What Is Grants Coaching?

A lot of people start out in grant writing without really planning on it. They just need to raise more money to support their own job, or to grow a program they care about deeply. You might just jump right in because the need is so pressing, or you might have the time and money to attend a workshop on how to do it.

Either way, you’re going to stumble into a lot of questions and challenges you didn’t anticipate, and they have a nasty tendency to come up in the last few days before the deadline. I’ve taught a lot of grants workshops and attended a few – they don’t prepare you for the reality of this type of work because they can’t – it’s too complex and too diverse.

Knowing how to deal with these things comes with experience. In the past this experience was often passed on through informal mentoring relationships, but this if far less common today, so I’m offering a new way to get the same benefits.

I’ve been mentored by some of the best when I was starting out. I’ve mentored others both informally and through structured programs designed to build community capacity.

My Grants Coaching packages involve paying for a fixed number of hours – usable to address specific problems at any time over a one-year period. Grant deadlines tend to cluster at certain times of year while others are very quiet – this helps to ensure that you can use your hours when you need them the most.

Some things you might want to ask about with your grants coaching hours:

  • How to find funders and identify the best prospects.
  • How to make first contact with a new prospective funder.
  • What writing style should I use?
  • Where does AI fit in?
  • The guidelines are confusing!
  • I just need a sounding board for some rough ideas.
  • Navigating your organization’s approval process.
  • Where to start? Not necessarily at the beginning!
  • Budgets and timelines.
  • Proofread the final draft.

Please get in touch if you’d like to arrange a free chat about how grants coaching could work for you – packages are available for individuals or organizations.