USING GRANTS FOR OTHERS AS WELL AS SELF

USING GRANTS FOR OTHERS AS WELL AS SELF A significant part of my income over the years came from grants, either ones I’ve written or projects I’ve been a part of. I’ve learned a few things about writing them, what grant committees look for and how to search out appropriate grants. I’ve also had proposals rejected. The competition, especially for grants in the creative arts, can be stiff, and sometimes there isn’t enough money to fund every project. The first major grant I won was a California artist-in-residency grant. For three years, it provided enough income for me to teach creative writing in a continuation school while allowing time for my own writing. I also wrote a Healthy Start grant for the school. It was accepted and they received $100,000 to set up an onsite nursery and offer healthy living classes for teen parents, a gratifying experience to see under-privileged students receive help to finish high school. I also spent seven years going into California state prisons teaching poetry and creative writing to inmates as part of the William James arts-in-corrections project. They were some of the best students I’ve ever worked with. I’ve written grants for organizations and arts groups, which have supported workshops and readings. A number of smaller grants allowed me time for writing that I might not have otherwise been able to. This past year, I received what, for me, was the creme de la creme. In March, 2011, I was awarded a Fulbright for a writing project, â€Å"The Language of Place† and spent six months in northeastern India on a creative writing project about environment. As part of it, I began a blog, Cloud and Mountain, which I have continued to maintain since returning to the U.S. The most important step of preparing a proposal is to study the organization and successful grants. Ask a granting agency to send you copies of grant proposals they’ve funded. Some make samples available online. This gives you a chance to see what types of projects have succeeded, but more importantly, you get an idea of the tone and language preferred. Some other tips: Keep your proposal within the stated limits. If it says proposals should be three to five pages, don’t send in two pages, don’t send in six. Keep your objective narrow and realistic. People who read proposals have a keen eye for projects that promise too much. Make your language positive. Focus on what you can do and show how your past experience will help you achieve your objectives with this grant. Do a very careful proofreading! Spelling or grammatical errors are a sure way to get your grant rejected. Even if you have a dynamite proposal, if the writing is sloppy it suggests you don’t care enough about it to bother with basic mechanics. An equally important step is to state how your project can benefit others. The Fulbright is a diplomacy program, so they seek projects that will contribute to a cross-cultural exchange with a host country. However, all grants will likely have a service component. Don’t just think about what you want to get out of your project, but what is its place in the bigger world? Will you be offering something that goes beyond yourself? In fact, this is not a bad philosophy for life! Here are few links that might be helpful: Getting a Fulbright Scholarship in Creative Writing Funds for Writers National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Writers:The Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Foundation Fulbright International Exchange of Scholars Grant Seekers Cafe:a blog with a lot of good information on applying for grants Grant Seekers Guide: This site from Penn State Extension has some good articles on applying for grants and information for both Pennsylvania and nation-wide funding sources