Comments on: Credentials for Grant Writers from the Grant Professionals Certification Institute—If I Only Had A Brain

By: Raechel

Raechel — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:09:21 +0000

I’ve been writing grants for about a year, at first to help local nonprofits I believe in, because I’m a sucker for a hard-luck story, then to help local nonprofits and make some money as well.

I’ve written about 25 now. Some federal (that was a learning experience), some foundation. Six have been awarded, three not, and the remaining are pending. Here’s what I believe I know about the discipline, based on my very limited experience: it’s no more “art” than anything else.

As an aside, doesn’t it just drive you nuts when project managers, teachers, doctors, computer programmers, architects, doctors, and other professionals claim you can’t evaluate their work because “it’s more art than science,” and that you can’t teach what they do for the same reason? The fact that they cannot articulate what they do, or that they can, but jealously guard their knowledge and won’t, doesn’t mean it’s art. Which, of course, we do teach and evaluate, so it’s a bad comparison anyway.

How many times have I heard, so I can hardly imagine the number of times you have, that it’s not possible to quantify the benefits of the program for which someone wants you to seek funding? When you ask for outcome data, you get anecdotes. “We do wonderful things. We can’t quantify it, but let me give you an example …” So, as one commenter said, there’s a lot of “changing the way they do things” in this job. Organizational design consulting, as well as grant writing.

OK, then, off the soapbox.

There are specific skills required, the same skills I used in the large corporate world as an employee, to pitch ideas and get them funded. Do your research; define the problem in a compelling way; devise a plausible, interesting, and efficient solution; put a good budget together; and find a grant-maker whose mission is aligned to your proposal. Not necessarily in that order, of course. Anticipate every objection / concern of the person evaluating your program, and build the answers into the program and the proposal. And then tie it all up with some marketing gloss — memorable names for your program, a few dashes of cool.

One thing I realize is that personal relationships with grant-makers are critical. In the end, much of the decision will be made based on the grant-maker’s trust in you (to be telling the truth) and the organization you represent (to execute). I don’t have those relationships yet, being new to all of this, but I’ve been around the block a few times and know how things work. So if I keep doing this, I’ll work on that component.

And now, for those of you who have been doing this for many years: is there a “best” professional organization for grant writers / developers?

I’m hearing that there is no generally accepted certification, so I’ll happily skip that, because I have managed to avoid certification my entire life, and would hate to give in now.

Thanks for listening to Saturday morning ravings.

By: Andy Anderson

Andy Anderson — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:23:00 +0000

Mr. Selig,
As a long time grant writer and grant writing instructor, I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. A certification is only good to the extent it is accepted by others; and none of the certifications being promoted out there are more valuable than a portfolio of written, approved and funded grant proposals.
I also believe certifications will lead to unreasonable expectations on the part of organizations that hire grant writers. There is never any guarantee of funding because of the often subjective manner in which grants are awarded. When a proposal fails, I can imagine the agency saying, “…but you are a certified grant writer. We paid for a certified grant writer. How could this happen? Why didn’t we get the money? You cheated us!”
There is so much misinformation about grants out there already that touting yourself as a “professional” is going to cause some unrealistic expectations and major disappointments.
If I shelled out good hard cash and didn’t get funded, you can bet if I decide to hire another grant writer, my first question won’t be “do you have credentials?” but, “What is your track record?”
Show me the money!

By: Intelife

Intelife — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:58:37 +0000

Oh, and one other response to some of the other comments on this….I believe the grantwriting community will have to agree to disagree on this issue of certification…at least for now. There is definitely a generational variable going on. It seems that you Seligers started doing this work way before there was any talk of certifications…There are many excellent grant professionals who earned their expertise prior to the possibility of any certifications. However, perhaps for the future it is time to talk of moving to a new level.

By: Intelife

Intelife — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:54:52 +0000

Your “ideal” method of making a grantwriter..i.e. alone in a room with a glass of water and occasional bathroom breaks” was for me the most realistic description of how to become a grantwriter that I have ever read. Hope you don’t mind if I plagiarize those words and try to work them into my humble community college level grantwriting workshops.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:14:19 +0000

Jake – just wanted to follow up with y’all that I did indeed take the GPCI exam this past November and did receive news that I am now Grant Professional Certified – and as promised, along with that recognition, I did receive a pay raise as my employer promised…..

By: Marla

Marla — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:28:06 +0000

Greetings Jake,

I am a degreed engineer and have been working as such for 17 years. I am looking to change careers and I love the idea of grant writing as my next profession. I’m a great researcher and love getting into the weeds of documents, laws, etc.
I read your blog about certifications and your lack of confidence in them. I’m glad I read it because that was exactly the route I was going to take.
I have about five years to make this all happen (my contract is up in 2015).
Would your advice to take a journalism course along with some college level grant writing courses and an apprenticeship apply to me?
Any advise would be appreciated.

By: Jake Seliger

Jake Seliger — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:59:27 +0000

@reader 13: Then on the other hand it states that there’s no reason for a standardized credentialing process and all you need is to take some college level writing classes and find someone to train you.

The major issue with credentialing programs is that they don’t offer any real utility: the only real method to determine who can write grants is to give someone a proposal and see if they can write it. The rest is mere commentary.

Consequently, credentials and classes and all the reset aren’t useful in determining who can actually prepare a proposal, because they’re acting as a proxy for the thing instead of the thing itself.

As for the apprenticeship aspect of grant writing, that’s not an overnight process—”just” finding someone to train you could take years. Becoming a good writer certainly takes years.

Many of the above comments are anonymous: if their writers have so much experience in the field, I’d love to see their own websites or those of the organizations they work for.

By: reader

reader — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:39:08 +0000

It goes without saying that you can’t you can’t come from 0 take a 3 day workshop and call yourself a grant writer, but I see nothing wrong with having a substantive training program and certification process. The article is contradictory. First it wants everyone to know that grant writing is a challenging profession. And that grant writers usually wear other hats (true of just about any profession btw). Then on the other hand it states that there’s no reason for a standardized credentialing process and all you need is to take some college level writing classes and find someone to train you. Hmmm what would it be like if the other professions had that attitude – oh just go take some college level Anatomy and Physiology and pharmacology classes and find a doctor to train you – no license required – call yourself a doctor? Most professions require an examination and certification process in addition to the college degree. If grant writing is on par with other professions (and I agree that it is) then why shouldn’t the certification process be the same?

By: Amylaine

Amylaine — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:03:43 +0000

I would have to disagree. However I do see a lot of scams out there to become a certified grant writer I do not find the idea a scam. As a someone in the industry, I only hire other certified grant writers to work with me when overloaded to work. To get a certification you already have to prove your experience to the GPCI, also they have to pass the tests. This way I know they have some verified experience and know how. As a individual has pointed out before: You could hire a accountant without certification and they could be the best you ever had, but you probably would have better luck looking for a certified accountant. I say the same applies for a certified grant writer.

By: A Capitol Idea « Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

A Capitol Idea « Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:41:58 +0000

[...] consultant with a long list of accomplishments and publications under her belt. After reading the Seliger blog, I was tempted to just avoid the grant writing training route altogether, but there’s [...]