Forget the Art, I Smell Money!

By Ian Wright

Imagine this scenario: A busy office in a dynamic, thriving organisation. They wish to apply for a development grant to produce an innovative, multimedia educational resource for young people. Staff are extremely busy with their core work. They have limited experience in applying for grants and know very little about the organisation offering the funding. How do they move from thinking about it to actually producing a high quality, competitive submission?

It’s obvious. They engage a specialist grant writer.

This scenario outlines an exciting, developing market for writers. In an era of increasing specialisation, the grant (or tender) writer is becoming a valuable asset to organisations, both commercial and not-for-profit.

So what does a grant writer do?

How long is a piece of string? How many wombats are there in Australia? In the broadest terms, a grant writer is responsible for producing a grant or tender document.

The minimum role for a grant writer could be as a sub-editor, polishing, proofreading and editing the almost final product written by others. Alternatively it could be to analyse background information and funding guidelines to produce the first draft of a document that will be subsequently developed and refined by others.

The maximum role would be to become the group facilitator of the team putting the proposal together. Becoming involved at the beginning, participating and even facilitating the discussions at which the project idea is formulated and developed, producing draft documents, remaining involved throughout the ongoing developmental process and concluding by dotting the last ‘i’ before the document is submitted.

The extent of the writer’s involvement will be determined by the commissioning organisation and will be influenced by existing expertise within the organisation, internal organisational resources, timelines and budget.

The grant writer almost always works on a commissioned basis, engaged for specific projects. The scale of the writer’s involvement is negotiated at the outset and may or may not involve a formal contract. In my experience organisations want a firm quote for the project and will not engage a writer on an open ended, hourly fee basis.

Necessary attributes for a grant writer

Probably the key skills that a grant writer needs are the ability to rapidly understand new information, the ability to synthesize it and finally the ability to translate it into clear, accessible text. As a grant writer, you frequently find yourself working in industry sectors of which you have little or no personal experience. In order to produce credible documents, you need to rapidly absorb the language and culture of the particular sector as well as any technical information. Although you would normally expect substantial technical input from within the organisation, you need to be able to rework this information into the document and that will require a good grasp of the technical detail. Timelines are usually short so you need to be able to work efficiently under pressure. This implies a capacity to write quickly and well so that your first draft is close to your last draft. This is not an area of work for people who like to endlessly finesse their work.

Specialisation

It is possible to specialise, but that requires a sufficiently large market to support specialists. In smaller markets, specialisation may not be possible.

Structure

As with any piece of effective writing, structure is important. Grant guidelines often define the structure of the document. The writer needs to be able to work within this structure and arrange information accordingly. If the application guidelines are not prescriptive, it is extremely important that the grant document have a logical, sequential structure which presents the most important information effectively. The reader needs to be led through a series of steps which build to a climax, which is the presentation of the stunningly brilliant proposal that is the heart of your submission.

Audience

In grant and tender writing you may be writing to an audience as small as three or four people. It is imperative that you understand this audience and what they are looking for in the proposals. This requires research. It is often possible to speak to representatives of the funding agency and to examine successful submissions from the past. You may also need to research the industry sector for its current buzz words and contemporary themes. This all adds up to developing a feel for the ‘culture’ of the industry sector that in turn enables you to write as an informed insider.

Language

Using the appropriate lexicon for the target audience is essential. The grant document should use the language of the sector to which it is directed. Using contemporary language and jargon, with restraint, can reinforce the credibility of the submission. Avoid using excessive jargon or jargon you don’t fully understand - if in doubt, leave it out. Nothing beats clear, simple language.

Technology

It is an advantage to have a high level of computer literacy. As use of technology in the workplace increases, parts of a grant submission will come to you electronically, on disk or by email. It would also help to have knowledge of electronic document formats as you may find yourself needing to convert and reformat documents as you work. You may also need to send draft documents back and forth electronically which is both convenient and a great time saver.

There is a high likelihood you will also end up formatting the final proposal. To do this, you need to know your word processor or page layout application well. Two days before a submission is due is definitely not a good time to do a crash course in using style sheets in your word processor.

While PCs are the workhorses of industry, the Apple Macintosh is much more flexible when it comes to reading and writing a variety of disk and document formats (including PC formats) and arguably still has a more efficient user interface.

Getting Started

Breaking into this market is best achieved through person-to-person marketing. Identify the sectors you feel most comfortable in, locate organisations that may need your services, gather up samples of your writing and go and talk to people. In my experience it isn’t particularly difficult to get appointments to meet the right people. Do respect people’s time. Keep your initial visit short and sharp, perhaps down to fifteen minutes. Be honest about the fact that you are marketing yourself. Offer yourself as a positive solution to the organisation’s problem.

Winning the first ‘try out’ jobs are not too difficult. You know you’re doing well when you start getting repeat work.

As your experience develops and your confidence with it, you might consider moving into less familiar industry sectors. Over time you develop a clear understanding of your strengths. With this knowledge, tailor your presentation to potential clients in terms of these strengths. If you believe in yourself, it is a lot easier to convince others to do likewise.

Some thoughts on quoting

When quoting keep in mind that clients ALWAYS underestimate how long this work takes. Until you are experienced, work out a reasonable quote and double it. (Alternatively, expect to work for half your hourly rate or worse because that will be the outcome if you get your quote wrong.) Don’t forget to factor in meetings with the client - they have to be paid for too.

Differences between Grants and Tenders

Grant programs generally call for proposals developed to fit within a set of guidelines that are often quite broad and allow considerable creative flexibility in shaping a proposal. Tendering usually involves a relatively precise specification of what is to be provided and allows less creative flexibility on the part of the organisation submitting the tender.

And finally...

Grant writing is indeed a creative process - taking a project idea and crafting it into a well written, articulate and compelling proposal is creatively demanding and artistically satisfying.

It is hard work, requiring fully committed bursts of high energy, usually within tight timelines. It can be mentally and intellectually demanding. If you are a logical and clear thinker, able to write well and enjoy lots of variety, have a go.

There are a lot of clients for you out there. It’s just that they haven’t met you yet!

-- IW
© Ian Wright, 1999