Not everyone or every organization in this world has the funds to work on their ideas, business purposes, or social causes. That’s where a grant writer comes into the picture. As a grant writer, you help these organizations or people to get funding to work on their projects or ideas. Grant writing is often considered to be very difficult and technical. But, that’s not the case. Instead, you can become and excel as a grant writer with the right strategy.
How to become a grant writer
There’s no particular educational degree required to become a grant writer. But, a bachelor’s degree in any writing-intensive or language fields, such as journalism and English, is recommended to give you a beginner’s advantage. Once you have an undergraduate degree, it is time to get a grant-writing certification from a reputed and recognized institution. Certifications are essential as they can increase your credibility as a writer, thereby allowing you to find a position as a grant writer and also help earn more than the average salary of $42,528.
These certification courses also provide you with hands-on experience in writing grant proposals, which is a must, as a grant writer’s role is filled with responsibility. That’s because all your clients’ hopes will rely on whether your writing can get them the grant. They will have many expectations from you, and you need to try hard to fulfill all of them. You can opt to find an online grant writing coaching service that offers certification after completing the course. Once you have the degree and the certification, you can either become a freelance grant writer or join a professional association, depending on your preferences.
That’s everything you need to become a grant writer, sounds easy, right? But here’s where your actual struggle begins — the struggle to become a successful grant writer.
How to be successful as a grant writer
Once you become a grant writer, it is important to stay focused and on the right path until you get recognized by some big organizations. We have collated a few tips that will help you excel as a grant writer and ensure your and your organization’s growth.
Connect with organizations who want funds
The best way to get started on your journey as a successful grant writer is by volunteering in fundraising auctions. Such events will help you get an understanding of the grant writing market and how exactly it operates. This will also help you get to know different organizations that rely on funds so that you can later connect with them for a gig. You might also have to volunteer writing grant proposals free of cost at the beginning of your career to get a foot inside the organization. Once you get the experience of writing a few professional grants for reputed, credible organizations, build a strong portfolio with all those names under your belt.
Build your network
Networking is essential in every profession. Hence, along with connecting with the organizations, consider joining a local fundraisers’ community or connecting with other local or international professional grant writers. Using social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, can be a great way to connect with people from your community. It will also help if you can make your professional business cards and hand them over to any person you meet related to your profession. Having a business card and an online website is essential for a grant writer. You can publish your sample works on your website so that organizations can get an idea of how great your writing skills are. Similarly, they can easily contact you when they need your services by referring to your business card.
Research is the key
The only major thing that separates grant writing from other forms of writing services is the research part. You need to study your audience in-depth so that you can build the tone of your grant accordingly. There are so many questions that would arise in the mind of grant sanctions that you need to answer accurately in your proposals. For instance, there may arise questions such as why the grant is required? what your client will do with the grant received? and how your client will measure success? Answering such questions will help the sanctions make the right decisions.
The economy is slumping, and people need donations to fuel their work. This has led to high demand for grant writers. It is now your chance to embrace this opportunity with both hands and build a grant writing career. Following the mentioned tips will help you always stay on the right track to becoming a successful grant writer.
