Your Grant Authority

Even though it’s not until November, I have been asked (forced) to turn in my PowerPoint presentation for the American Association of Grantwriting Professionals’ annual conference by June 30th. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had been chosen as one of their speakers for the conference and have been working diligently to get my act together for this event.

Of course, being a grant writer, I’m used to deadlines of all kinds – for the application, for progress reports and for site visits. But November just seems so far away! I’m sweating right now in summer heat and they’re asking me to think about November? However, it reminds me that sometimes I have this same attitude when it comes to grant writing projects. The deadlines just seem so far away and I take my sweet time and then go nuts trying to pull it off. Over the course of my grant writing career, I have learned not to procrastinate as much but I still slip up. Sweating it out at the last minute and scrambling to get everything in order.

Grant applications take a LOT of time to prepare especially if you’re new to the game. Do yourself a favor and get on it right when you learn of that deadline. It will save you more than a few gray hairs and you can just laugh at those who were once in the same boat you were.