we featured the annual Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Museums for America funding opportunity, which supports project-based initiatives for museums of all sizes and disciplines. This week, we’re taking a closer look at an IMLS program that specifically supports capacity-building efforts of African American museums and/or archival collections at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (AAHC) program provides funding for eligible museums to increase workforce capacity, provide staff with professional development opportunities, and improve access to collections through a variety of eligible activities.

Institute of Museum and Library Services Last month, we shared information about an annual Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) opportunity focused on capacity building for museums. This month, we’re looking at some additional open solicitations from IMLS that are closing later this fall. The Museums for America (MFA) program is one such opportunity. MFA provides funding for mission-aligned, project-based efforts for museums of all sizes and disciplines. These projects can vary in type, focus, reach, or scale of societal impact, but they should – in broad terms – advance knowledge and understanding and ensure that the IMLS grant funding benefits society.

  IHE Grant Series: When Worlds Collide: A University Collaborative Model Session 3 of the IHE Starting an Office of Sponsored Research Series Participants will learn to navigate between the competing assumptions of, “My university has a grant writer,” and “The grant writer is the expert” when working...

  Grant 101: Common Grant Attachments Session 9 of the Grants 101 Series A grant proposal is only one component of most grant applications. Other components include proof of nonprofit status, a board roster, an organizational budget, a program budget, and financial statements, as well as an annual...

    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...

    Federal Grants: Federal Grant Management - Financial Requirements Session 11 of the Federal Grants Series The most common concerns related to federal grant management are around the financial requirements. These requirements include paying staff, contracting for services, travel, and purchasing materials. This session will discuss the most...

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Does your organization work to improve access to and quality of mental and behavioral health services? The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has several funding opportunities opening in the coming months that will support efforts to expand workforce capacity to address community-based behavioral health needs, or efforts that focus on serving infant/early childhood mental health or children with serious emotional disturbances (SED).

Are you laboring too much over grants? Grants are great to have, and they’re often crucial to an organization’s mission, but there are only so many hours in the day to apply for and manage those grants. Grant professionals are susceptible to burn out from the heavy responsibility and high-pressure, deadline-driven work, which continues day in and day out in our profession. Grant applications and management can even get in the way of your organization’s mission. I was recently on a call with a client who was looking for help managing their grant portfolio. When I asked why they were seeking support, the client shared a striking comment: “We are so busy trying to get the money that we struggle to actually carry out the work.” I understood completely because I’ve seen this state of affairs before.

United States Department of Agriculture – Rural Development Attention rural microentrepreneurs and the organizations that support them! The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting proposals for its 2021 Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP). The goal of RMAP is to support the development and success of rural microentrepreneurs and microenterprises. It accomplishes this by providing loans and grants to Microenterprise Development Organizations (MDOs) that provide technical assistance and financial services to eligible rural businesses. RMAP applications are accepted on an ongoing basis, with due dates occurring at the end of each quarter, from September 30, 2021 through June 30, 2022.