Why I call it “grant work” and not “grant writing”
Image by Melody Hernandez
If you’ve ever talked with me about grants, you will notice that I rarely use the expression “grant writing”. I most often refer to professionals in the field as doing “grant work”. That is because there is so much more to grants than just the writing. There’s planning, project management, creating budgets, relationship building, evaluating, and more. I come from the philosophy that when it comes time to write the grant proposal, the grant should write itself!
Like many people, I had previously envisioned that grant professionals spent their days hunched over a computer writing pages upon pages of narrative for the grant proposal. However, while I spend a lot (and I do mean a lot) of my time writing, I spend a lot more of my time vetting funders, facilitating project planning, researching data points, doing project management and many of the other components of grant work that aren’t writing.
So, why is this important? Well, because if you think that it’s just grant writing, you are skipping many of the steps that are vital to creating a competitive and winning proposal.
Here are five of the (non-writing) steps that are core to successful grant work:
1. Setting clear organization and program goals: One of the many things that I love about grant work is that, if done correctly, it will help ensure that programs are effective. The questions funders ask are often designed to ensure that the organization and the program have a clear plan in place to address a community need. By having these clear plans in place (what are you doing, why are you doing it, who will it help, what do you need to make it happen, etc.), it will be infinitely easier to write the proposal.
2. Finding the right funders: Every grant application takes time and effort to complete. By vetting funders up front, you can save those resources for opportunities that are a better fit and more likely to result in funding for your organization. Ideally, the Venn diagram of what you are trying to accomplish and what the funder is looking to support will be a perfect circle. More likely, there will be a significant amount of overlap. If there is barely any overlap (meaning their goals only slightly align with yours or they have several expectations and your organization/program only meets one of them), it may be best to save resources for a better fit.
3. Cultivating relationships: In the grant world, “submitting a cold proposal” when a grant application is sent without a phone call or an email beforehand. In general, these cold proposals have a ~10% success rate. Once there has been communication, that success rate can jump up to 50% or more*! You can warm up the relationship by keeping in touch with current program officers (inviting them to events, sending quick updates, submitting grant reports, scheduling short phone call check-ins), having phone calls with and sending emails to potential new funders, using social media to engage with funders, and asking for feedback on your declined grant proposals.
4. Reading the instructions: Funders provide instructions in many different ways. Government funders often issue an RFP (Request for Proposals) or NOFO (Notice Of Funding Opportunity) which can be anywhere from less than 20 to over 100 pages of instructions while foundations may provide grant guidelines or use an online portal that has instructions embedded throughout. However the instructions are provided, it is important to read them and pay attention to key words. For example, there is a big difference between “and” and “or”. If the instructions list five grant requirements with the word “and”, it means you have to meet all the requirements. If it uses the word “or”, the organization would only need to meet one of the requirements.
5. Interpreting and understanding the questions: Funders often say their best advice for applicants is to, “Answer the question” because so many grant proposals, while well written or focused on worthy causes, do not provide the information that the funder needs to approve the funding. In my experience, applicants either think they are answering the question but misunderstood what the questions were asking; or they wanted to use well written language and tried to make it fit somewhere in the proposal, but it did not address the specific information requested in the question.
By focusing on these critical non-writing steps, you set yourself – and your organization – up for success. The strongest grant applications don’t just check boxes; they tell a compelling story backed by clear goals, thoughtful preparation, and meaningful connections with funders. So, the next time you think about grants, remember—it’s not just about writing; it’s about doing all the work that helps you win the grant!
*Note that this increase is in part due to creating a positive relationship with the funder, but also helps you determine which funders were never going to give you a grant no matter how well you wrote it, allowing you to cross them off your list and ultimately increasing your win rate and conserving resources for better fits.
