Grant writing is definitely not for the faint of heart. There’s quite a learning curve involved at first; and the learning can be fast-tracked by joining up with a grant-writing guru’s coaching community or course or workshop(s). But, I’ve chosen to take the do-it-yourself (DIY) route for my educational purposes. It suits my timetable and pocketbook quite nicely compared to the alternatives.
And when I say the DIY route, I mean . . . learning all about grant writing from reading books (which I love to do) as well as scouring YouTube University to absorb the plethora of videos covering grant management with everything from researching grant opportunities to writing the grant proposal to performing reporting of how the grant award was used and how the funded program and/or project turned out.
Oh, and there’s also the experience gained through submitting actual grant proposals or answering questions for grant opportunities. There’s nothing like it. In the last blog post, entitled The Literacy Corner – Update #8, it was explained that . . .
I’m in the process of finishing up two grant applications, requesting grant funds for the nonprofit academy I tutor for. (I also head up the Grant Committee there, so I’m very passionate about becoming adept in the art and the science of grant writing.
So, I completed both grant applications and submitted them to the funders before their deadlines on December 31, 2025. And, I’m currently in the waiting room, anxiously anticipating the arrival of the newborn news detailing whether the academy (that I tutor for) won one, or both, or neither of the grant awards. (I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out.)
The wait is hard though, folks. It’s definitely testing my patience, which can use some help. But, that’s okay. I’m steadily working on that virtue and getting better as I get older. Sometimes, you just have to wait, and that’s life. Besides, the funders were gracious enough to provide an estimated timeframe and date in which the “winner” announcements will be made. So, at least, that gives me a somewhat definitive end to my wait.
Now, I just have to keep my cool for another . . . two weeks for one and about two months for the other one. Yikes!
In the meantime, to combat the antsy-pantsyness, I must keep pluggin’ along. More grant writing to do. And, I’ve been doing just that — keepin’ it movin’.
Surprisingly, I’m thoroughly enjoying the grant-writing process. I didn’t think I would at first, because I’m so used to writing on my own terms and in my own conversational, chit-chatty, laid-back voice. No formal or dry or technical writing allowed! Just the informal, personality-driven stuff that I can get away with on my personal blog because it’s . . .
MY . . . PERSONAL . . . BLOG.
However, when I need to do the old switch-a-roo, I know how to reel myself in and gear my writing to a different type of audience, who is looking to take marks off for the lack of formalities, the fluffiness, the typos, the grammatical errors, the incomplete sentence structure, not following a certain format, and not answering the questions thoroughly and concisely.
I can’t start my sentences with “But” or with “And” over there like I can over here. But (hee hee), I’m okay with that. I know my place over there and am learning to function proficiently within it. Actually, I find it to be a nice balance to what I do on this blog site. I’m allowed to explore both of my writing muscles, appreciating their unique approaches and purposes.
So, I have a couple more grant opportunities I’m pursuing as of this blog post, but I’m hoping to get a couple more to add to them before the end of the month. If I can get a flow of one grant application submission per week, that would be wonderful, as I need to crank them out on a consistent basis to get better at grant writing and to have any hope of being awarded some for the academy. (I hear from some of the gurus that one can hope to be awarded one out of 10 grants applied for. That means: I have my work cut out for me. I’m also hoping that my application submissions are the exception to the rule here.)
Grants are incredibly competitive, so I’m not oblivious to the fact that the odds may not be in my favor all of the time, but I’m working for those times that they are. And, I’ll always go into a grant opportunity knowing that it’s possible for me to win it for the academy.
The children there are my “WHY” for getting into grant writing. Writing with purpose and writing to benefit others — that’s what I call my mission-aligned assignments within my personal wheelhouse.
degreesofmaternity.com 