Grant Writing & Funding

If you have a grant writing business, or you want to become a grant writer, then this interview is gold for you! “The best way to get to success is through failure, and really, embracing failure” - Rodney Walker In this week’s episode, you’ll learn all about: - Rodney’s background and how he got started with grant writing - The very first grant that he got funded - At what point in the process do grant writers get paid? - Rodney's onboarding process for new clients - How he got his very first grant writing client - Choosing your ideal client ,and who is not your ideal client - How to provide value to your clients when you're just getting started - 2 big things every business and organization MUST do to succeed - The first BIG mistake Rodney made (and how you can avoid it!) - Should you focus on branding your business or branding yourself? - Is there enough room in the market for new grant writing businesses? - The most valuable investment that you can make in yourself and your business - Improving your mindset to overcome the fear and doubt - Using a vision board to reinforce positive messages “Be brave. Be bold. Be brilliant.” Rodney Walker is the President of Grant Central USA and is a highly sought-after, Grant Development Systems™ expert that helps thousands of organizations nationwide to get funded! With over 14,000 members in his online discussion group, he influences and inspires people to do a better job of telling their organizational stories to become more attractive to funders. He has helped his clients raise over $357 million in grants and conducts The Ultimate Grant Writing That Gets Funded training workshops nationwide to empower nonprofits, governmental agencies, and individuals on the best ways to secure grant money. They also host the Education Grants Conference that trains schools and districts on today’s best practices in winning educational grants at EducationGrantsConference.com A few of his clients have included United Way, Habitat for Humanity, The Magic Johnson Foundation, the Bush Foundation, Hawaii State Teachers Association, and numerous school districts and city governments. Other celebrity clients have included, Danny Glover and Ben Guillory. Rodney has appeared on ABC, NBC, and CBS News for his work in education and in hundreds of grant training videos and produces numerous award-winning resources at GrantCentralUSA.com Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

**Get your Free Checklist Downloadable www.grantwritingandfunding.com/90 Are you looking for ways to increase money for your nonprofit, or nonprofits that you work with, that doesn’t include funding from grants? Diversifying streams of income for nonprofits is vital. Many clients, especially start-up nonprofits, may think that grants are the only type of funding that they can get. Today, you are going to learn many ways of creating products for your nonprofit. These ideas may help your nonprofit bring in extra revenue that is for operational funds. Why Nonprofit Products Sell You might say, “Ugh. Not another t-shirt for sale! We are competing with millions of others. Why would anyone buy our product?” The truth is that consumers are spending their money more and more these days, on items that make a difference. Consumers are realizing the power and voice in how they spend their dollars. We’ve seen a huge shift in the #shoppingforgood movement where consumers are comparing brands and shopping for items that are actually impacting the world in good ways. We see the reflection of how consumers are shopping with this conscious shopping in mind, especially among millennials. A really cool online platform is called The Good Shop, where you can shop online for thousands of brands and then choose where you want a portion of the profits to go. These nonprofit causes are vetted and show transparency. It is pretty cool! What Products Sell: Ideas for Goods/Products Backpacks / fanny packs Business Card Holders Coffee mugs / Flasks Cookies / Baked Goods Sweatshirts and sweaters Food Truck! (What, yeah!) Hats and caps Jewelry Luggage Tags Notebooks Phone covers Purses Stuffed animals / plushies Tote bags T-shirts Wallets How Products Sell Start Small You’ll want to start small and test the market. Instead of investing thousands into a food truck or converting a kitchen into a commercial kitchen, maybe you test your cookies on a small scale first. Test out what types of cookies sell and unique recipes. Do a survey Put together some product ideas and ask your followers or community what they like and would purchase! This can easily be some mock-ups of different items and price points. If they won’t buy, make sure you ask them why not without badgering them. The feedback will help with your business design! Get Start-Up Capital There are 5 different ways to get capital to help you with developing the products: Pre-Ordering, Corporate investment, Small Business Administration, Grants, and Crowdfunding campaigns. Now is a great time to create products for your nonprofit. Consumers want to engage with your branding and to shop for good reasons. They need clothes, so why not advertise their ethics on their clothing? This will also raise the reach of your branding as often clothes with a great message or interesting logo can start conversations which lead to sharing the nonprofit’s mission. Please share your different product ideas by tagging us @grantwriting_funding on Instagram! I’m SUPER excited about next week’s post! I interviewed Mr. Rodney Walker, President of Grant Central USA. He is absolutely amazing and has helped secure well over $300 million for nonprofits. He also has a super active community on LinkedIn and is one of the most positive individuals I have ever met! Don’t forget to grab the FREE downloadable from last week’s episode! Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

**Get your Free Checklist Downloadable https://www.grantwritingandfunding.com/90 Today, I'm going to discuss 5 different ways that your nonprofit can make some extra money! 1) General Services: According to MissionBox, a fee-for-service approach for nonprofits is defined as “nonprofit uses its earnings to support its mission and prioritizes benefit to the community over profits. Your organization can grow financial sustainability with a fee-for-service model.” 2) Memberships I see a lot of 501(c)6 nonprofits utilizing the basic membership service approach. For example, a Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club, etc. may charge individuals, nonprofits, and corporations a fee to enjoy the membership of the organization. 3) Tuition Fees This is commonly associated with universities, but you could also think of this if your nonprofit is (or can!) offer any knowledge sessions. Nonprofit colleges and schools do charge tuition fees! Just because it is a nonprofit college doesn’t mean it is dirt cheap tuition fees, either! 4) Speaking Engagements / Appearances Your executive director, people who serve on your board of directors, or even some of your volunteers probably have amazing stories! Of course, all won’t necessarily be offered a financial contribution to be speakers, but some might be. Building up to speak at national or international conferences can include a nice side income. But even speaking at local trade associations or chambers can produce some money. 5) Renting out Space Does your nonprofit have a building or physical space? Are you utilizing the space at all times? Well even if you’re not, your are paying for rent 24/7! If you aren’t utilizing the space at all times, you may consider renting out some of that unused space! You could rent out to other nonprofits or individuals to run workshops, AA groups, training, or even baby showers! Maybe your office is closed on the weekends, but a smaller house church would love to rent out your conference room on Sundays? Or maybe you have a beautiful garden area outside (or real quick want to create one!) and you can rent it out for weddings or photoshoots? Don’t forget to grab the FREE downloadable from last week’s episode! Next week, we will discuss developing goods/product ideas for nonprofits to sell that can help bring in even more funding! Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

**Get your Free Checklist Downloadable https://www.grantwritingandfunding.com/90 Do you feel like earning revenue for your nonprofit or the nonprofit you work with is REALLY difficult? Do you feel like there is NO money left? Are you tired of only going after grants for revenue or approaching the same darn corporate sponsors as every other nonprofit? These may be signs that your nonprofit, or the one you are working with, may not be healthy when it comes to funding. But the fact is that most nonprofit executive directors, and many boards of directors, don’t have MBAs or know how to operate a business. Different Types of Revenue Streams for Nonprofits 1. Fees for Services or Goods (Products) 2.Grants 3. Fundraising 4. Corporate Solicitations 5. Individual Charitable Contributions 6. Crowdfunding Campaigns 7. Emerging Social Capital 8. Influencers Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

Alexis Cook is the Co-Founder and Co-President of Unlocked, an ethical jewelry brand that employs and empowers women transitioning out of homelessness in Nashville, Tennessee. She was an Ingram Scholar at Vanderbilt, where she majored in Human and Organizational Development and Economics. Alexis and her co-founder began Unlocked while undergrad students at Vanderbilt, and they went full-time upon graduation in August of 2018. In that short time, Unlocked has grown rapidly and has been in many publications, including the Social Enterprise Alliance and News Channel 5. You can learn more about Alexis, Unlocked, and all the Makers at their website, on Facebook, or on Instagram. Be sure to check out their Indiegogo campaign running now through October 12th! In this week’s episode, you’ll learn all about: -The incredible and inspiring backstory for Unlocked (it’ll give you all the feels!) -How market research guided their business -How they connect with non-profit businesses to employ Makers for the jewelry and provide services for them to help transition out of homelessness -Why they chose to become a for-profit business instead of a non-profit -Unlocked’s vision for 2020 and beyond -How non-profits can develop relationships with for-profit businesses -The growth of for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations -Identifying the right product lines and designs -A pricing model for accessibility and inclusivity -Where can you find Unlocked jewelry? Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

The final step in the G.R.A.N.T.S. Formula is "S," Strategic budget. I am going to show you how to create a strategic budget that you can use for every single grant that you write. By the end of the episode, you will have the tools to create an amazing budget. Having a simple and unified budget format could save you hundreds of hours of frustration. Want a free downloadable CHEAT SHEET and mini, video-series (five day mini video course!)? Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com and get it NOW. You'll get Holly's proven, step-by-step system that has helped her secured millions of dollars for nonprofits over the last 15 years, as well as eliminate wasted hours as a consultant. Create extraordinary grants while minimizing your time writing grants! Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

The fifth step in the G.R.A.N.T.S. Formula is "T," Timetable your Activities. Activities describe what you are going to do, but a timetable will show a clear delineation of each activity, who is responsible for ensuring that it happens when it will happen, and how each activity will be measured. The actual table also helps to break up all the WORDS in your application. You must include the following in your table: Description of the activity, Lead person who will be responsible for the activity, Start date of the activity, End date of the activity, and Measurement of success. Want a free downloadable CHEAT SHEET and mini, video-series (five day mini video course!)? Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com and get it NOW. You'll get Holly's proven, step-by-step system that has helped her secured millions of dollars for nonprofits over the last 15 years, as well as eliminate wasted hours as a consultant. Create extraordinary grants while minimizing your time writing grants! Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

The fourth step for setting up a winning grant structure is "N," Narrowing Your Objectives. In just 5 easy steps, we can take your objective from a wish to a plan! Want a free downloadable CHEAT SHEET and mini, video-series (five day mini video course!)? Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com and get it NOW. You'll get Holly's proven, step-by-step system that has helped her secured millions of dollars for nonprofits over the last 15 years, as well as eliminate wasted hours as a consultant. Create extraordinary grants while minimizing your time writing grants! Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

The third step for setting up a winning grant structure is "A," Articulate Goals. I'll show you step by step how to write a goal that aligns with the priorities of the funding source. Want a free downloadable CHEAT SHEET and mini, video-series (five day mini video course!)? Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com and get it NOW. You'll get Holly's proven, step-by-step system that has helped her secured millions of dollars for nonprofits over the last 15 years, as well as eliminate wasted hours as a consultant. Create extraordinary grants while minimizing your time writing grants! Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

The second step for setting up a winning grant structure is "R," Research Needs. I'll teach you exactly how to use research to explain specifically WHY your project is needed. Want a free downloadable CHEAT SHEET and mini, video-series (five day mini video course!)? Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com and get it NOW. You'll get Holly's proven, step-by-step system that has helped her secured millions of dollars for nonprofits over the last 15 years, as well as eliminate wasted hours as a consultant. Create extraordinary grants while minimizing your time writing grants! Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

Meet the G.R.A.N.T.S. Formula, a proven framework for grant writing! This week we'll start with "G," the first step for setting up a winning grant structure. We'll discuss how you can use an FOA or RFP as a template for your grant application. Want a free downloadable CHEAT SHEET and mini, video-series (five day mini video course!)? Visit www.grantwritingandfunding.com and get it NOW. You'll get Holly's proven, step-by-step system that has helped her secured millions of dollars for nonprofits over the last 15 years, as well as eliminate wasted hours as a consultant. Create extraordinary grants while minimizing your time writing grants! Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

Learn about the process of submitting an IRB application with special guest Dr. Deborah Ellen. Dr. Ellen is Assistant Professor of Education at Guam Community College and active member of the Pacific Islands Bilingual Bicultural Association and co-chair of newly formed non-profit - Talaya Micronesia. Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

What is IRB approval? Do I need one as a grant writer? Do I need one before starting my research? All these questions and more answered as Holly discusses the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

Learn how to track sources and file them into a stunning bibliography for your grant. We're all about citations and celebrations because it's Holly's Birthday! Head on over to www.grantwritingandfunding.com/80 for your FREE gift! Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding

Gathering data is important when supporting grants, connecting with your beneficiaries, providing credibility for your projects, and even understanding what projects to develop. Join Holly as she discusses free and affordable ways your nonprofit can gather research. Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding