I have had a busy two weeks writing grants for several nonprofits. I volunteer my time since these nonprofits do not have the money to hire a grant writer (if they can find one in this rural area).
I learned grant writing by working way too many decades for the U.S. Defense Department (DoD) writing budget issue papers. The papers were part of a budget process where everyone tried to steal each other’s money. Designed to submit a budget to Congress each year, the budget process was like the grant writing process. Except, stealing each other’s money was a DoD twist.
Writing a grant is like writing an issue paper. It’s about identifying a need, finding a resource with the money, and justifying the program in a way that builds confidence the money will be spent judiciously. Like in DoD, when a program got funding, someone else received less or nothing.
In DoD, few people cared (it was cut throat process). But, the need is more real in the nonprofit world. When asking for money, a grant writer should care about the program because someone will get less or none. Yes, like in DoD some grant writers don’t care as long as they win. However, grant writing should be a more than winning.
There should be passion for the program when writing a grant proposal. I think this was part of my success in the Defense Department. If I believed in the program, I almost always found funding for it.