Category Archives: Grant Writing

Them Grant Writers Got It Tough

by David Tandet I mean think about it. Companies selling candy bars dress up their confections in eye-catching wrappers. They give their products cool names to make them stand out from the crowd. Then they hawk their stuff as the most irresistible sweet out there – all for a chance at your pocket change. But

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Be Concise

by David Tandet This is a short post. Appropriately. Because the subject is being concise. One day my grant mentor gave me a four pager Letter of Inquiry. “Make it two pages,” he said. The two-pager ended up getting the grant. Say what you need, then say “So long!” Contact Us    

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New Funding Models

by David Tandet Are grants for operating expenses the new funding model? Short answer: not by a longshot. Long answer: In some instances. The bottom line is that the funding agency is awarding a grant to the nonprofit that gives strong indications it can do what it says it’s going to do. And what it

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Follow the Funding

by David Tandet The other day I was talking with an old friend about the topic of raising money. My friend is a fundraising consultant – and she’s very good at it. Anyway, at one point I  happened to make the supreme verbal boo-boo. I referred to her work as “funding consultant.” “It’s never ‘funding

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Nonprofit Mission Integrity

by David Tandet When a nonprofit positions itself as the best organization to provide the solution to a problem, it means staying the course for the distance. Three elements should be present for the agency to accomplish its goals and achieve mission integrity. These elements are fluid and can quickly disappear. Organizations that make attaining

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Jon O’Brien’s Advanced Storytelling for Advancing Nonprofits (Adapted from “Parallel Turns”)

by David Tandet “See ya,” Ziggy Void hopped off the ski lift chair he was sharing with Marcia Tomberlin as he continued blabbing away, “at the bottom, slowpoke.” Ziggy veered to the left and began skiing down the trail without waiting for his partner. Even for Void, it seemed like obnoxiousness to the nth degree.

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How to Use and Abuse a Good Grant Writer

(if you can find one) by David Tandet PART ONE Finding a great grant writer is like winning the grand slam . . . . . . because there really is no training ground for grant writers out there. There are no minor leagues, and relatively few decent classes. The process of training a grant

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What’s a Community Foundation?

by David Tandet Community foundations are tax-exempt public charities. As the name implies, their goal is to benefit specific regions, and the way they work is that individuals, families, and organizations establish permanent funds. These funds form the economic structure of the foundation. Money is distributed by the foundations through various means, one of which

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The Donut Rule

by David Tandet The most profound grant writing rule I ever learned is “the donut rule.” A long time ago, an interviewer asked William Rosenberg, founder of Dunkin’ Donuts, the secret of his success. Rosenberg answered, “Give customers what they want, not what you want.” Actually, that’s similar to an idea echoed by grant guru

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“G” is for Grafton’s Methodology

by David Tandet If you’re a fan of detective novels – or just love terrific stories – you know who the late great  Sue Grafton — “A” is for Alibi . . . Ms. Grafton told more than one interviewer how valuable for her writing it was for her to take classes to learn about

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