Fundraising HayDay

These days, grant professionals and fundraisers are often asked to tag team on capital campaigns. When raising a significant amount of money in a set time frame for a new building, large technology upgrade, an endowment, a fleet of new vehicles, or any other large-scaled project, it is typically all hands-on deck. We're offering a step-by-step process, highlighting how grants can and should play a...

You have probably been there before. You already have a full-time job as a teacher, firefighter, major gifts manager, city clerk, accountant, volunteer coordinator, or "fill-in-the-blank job" here. One day your boss comes in and adds grant research and writing to your other duties as assigned. You don't even know where to begin, much less how to submit a completed grant proposal. Trust us when we...

As grant and fundraising professionals, we work with colleagues, boards, partners, other nonprofit agencies, funders, donors, and many other stakeholders. Our job is so much more than bringing in funding. If we are serious about building diversity, equity, and inclusion, we need to build better relationships with all our community stakeholders - making the funding world a better place for every re...

It's the dreaded question most funders ask: how are you going to sustain this program when the grant is over? If we are being brutally honest, the answer is probably to write another grant. But we want to be funded, so a more comprehensive and multi-faceted answer is required. Learn all about the benefits of collaboration, fundraising, and more to create the best sustainability answer possible.

The work is piling up - grant deadlines, conference presentations, a new capital campaign, the next fundraising gala, and other duties as assigned. You feel like you're a jack of all trades, but a master of none. How do you get to the place where you feel good enough and are okay with that? Join our conversation with Jess Pettitt, author of Good Enough Now, as she shares how to "do the best we can...

You know the drill. A funder asks a series of questions, then gives you anywhere from 100 to 1,000 CHARACTERS to answer each question. When you have a million things to share, but a very limited space to do so, how do you fit it all in? Today we're talking writing tight.

Sure, we all speak English, but are we talking about the same thing? Fundraising is not an exclusively American thing, so we are talking to our friend across the pond. David Burgess, and his firm Apollo Fundraising, provides consultancy, training, and support to arts and cultural organizations. Turns out, we have more in common than we think - and more to learn from one another in getting the job...

It's the Fundraising HayDay annual episode that is ripped from the headlines. We are talking grant fraud stories and the consequences that happen when the rules are broken. We've got stories about a university professor and a local mayor. We're also following up on a story from last year's episode about the Tennessee state senator who was accused of using federal grant funds for personal gain. 

Most every grant proposal requires the creation of goal(s) and objective(s) to demonstrate the change your program will bring about during the grant period. If you have ever wondered how to come up with specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-oriented objectives, this is the episode for you. 

It's not unusual to specialize in a specific field of the grant profession. So how do you determine which one fits your career? The best way is to learn as much as you can about the differences between them all. Today we are highlighting Olivia Smith-Daugherty and her work in K-12 education. She manages the grant needs of entire school system, serving students, teachers, and administrators. Could...

Whether you are a one-woman grant office, a consultant with a slew of sub-contractors, or a giant grant team, there are always a million tasks that must be accomplished in the grant profession. So how do you keep up with it all? It's the age-old question for grant pros around the world. Today we are talking with Allison Boyd of Boyd Grants. In 2021 she earned her clients $38 million, which helped...

Last episode we spoke about the whys in grant - as in why do grant applications have such limited character counts to complicated questions and why are grant portals so complicated? In part two of this discussion, we are lifting up organizations and individuals who are fighting the good fight, working to make the grant space more equitable. Learn how you can amplify their voices by participating i...

If you have spent any time preparing a grant proposal, managing a grant program, or dealt with the many requirements centered around grant funding, you have most likely thrown up your hands in frustration, and probably more than once. From limited character counts and ridiculous online portals to the abysmal funding levels awarded to nonprofits serving and led by people of color, it's enough to ma...

Everyone wants grant money for their organization, and why not? It helps fund programs, staffing, infrastructure, equipment, and so much more. But to be competitive in the grant funding world, you need all your ducks in a row to ensure your organization is grant ready. From compiling needed paperwork and creating documents, to ensuring that your organization's board of directors is on board with a...

On November 5, cohosts Amanda Day and Kimberly Hays de Muga joined Lucy Morgan (aka My Fed Trainer) for an "Ask Me Anything" workshop at the 2021 Grant Professionals Association Conference in Seattle, Washington. In this episode, you can listen in on that session - where we cover topics from confessing the biggest grant mistake made to fighting inequities in the grant field. Questions were fielded...

As tradition goes, Kimberly and Amanda share the things that brought them joy throughout the year. Join our annual top ten favorite things, and see what made the list for 2021. 

Whether virtual, on-site, or a hybrid model, professional conferences are a great way to find tips on raising more through grants and fundraising. But they can be overwhelming and exhausting, even if you are attending in your pajamas. In this episode, learn how to get the most from your professional conference experience from an introvert's and an extrovert's point of view.  

Fundraising leaders are required to do so much: help donors give with joy, manage the programs, write quality grant proposals, direct their staff, and so much more. And at the heart of it all, they should care about the work they are doing. Join our cohosts as they speak with Margaret Katz Cann of Fundraising Leadership, an organization who grows nonprofit leaders through coaching and training pro...

Tax exempt organizations in the United States are the third largest employment sector behind manufacturing and retail. Nonprofits do a lot of good. They help feed the hungry, conduct research for childhood cancer, preserve the environment, provide healthcare to the uninsured, fight injustice, and so much more. As much good as nonprofits do in our communities, that does not mean a new nonprofit is...

Join co-hosts Amanda and Kimberly for the ups, downs, and all-arounds of working with Boards of Directors as a board member, staff, or consultant. Successful boards can open doors for fundraising, grant seeking, and building strong partnerships in the communities served.

From productivity tools to social media management, there are a plethora of tech tools to help grant and fundraising professionals with saving time and keep up with it all. Cohosts Amanda and Kimberly share their favorite tools, from Toggl to Miro, and so much more.  Whether you are a consultant or employed by a nonprofit, local government, or other agency, tech tools are a must-have for getting t...

Learn how to make productivity tools work for you, not run your life in this fun, fast-paced interview with Scrum and Agile expert Avi Schneier, the Principle Consultant, Agile Transformations of Scrum Inc. From writing more grants, to raising more money, to the importance of tracking happiness, we cover the waterfront of efficiency and effectiveness in this episode. In the episode, Avi shared thr...

For some fundraising and grant professionals, consulting is the ultimate end game. For others, they fall into it through no fault of their own. Either way, one must do more than build a good product and hope clients will come knocking on the door. Join our conversation with Lucy Morgan, owner of MyFed Trainer, to learn the ropes on building and growing a successful business all your own. 

On this season's episode of the road less traveled we are talking to Simon Scriver, cofounder of Fundraising Everywhere. A backpacking trip in Australia led to his beginnings in the fundraising world, a profession he did not even know existed before then. One never knows their career trajectory in the fundraising field, and it turns out that even a fear of public speaking cannot keep a good fundra...

Today we're talking with Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers, cohosts  of the Pantsuit Politics Podcast. They're known for their grace-filled political discussions, something all grant and fundraising professionals need to know a thing or two about. Join our conversation as we discuss the comeback of federal earmarks, collecting quality data, changing your mind, and having difficult conversatio...