Tips for Working Successfully with a Grant Writer
So you’ve gone through the process of hiring a grant writer for your organization. Your next challenge is to find ways to make the most of your grant writers time and experience, while not burning a hole in your budget. Here are a few tips for making the most of your grant writer’s time and talents:
Have Information At Your Finger Tips
One thing that can slow down the grant writing process is gathering all of the necessary background information and documents. Compiling important documents and information into one folder or filing system makes it easy to quickly provide them to your grant writer. It is a waste of a grant writer’s time and your money to wait for necessary files or to contact multiple individuals to determine where to find the needed information.
Give Input
Grant writers will need a lot of input from your staff and stakeholders. You can’t just hand off the planning and writing of the entire proposal to the writer. Staff and stakeholders can provide valuable input and their ideas will make up the heart of the proposal. The more open communication there is between your organization and the grant writer, the more likely it is that you’ll come away with a winning proposal that reflects your organization’s values and mission.
Go Close to Home
One way to make it easier for a grant writer to be in open communication with your organization and get a better feel for it’s mission and vision is for the writer to visit your building. This is obviously much more cost effective and feasible if the grant writer is based nearby. Take this into consideration when you’re making your final hiring decisions.
Archive Your Success
Consider creating an archive of all successfully funded proposals from which grant writers can pull data. Looking back on your successes may also give you a sense of where you’re organization’s strengths lie.
Go In For the Long Haul
If you find a good grant writer, don’t let them go. The longer a writer works with your organization, the better and faster they will become at writing proposals. This will save your organization time and money down the road.
If you put in the time and effort, a grant writer can become a valuable, cost effective resource for your organization. If you’re still in the stages of looking for a grant writer, check out What to Look for in Grant Writer.
