Dear Colleagues, Friends (and the odd Family Member),
Fall is my favorite time of year for a lot of reasons - cooler weather, beautiful colors, and of course for those of you who know me, Giants playoff baseball! Go Giants!  | Fall is also a time when grant writers and evaluators take a deep breath, finish off those last applications and reports for the year, and begin the preparation for another busy year of work. In this newsletter, we're sharing what we do to get ready for the busy spring grant writing season when green shoots emerge along with RFP's. I hope you'll find this information helpful! Wishing You Success! Veronica Robbins
Creative Resources & Research |
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Preparing for Grant Writing
 Waiting for an RFP to be issued before prearing is a bad idea. Often there are agreements and project planning that need to be accomplished well in advance of a proposal being written. Fall is a great time to meet with partners and conduct a planning process so when those RFP's are issued next spring, you're ready to write. Here are a few things to do: 1. Collect data 2. Develop agreements 3. Organize collaborative efforts 4. Document the planning process 5. Do a needs assessment 6. Sign up for automatic alerts for new RFP's at online sources like grants.gov 7. Conduct research on potential funding sources 8. Attend training to brush up your writing skills Fall is a wonderful time to get ready, refreshed and organized for the coming rush of RFP's. If you treat it like I treat Christmas Shopping (last minute) you'll be ill prepared and you won't have what you need in place to write a competitive application. If you're hiring an external evaluator read our free eBook on what to consider. |
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Grant Goddess University
 We've opened the virtual "doors" of GGU with the commencement of our first online class, "Grant Writing 101!" We are excited that our "freshman" class is now deeply engaged in their studies and we're so honored by their participation! We have BIG plans for our online GGU. We're developing a broad range of on-demand, online training for grant writers of all experience levels and we hope you'll find a course that interests you too! As our venerable crest tells us in Latin, "Experience Teaches" and we're eager to share our experience and expertise with other grant writers. |
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Preparing for Evaluation
 We are also professional evaluators and we know that the fall is often when programs are restarting after the summer. It's important to focus early in the fall on some key evaluation activities or you may miss out on collecting data that you can't re-create! Think about these things: 1. Hire an external evaluator if you need one. 2. Write or review your evaluation plan with your evaluation team or with key decision makers. 3. Collect "Pre" assessment data and surveys now. 4. Provide training for key staff in proper methods for conducting assessments and online time lines. 5. Review the previous evaluation report with decision makers to ensure that results are integrated into program planning. 6. Schedule out the evaluation meetings for the year.
Remember that in evaluation there is no substitute for a good start. You need to plan and act now in order to ensure that you have all the data and information you need to conduct a thorough evaluation.
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 Veronica Robbins is the senior grant writer and CEO of Creative Resources and Research that has secured over $148 million dollars for clients over the past ten years. In her new book, Veronica shares key tips for grant writing success!
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