A .0001 second difference can separate an Olympic Gold Medalist from a Silver Medalist for swimming, and a five minute difference may separate her and the hapless competitor from Lower Slabovia. The fastest swimmers win medals and the slowest swimmers get new Speedos. Think of the intrepid ski jumper, Eddie the Eagle, in the 1984 [...]
Entries from July 2010
Why Winning an Olympic Gold Medal is Not Like Getting a Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) Grant
July 25th, 2010 · 5 Comments
Tags: Advice · Government · Grants · Stories · Technical
July 2010 Links: Community Economic Development Projects, Partnerships, the Dunning-Kruger Effect, the Street Outreach Program, and More
July 18th, 2010 · No Comments
* Dean Dad on Partnerships from the perspective of a community college administrator:
You don’t really appreciate how difficult collaboration is until you contrast it to running your own stuff. Every collaboration needs a “go-to person” at each site, sometimes grant-funded, sometimes not. Every collaboration has its own calendar, which is usually an amalgam of the [...]
How to Write a “Juicy” Nonprofit Blog — or a Blog of Any Kind
July 17th, 2010 · 1 Comment
July’s “Nonprofit Blog Carnival” asks for suggestions on “How to Create a Juicy Nonprofit Blog.” I’m not sure it’s possible to write a “juicy” nonprofit blog—I can’t see how SIX SHOCKING CELEBRITY SEX TAPE SCANDALS!!!! would apply to the sector, except as Google bait and something to draw the idea of otherwise bored readers to [...]
Tags: Advice · Blogging · Stories
National Institute of Health (NIH) Grant Writers: An Endangered Species or Hidden Like Hobbits?
July 11th, 2010 · 1 Comment
Type “NIH Grant Writers” into Google and look at what you find: pages and pages of “how-to” sheets with no actual grant writers to be found.
That’s not surprising: trying to become a specialist NIH grant writing consultant would be really, really hard because the niche is sufficiently small that one couldn’t easily build a business [...]
Tags: Advice · Grants · Stories
Speaking of Short Deadlines, Notice the Strengthening Institutions Program, the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, the Linkage to Life Program: Rebuilding Broken Bridges for Minority Families Impacted by HIV/AIDS, and Minority Community HIV/AIDS Partnership: Preventing Risky Behaviors Among Minority College Students
July 10th, 2010 · No Comments
In a recent post, Isaac said that “Another client, for whom we wrote a funded Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control (LBPHC) Program proposal last year, was just at the grantee meeting. The HUD program officer told the group that all of the NOFAs are late this year (duh!) but would be issued with short turnarounds—just like [...]
Tags: Advice · Deadlines · Government · Grants
The Ups and Downs of Using a Fiscal Agent to Apply for Grants
July 5th, 2010 · 2 Comments
We sometimes write proposals, usually for foundation grants, when the applicant is not tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Most government grant programs and almost all foundations require that the applicant be a public benefit, tax exempt organization, but one can also use a fiscal agent/fiscal sponsor. A fiscal agent [...]