NCSC News - But It's Not My Job!

When I first became a grants professional at my small university, I tried to draw a bright line between what I saw as my duty to identify funders and prepare proposals and others' duties to design programs. My line of reasoning went something like this: "I'm just a grant writer. It's not my job to set institutional priorities or tell faculty and administrators how to run their programs."

Since then, I've not only gained confidence in the value of my contributions to planning and budgeting, but I've discovered I share a personality trait with many of you-it's the "I can't stand to let this fail" trait.

Call it mothering. Call it co-dependency, or just covering my rear. But so far I've been unable to live up to my threats to let someone's poorly thought-out program fail rather than kill myself to submit an excellent proposal for their program.

The Grant Writer's Job
Yes, it is usually our job to write or edit the narrative and otherwise prepare the proposal package. But we "grant writers" have other, very valuable knowledge and skills, and we can contribute quite a bit to program planning. In fact, the longer I do this, the more convinced I am that grants professionals play a huge, unsung role in shaping their organizations for the future.

Knowledge of Guidelines: No matter how many times you copy the project director on the guidelines, you will be the one with the most intimate knowledge of their requirements. And probably the only one with a personal investment in making sure the proposal meets them. Your intervention can guide a wandering concept back on track.

A Long-Term View: Because you've "been there, done that," you're already thinking ahead to how your final report is going to read. Call it "writing for the report," but this long-term vision can influence the proposal and the design of the program and avoid "over promising."

Experience With Budgets: You have the most experience preparing the types of budgets funders like to see. You know to explain how you arrived at your salary numbers. You know to include a column listing your agency's contribution. You remind the project director, "Have you thought of everything? Long distance, photocopies, benefits, insurance?"

Resources: You're the one with the contacts you can call and ask, "I notice you were funded by the Philanthropist Foundation last year. Would you mind sharing a copy of your proposal?" Because you research the foundation's other gifts, you can help the program people emphasize the elements of their program that will most appeal to the funder.

A "Big Picture" View: The program committee has some really cool activities they want the grant to pay for. They're focused on getting money to do their work. You can encourage them to visualize how diabetes testing, children's swimming lessons, and housing assistance fit into a cohesive whole, something that can be called a "program." Sometimes you can even inspire program people to "think big," to see beyond diabetes testing to an entire health initiative.

Evaluation, Evaluation, Evaluation: Plan on reminding the program people they need an assessment plan, some plan, any plan, please, that is more than just a "survey." Fortunately, you've seen several in other proposals, and you can give them great ideas.

Even when project directors have designed a program or written a narrative, the grants professional may need to refine the program concept to fit guidelines or re-write large parts of the narrative into a style the funder can understand. It is your job to "think of everything," because the program team probably won't.

However, you can't do everything. So, you do need good relationships with the program people and the ability to get from them the information you need to craft a fundable proposal.

The Program People's Job
One of my colleagues has people stop by her door and drop random announcements: "I need new CPR dummies." "We need a trailer for natural disasters." "Can we find money for hiring Water Safety Instructors?" And, then they leave, apparently confident that they've done plenty for my friend to go out and get them that grant.

The Project-A coherent description of this fantastic idea, preferably in writing.
The Budget-I need $5,000
The Timeline-I need these for next summer's youth camp.
The Priority-This is top priority from my department, or it can wait until after our big gala.
The Approval-Yep, the Executive Director has approved my project idea.

The Owner-Who will be "in charge" of Fantastic Program? Someone must catch the vision, push for the new program, and be able to supervise it if it's funded.
The Strategy-Any suggestions as to who might be interested in funding your idea? What else are you doing to find the funds, or do grants make up 100% of your strategy?
The Commitment-Yes, I'll come to project meetings. Yes, I'll include you in the planning. Yes, I'll give you the information you need. Yes, I'll meet all deadlines.

Now, wouldn't that be nice? Many of us have developed forms, usually one-pagers, that we hand to folks with great ideas and ask them to fill out before we start working.

So, even though you don't live in a perfect world, you've agreed to submit this proposal. The next step is to get the right people on board. Fortunately, Julie Seewald Bornhoeft - http://charitychannel.com/resources/Detailed/545.html - has already written a great article on how to build the team you'll need. See her "The Proposal Development Team - Planning For Success, - http://charitychannel.com/article_112.shtml" from May 15, 2002, in the Grants and Foundations Review archives.

Cheryl Kester is the Director of Grants and Foundation Relations at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas-a typical "one woman band" in a small shop. Since she's "the writer," Cheryl is also the de-facto departmental editor, pinch-letter writer, and the one drafted to create strategic plans, case statements, and donor recognition plaques. Cheryl has 12 years of experience in higher education administration, coming to development in 1999. She also teaches courses for the English department and the adult degree completion program. Cheryl holds a bachelor's degree from John Brown University and a master's degree in English from Georgetown University. She is a member of AFP and CASE.

But It's Not My Job! by Cheryl Kester

But It's Not My Job!
by
Cheryl Kester