Professional Experience Placement

At some point in your career, you may decide to apply for a small grant for travel or funds to undertake a project that interests you. Professional bodies such as the ANMF, the ACN and philanthropic organisations such as the Ian Potter Foundation, Clifford Craig Trust or Tasmanian Community Fund offer these opportunities for individuals or groups. Funding can vary and have inclusion and exclusion criteria. Often there are funding rounds with information sessions, guidelines  or pro formas to navigate.

Before you apply ensure you or your organisation is eligible. If you are, often there are previous applications or tip sheets to use to guide your application. Ensure you use these resources as they could improve your chance of submitting an application that is funded. Make sure you know how the funding organisation would like the application submitted and how many copies are to included. Also check you  have the correct submission date!

Once you have an understanding of the process you can focus on the content of the application. Grant writing is a skill. It is similar to learning how to write academic prose or case notes. There are differences in styles of writing that can make a difference to whether your application is considered or discarded in the early stages of review. You need to ensure you pitch your application appropriately to the audience who will will be working their way through a host of submissions. If your formatting  and word counts per section are incorrect, there is a chance your submission will go no further.

Porter (2006) provided sage advice to potential applicants. He described the difference between academic writing and grant proposals. The author indicated that the writing is more energetic, direct, and concise. He mentioned that jargon and acronyms  are to be avoided. Porter (2006) provided a table of the contrasting perspectives of academic writing and grant writing that could be useful to guide your efforts. He provided an insight into how to position your proposal to be successful. It needs to be pitched to ensure the funders program is successful!

Once you have written your submission, get others to critique it as their objective assessments could improve your clarity and flow. Once you think you have completed it, make sure you check off the funder’s requirements. If you have time, let the application sit for a few days before you undertake a final review, you may find there are further changes that could improve your submission. After all that effort, send the application as per the guidelines and then start the wait to find out!

If you have any suggestions or comments about small grant writing you are welcome to post them here. Join us @PEPCommunity.