March 12, 2013
Veterans For Peace has very little grant income for an organization our size. That is because there are not many foundations whose focus is national grassroots groups whose main work is advocating policy change. And many of these foundations were severely affected by the financial crisis beginning in 2008. In recent years we have even sought help from professionals in the field not found good opportunities. Two workshops I was able to attend recently on grant research and grant writing are suggesting a few new approaches.
I am not a beginner in grant research and writing so I was not sure how helpful a two day workshop provided by GrantWriting USA would be. It was quite worthwhile. The teacher has 30 years of experience in the field which she has distilled into a concise and clear methodology. She also has a very useful supply of advice and resources.
One important thing I learned in that workshop was that the resources available in the professional version of The Foundation Center database are significantly more helpful than the public version. Not only does the great St. Louis Public Library have the professional subscription, yesterday they offered a workshop on getting the most out of it. The search tools allow us to seek funding for specific purposes like conferences, training, communication and planning. It allows us to easily see who has funded organizations similar to VFP, what size grants they make, etc.
Grant writing is always a long-term process but I am glad to have a few more paths to pursue. A year from now it may make a difference!