Grant Writing Mistakes to Avoid (and What to Do Instead)
Certain mistakes can instantly kill your proposal’s chance of being funded and thus intimidates us from looking for foundation funding and writing grant proposals. But you don’t need to be! This webinar will focus on common mistakes that are made in grant writing and how to avoid them by keeping the foundation’s interest first and presenting your proposal with clarity.
- Are you submitting the correct financial information?
- How to interpret prospect research so you’re not wasting your time on the wrong proposals.
- Things you should never say in a proposal—and better ways to answer tricky questions.
- How to not get bogged down in one section of an application.
- And more grant writing pitfalls that you can side-step to be more effective and efficient.
Presenter
Laura Jansen has more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, including 13 years as a grant writer. She began her career as the box office manager and children’s theatre producer at Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, Ill., and continued working in the arts at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Urban Gateways in Chicago, and Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Montgomery, Ala. Jansen’s consulting career has covered a range of causes, including the arts, education, youth development, homelessness/housing, and LGBTQ populations.
An accomplished grant writer, Jansen has written hundreds of successfully-funded proposals. Highlights include Impact 100, the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions (both for Albany Park Theater Project), and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring from the National Science Foundation (for Project Exploration). In addition, Jansen has worked with clients to develop fundraising plans, train board and staff, hire new staff, and effectively tell their organizational story.
