Writing Is No Longer a Grant Professional’s Most Important Skill

Maybe you lurched toward a grants career because you felt its writerly pull. This work remains rewarding when you’re the bookish type, but wordsmithing drops in importance the more you focus on major grants.

Writers excel at modest or moderate-sized awards because those focus on the deliverables. As your organization’s grant aspirations get relatively larger, you find that foundations with more assets employ more staff. Your relationships with those professionals buoy your success.

This is especially true for the nationally-oriented groups I work with, where average grant sizes are increasing. In a good year, funders might dispense with six-figure awards because it’s year-end and they need to move money off the books. Those are among the rewards of relationships.

If you haven’t yet confronted the reality that your job is a social one, you’ll find incentives below. Yes, you can bump into these perks, as I often did when they were new to me. Once you know about them—and have solid funder relationships—you can strategically nudge. After all, the best program officers are happy to promote good grantees.

Inside Scoop

One program officer called me the week before his board’s meeting. We had been talking regularly for months. It was clear that he favored my organization’s proposal.

On our call, he coached me to deliver talking points he would present to the board. He outlined what he needed and how he expected his board to react. His suggestions seemed spontaneous, like they were percolating in his brain as they were spilling out of his mouth. There was a comfort level in his stream of consciousness that I had not experienced often with grant makers.

My organization did win the award. What I learned was just as valuable. His foundation’s process informed future solicitations, and future grants.

Networks

If a foundation staffer introduces you to a peer funder, it feels like admission to a secret society. Some program officers go further.

They can lead you to stages or receptions at regional grant maker meetings; funder affinity group conferences; or gatherings of DAF managers, family foundation advisors, or others who serve as philanthropy gatekeepers.

One development colleague attended her grant maker’s board meeting, where her organization was held up as a model grantee in a roomful of regional heavy hitters. That spotlight resulted in a new corporate partnership.

Feedback

The better you know your program officer, the more likely that person will offer or agree to review your proposal. Where your rapport runs deepest, you can expect the most detailed, unvarnished feedback.

One foundation staffer suggested my client omit some ideas that would irritate a board member. Apparently, this trustee would rant at the very mention of his pet peeves and distract the board from the merits of the proposal. Thank goodness our foundation hero was looking out for those unknowable obstacles.

Timing

Don’t underestimate insights around timing. You might find a program officer who guides you to submit when the foundation board has a less competitive docket, or when discretionary funding is available early in the year.

Engagement

As foundations continue to hire former nonprofit leaders over academics, pay attention to their interest in mission-oriented volunteerism. Funders host, judge, and emcee events. Some agree to more sustained engagement, such as ad hoc committees.

It might surprise you to know that funders spend their time with both grantee and non-grantee organizations. While time can seem like a consolation prize in lieu of a check, it signals that this champion of yours is doing all they can to support you.

Status

Once you deepen relationships with foundations, you benefit along with your organization. When a foundation colleague mentions the name of a peer funder, it’s a game-changer when you can credibly say, “Yes, I know Rita Perez.” Foundation executives have repeatedly spoken with more candor when they realize I am part of their circle.

Professional Development

It’s a rare but exciting goal to secure a funder as a mentor. I had one early in my career, and the experience catapulted my ability to foresee paths in this field.

Mine was a more informal mentorship than many, and that was likely intentional on both our parts. I have no doubt that my learning led to many early-stage grants that would have otherwise been out of my reach or off my radar.

Writing + Relationships = A Powerful Equation

It might soothe your writerly side to know that program officers’ insights have made my text stronger or simply more relevant. There’s nothing better than typing with the confidence that you’ve been coached by an ally who has given you an insider’s edge.

Can you still stand out as an excellent writer? Absolutely. The quality isn’t great out there. AI helps with efficiency, not polish. You can sweep program officers off their feet with a succinct narrative or a bold email introduction.

Fixate over your relationships as much as your writing, and you will rise among the stars in our field.