Think and Ink Grants

OCTOBER 30, 2024

There are a few common questions grantmakers will ask to see how if a grant applicant is a high-performing nonprofit: "Tell us about your organization." After working with multiple high-performing organizations across the country, winning grant after grant, I have found that they all have the following five things in common.

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Grants Grant GPC Grant Writing 52

Pamela Grow

AUGUST 14, 2024

Successful nonprofits have a diverse revenue stream, and grant funding is often a key component. But grants are not a magic bullet to fix funding woes. Learn what grants can and cannot do for your organization, along with tips for finding the right fit for your agency’s mission and programs.

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Funding GPC Grants Grant 130

Think and Ink Grants

JANUARY 13, 2025

Every organization engages in the vital process of writing grants. The reality is that writing a grant is only the first step in a highly competitive process. Winning grants, especially in 2025, requires organizations to operate at the highest level of excellence and strategy.

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Grants Grant GPC Consulting 52

Assel Grant Services

DECEMBER 2, 2024

The client felt confident putting the funder on their own grant calendar for the upcoming year, allowing me to focus my time on another funding priority because they were sure that the foundation would continue its support. As grant professionals, we must ensure that our clients’ projects match the funder’s goals.

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Think and Ink Grants

NOVEMBER 30, 2024

Grant writing is a vital skill for local nonprofits seeking funding to support their missions. This blog will explore key strategies and tips to enhance your grant writing skills, helping your organization to secure the funding it deserves. Each grants comes with its own set of criteria, expectations, and reporting requirements.

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Think and Ink Grants

DECEMBER 2, 2024

Grant writing is a vital skill for nonprofits, artists, and educators in Atlanta, aimed at securing funding to enhance community projects and initiatives. This blog delves into the nuances of grant writing, exploring best practices, resources, and success stories from the heart of Georgia.

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Grant Writing Grants Grant Proposal 52

Grant Professionals Association

NOVEMBER 22, 2024

Consider the following: How many grants and LOIs did you submit? How did your team respond to changes in the grant profession, such as the new Uniform Guidance for federal funds? Discern what you can from unfunded grant proposals and feedback from grant reviewers or program officers to determine areas of improvement.

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GPCI Grantschool GPC LOI 52

Pamela Grow

AUGUST 30, 2023

It’s the grant application question you always dread… How will your organization sustain this program when the grant is complete? But the real answers to the sustainability question start long before keying in the first word on a grant application. No fluff, no filler, no BS.

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GPC Applicant Application Grant 130

Assel Grant Services

MARCH 10, 2024

Staying on top of your grant projects doesn’t necessarily require fancy software or the newest technology. Whether grant files, program files, or donor files – developing or maintaining a filing system that is easy to navigate is essential. Then, each of those grant funder folders will have subfolders organized by year.

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GPC Letter Of Intent Grant Readiness Readiness 81

Assel Grant Services

JANUARY 11, 2024

All that said, there are several other ways that organizations can (and should) move beyond the “thank you” to build better and more genuine partnerships with their grant funders. Read the award letter or grant agreement. Do what you said you were going to do with the grant funds they provided.

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GPC Grants Grant Ethics 80

Grant Professionals Association

JANUARY 17, 2025

Development consultantsincluding grant professionals, major donor researchers, capital campaign pros, and morecan fill gaps, but it can be hard to see benefits over their fees. While this consultant may need oversight or training to get started, your team can oversee the details along the way and trust the outcomes.

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Assel Grant Services

JANUARY 6, 2024

In 2020, three grant professionals ( Bachman, Planton, and Rodgers) set out to identify the prevalence of burnout among the grant profession. It’s a new year, and grant professionals constantly see an upcoming deadline, a great new opportunity, or a need to raise more money. And that “the flow of work never stops.”

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Burnout GPC Grant Calendar Grants Calendar 78

Assel Grant Services

JANUARY 28, 2024

Denial can be challenging, especially when your grant proposals seem to be on a losing streak. Before you start rethinking your grant strategy or wondering if you’re doing something wrong, there may be other proactive steps and factors to take into consideration. Grant funding is complex.

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GPC Proposal Applicant Application 70

Assel Grant Services

APRIL 29, 2024

If you were to ask grant professionals how they arrived at their current position/role, most would laugh and relate a roundabout journey. Grant Professional is not at the top of the list of jobs to which children, youth, and teens aspire. As a result, there are many professional certifications that benefit the grants profession.

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GPC Grants Grant Pass-Through 40

Assel Grant Services

JUNE 24, 2024

Have you ever stopped to consider the reasons why you sign up for webinars, attain or continue to maintain your grant professional certification (GPC), or set out to learn an entirely new skill set (like project management)? For some, an employer prioritizes professional development and encourages developing a training plan.

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GPC Grantschool GPCI Grant Management 40

Grant Professionals Association

MARCH 13, 2024

Many grant professionals come into the profession through various paths. Attaining one’s Grant Professional Certification (GPC), the only accredited credential for the grant profession, is one way to demonstrate a high level of expertise, knowledge, and experience. Why Accreditation?

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Assel Grant Services

JULY 6, 2024

As a grant professional, are you asked to identify performance measurements for your organization or clients? Evaluating the performance of a grant department or grant professional is a nuanced task. So, how can an organization effectively evaluate the performance of a grant department and set realistic goals?

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Metrics GPC Grants Grant 40

Assel Grant Services

MARCH 31, 2024

March Madness is in full swing, and all this talk about competition and brackets makes me think about how grant writing relates. Grants, much like professional sports, are competitive, and increasingly so. To be competitive, your grant team must train and prepare to advance through the rounds and win awards.

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DH Leonard Consulting & Grant Writing Services

JUNE 24, 2022

Anytime I lead a grant writing workshop, I always ask the attendees to share their grant experience – whether they’ve been a grant professional for years and are looking for a refresher or if they’ve been voluntold that grants are now under their preview. But that dream world of mine does not exist.

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Grants Grant Grant Writing Grant Readiness 59

Assel Grant Services

MAY 26, 2024

It’s not news that grant professionals are often underrecognized for their vast knowledge, technical and subject matter expertise, and contributions to organizational success. Think about the hours of training, years of experience, or credentials you obtained to become a grant professional. Let go of perfectionism.

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GPC Grants Grant Burnout 40

Assel Grant Services

MARCH 3, 2024

“For starters, we would like it to be known that it’s International Grant Professionals Day. That’s just one of the responses I got when I posed this question to my fellow grant pros – “What do you really want on International Grant Professionals Day? That would be a fine gift for any grant pro to receive! “I

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GPC Grants Grant Strategic Plan 52

Assel Grant Services

SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

Too often, grant management is seen as a scary, messy aspect of grant funding, and we have a vague understanding of the requirements or components. In the nonprofit field, it’s common for staff to be put in a role where they manage grants but might not have the knowledge or resources to understand what that entails.

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Grant Management GPC Management Pass-Through 40

Grant Professionals Association

JULY 10, 2024

Do you want to be happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative, especially as a grant professional? I was particularly frustrated because a few years prior, I had trained for a half marathon and completed it quite successfully. Have you ever felt like this as a grant pro? The same applies to working as a grant pro.

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Grants Grant GPCI GPC 64

Grant Professionals Association

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

International Grant Professionals Day (IGPD) is a day that has become one of my favorite professional days of the year. To me, International Grant Professionals Day is a day focused on celebration. But that list is “only” what International Grant Professionals Day means to me. Lawrence River.

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Assel Grant Services

SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

If you have ever flinched at the mention of policies and procedures, conflict of interest, or grant reporting, we may be able to help take the fear out of grant management. Too often, grant management is seen as scary and messy, with staff hesitant to learn because they may uncover more than they know how to handle.

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Grant Management GPC Management Grants 40

Assel Grant Services

OCTOBER 20, 2024

Too often, there is confusion between grants and donations in nonprofit organizations. Additional confusion can be found when major individual donors begin making donations in amounts similar to what an organization can expect to receive as a grant from a foundation. That makes it a grant. They are also about relationships.

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Grant Professionals Association

MAY 15, 2024

Have you ever stopped to consider the reasons why you sign up for webinars, attain or continue to maintain your grant professional certification (GPC), or set out to learn an entirely new skill set (like project management)? For some, an employer prioritizes professional development and encourages developing a training plan.

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Grantschool GPC Federal Award Grant Management 69

Assel Grant Services

JUNE 16, 2024

AGS offers several on-demand webinars on a variety of topics to support the full grant cycle, in addition to an Evaluation Training Series ! Check out our website to learn more and sign up for our training newsletter. Competency #4: Knowledge of how to craft, construct, and submit an effective grant application.

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Assel Grant Services

OCTOBER 14, 2024

Before I began working as a grant consultant, I did not understand all the details and intricacies of grant budgets, including the difference between restricted and unrestricted funds. While restricted grants have distinct benefits in supporting specific initiatives, they come with their own challenges.

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GPC Grants Grant Budget 40

Assel Grant Services

SEPTEMBER 23, 2024

By now, I hope you are realizing grant management doesn’t have to be a scary web of confusing topics and rules. With this grant management series, I aim to outline some of the commonly seen issues and provide resources to learn more. NGMA divides the grant lifecycle into three phases: pre-award, award, and post-award.

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Indirect Cost Indirect Grant Management GPC 40

Grant Professionals Association

SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

I recently participated in a Federal grant review panel for the Department of Education that included ten complex applications with detailed rubrics and a series of 2-3 hour panel discussions over 15 days, including weekends and holidays. Grant writing is not a solo sport. Mastering the art of feedback can help make that happen.

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Proposal Grants Grant GPC 59

Grant Professionals Association

MARCH 28, 2024

A recent State of the Sector webinar on Advocacy in Nonprofit Organizations in my community led to reflection on how opportunities to be an advocate present themselves in my career as a grant professional. I came away with a fresh perspective on how grant professionals advocate for the causes, populations, and organizations they serve daily.

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Assel Grant Services

DECEMBER 15, 2024

Starting a collaborative grant project that requires the successful coordination of team effort can feel daunting. This blog post is aligned with the Grant Professional Certification Institute s Competencies and Skills. This blog post is aligned with the Grant Professional Certification Institute s Competencies and Skills.

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GPC Grant Management Grant Grants 40

Assel Grant Services

APRIL 14, 2024

In grant seeking, fundraising professionals sometimes refer to low-hanging fruit as the donors who give year after year with little effort, synonymous with “easy money.” While the term is often tossed around, it can be frustrating to funders and grant professionals. Develop a donor stewardship plan for grant funders.

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GPC Applicant Application Grant 40

Grant Professionals Association

JUNE 28, 2024

In the ever-changing profession of grant writing, staying on top of new trends and practices is critical for continued success. Lifelong learning helps me to stand out in a pool of applicants, for instance, showing potential employers that I have obtained my GPC (Grant Professionals Certified), the nation’s only accredited grant credential.

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Education GPCI GPC Training 52

Grant Professionals Association

MAY 22, 2024

Across the nonprofit sector, there are countless variations in the relationship between organizational grant professionals and philanthropy departments. Traditionally, philanthropy was considered relationship-dependent while grants have been viewed as transactional. Is this a grant? A decision tree is a great first step.

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Grants Grant Metrics Policy 59

Assel Grant Services

FEBRUARY 18, 2024

government or private grants, individual donations, in-kind gifts, volunteers) to achieve their missions, and small organizations often grapple with how to compete in a market publicly dominated by their larger counterparts. When a potential donor or grant funder in the community sees your name or logo, what do they think?

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