Grant Applications: Nonprofit headaches

I am currently working on a grant application through the Sterling Savings CRA Grant foundation. I am requesting $10,000 for Kittitas County Habitat for Humanity in order to provide funding to build their 15th house in Kittitas County! This amazing local nonprofit has maintained a great relationship with the local Sterling Savings branches and has been awarded several grants from the Sterling Savings CRA Grant. Thanks to this solid foundation of grant proposals and information, creating this grant proposal is turning out to be a pleasurable experience. As I work my way through this grant application I find myself contemplating some of the issues that are most common with grant writing. These issues are the reason grant writers find themselves banging their head against the wall sometimes.

– It’s just not specific enough!

Successful grant applications are specific and creative. They are written in a way so that it aligns with the mission of the foundation or granter as well as highlighting the key outcomes and indicators of the requesting organization. Sometimes grant writers are not provided with enough information to write these specific grant proposals. Believe it or not, some nonprofits require endless success from grant writers but provide little assistance when it comes to nailing down details. When there is a stall in the path to a complete grant application is can put off projects, throw off budgets and cause big problems for the requesting organization and their goals. Once this problem is addressed within the nonprofit grant writers have an easier time requesting and receiving information to write grant applications.

– Where do I begin?

Grant applications are not small documents that are easy to handle. Some of them can have 2-10 pages of questions and requirements for the requesting organization to complete. Oftentimes the first look through this application can be quite overwhelming. Where to begin can be difficult but once you read through the application it can become more clear to the grant writer. Many applications ask questions that have already been answered in previous grant applications. In this case, a grant writer can actually copy and paste certain sections from previous applications to the new application (making changes where necessary). Sometimes this can lift a huge burden from the shoulders of the grant writer. From there, tackle each question for a little bit at a time. If a grant writer delves into one section and gets stuck, they can waste more time frustrated than if they just moved on and worked on a different section.

– Deadlines!

Deadlines run our lives. Whether it is an appointment we have to get to or the deadline on a grant, there are always stressful moments when trying to get all of the information together to complete the grant application on time. Sometimes the hardest part is getting everyone to work together cohesive enough to compile all the information. In addition to completing the application on time, it can be difficult to submit these applications. Some applications are submitted online and there can be technical difficulties so there needs to be a grace period for submitting the grant application. Basically, deadlines are a lie. The actual deadline should always be two or three days before the posted deadline to leave time for any problems submitting the application.

There are a variety of other stress causing factors grant writers have to deal with, luckily for me, this grant writing experience is going GREAT and I hope to be finishing up soon!

So what exactly is Public Relations?

 

Oftentimes when I tell people I am graduating with a B.A. in Public Relations they ask me, ‘So what EXACTLY is public relations?’

I’m definitely not the only public relations professional who has to answer this question on a regular, if not daily, basis. I think it comes down to how new the industry is and the fact that people don’t know what we do besides the fact that some of us are called ‘spin doctors’ (not a proud moment for any pr professional). Wikipedia defines public relations as “the practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or an organization and the public.” This is a great, back-to-the-basics overview of what we do.

‘Managing information can be a variety of tasks. Reputation management, crisis management, information dissemination, strategic planning, event planning, program managing, etc. the list could go on and on. There are so many different facets of our job as public relations professionals sometimes it is hard for people to wrap their mind around the idea that one profession could cover so many areas of corporate and nonprofit communication.

Public relations specialists spend most of their time meeting with clients, working on teams to create plans for programs, events or public relations strategies. Sometimes, during a crisis or event there needs to be a pr manager on staff to field phone calls. My aunt works for FINRA, a national nonprofit law firm  that works to monitor the stock market and goes after the guys who steal our money. During the Madoff hearings, FINRA pr specialists in 5 offices around the united states were taking up to 50 phone calls from press agencies per hour. This is by no means the best part of the job but it is something that we are responsible for.

The director of the CWU Public Relations program, Cesar Garcia put the public relations field into perspective during our Corporate Public Relations class. “As public relations specialists you will act as a wall between corporations and the public. No information goes out that you don’t see, no information comes in without you analyzing it and you will be responsible for maintaining a positive reputation for your client.” Beyond that, you will be asked to plan events, manage people, be creative and take risks. It is a fast paced environment that leaves many behind in the dust.

I have a great passion for the work I do and I’m looking forward to my future and where I end up putting my experience to use. I have room for so much growth and I am 14 weeks away from jumping into the real world!

How can I help you?

One hardship when working freelance PR is meeting with people who have no idea what they want. It’s like someone really wanting to play baseball but then having no understanding or skills so they never go anywhere. This is the reason I started providing pro bono work for local businesses and nonprofits. Everyone wants to increase awareness for their business weather it be through an intensive social media plan or an extensive marketing plan but most people have no idea where to start. That is where us PR professionals have to step in. There are three things I keep in mind at all times during these initial meetings:

1. How sustainable is this plan?

2. Could we substitute as public relations tactic in for that marketing expense?

3. Realistically, can the organization/business carry out this tactic?

These guidelines help me keep the client on track and curb the client’s imagination so they don’t end up flying off the handle. Getting started is all about throwing out ideas and getting a realistic list of tactics together. Making sure to follow these guidelines can help the pr and marketing team develop an easy-to-understand plan for the client.