Grant Writing Tips

We hosted an Informational Interview Challenge in the Global Grant Writers Collective and we learned so much. 🤓Why did we do this Challenge? Well, lots of people in the Collective were getting hung up on these things:🔸 Convos not going the way they wanted them to🔸 Not drawing out the need🔸 Spinning wheels🔸 Fear of reaching out AND, a foundational aspect of your success deploying the Grant Writing Unicorn Method is conducting informational interviews. So, we did this challenge to blast 🚀 those roadblocks out of the way!This video highlights our key takeaways, a brief overview of the audit Merdith did on her own interview, 🧐 and tips on how to have the best info interview and create opportunities for yourself.Confused how informational interviews fit into our overall process? Stop 🛑 and watch this webinar for how all the puzzle pieces fit together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjbmZoe8W5U&t=2765s ➡️ Organic Networking Framework: tried and true method to find paid work opportunities through informational interviews, without prior grant writing experience. ➡️ Informational Interview: having a genuinely curious conversation with someone that interests you to learn about them and their organization. These interviews allow you to draw out an individual’s pain points, need to understand grant writing, or need for a grant writer. If there is a need, you can present yourself as the solution! 🎉We have a 5-Step Checklist for the Organic Networking Framework. All the details are in the Course in Phase 1.1️⃣ Contact List Development2️⃣ Outreach3️⃣ Preparation for conversation4️⃣ The Informational Interview5️⃣ Follow UpReasonable expectations of the informational interview process include:🔸 33% of the interview requests you send out will result in an interview. 🔸 Not every proposal is accepted, even if they ask for one. 🔸 You are worthy of paid work, even as a beginner. It’s totally a numbers #️⃣ game. The more you do, the better you get at it, the more opportunities you will create for yourself.We recommend you record your interviews so that you don’t have to furiously take notes 📝 and can just listen. In the Bonus Training available to Collective members, there are lots of interview audits covering what to do and what not to do.Meredith did this challenge too! Auditing your own conversation is where you’ll do the most learning…even if it’s brutal. 😬✨ Pro tip: If you have any connection to any community or organization, that can be a great starting point. Don’t get so hung up on it having to be a super cold lead. ❄️ Start within the sphere of your network that you have a touchpoint with. ❗MAJOR TAKEAWAYS ❗💡 Quantity matters. 💡 Record your interviews or you’ll never get way, way better at it.💡 Your intent is key. When you meet with people, you must enter into the space from a place of genuine curiosity and desire to serve and help. Info interviews and the Organic Network Framework are not sales. You literally help a person with a problem if there is a problem. That is values aligned. ✨ FYI: There is a full, in depth debrief in the Bonus Trainings section available to the Collective. Conducting info interviews is truly a skill that you can fine-tune and one that can change your life!More questions? Post them in the comments section below!Still have questions about the Global Grant Writers Collective? Check out this elaborate FAQ page: https://www.learngrantwriting.org/faq Feel free to DM us on Instagram as well. https://www.instagram.com/learngrantwriting/ Timestamps:00:00 Introduction01:37 Recap on Organic Networking Framework02:08 Informational Interview02:30 5-Step Checklist Overview02:53 Expectations04:27 Sneak Peek of Bonus Training Inside the Course08:06 Major Takeaways