It is International Grant Professionals Day #IGPD, an annual celebration on the second Friday of March started by the Grant Professionals Association to recognize the hard work of grant pros around the world. My book, Grantepreneur, describes in detail this career and business, the job opportunities and many benefits, and how to get started in this profession.
Today, I find myself reflecting on how this unexpected career and business choice has improved my life. I have been writing since my teen years, and in my early career served as a nonprofit program manager for health, fitness, and victim services programs, which (a few decades ago) included writing promotional marketing and program guides for the public. On my own time, I wrote creative nonfiction articles and stories, hoping to expand my opportunities as a writer. As sometimes happens, Life intervened. A traumatic event caused a stop in my career for intensive hospitalization and involved having to depend on disability benefits. It was an especially difficult period in my life because I received the message that my career was over, and I should never expect to return to work. Writing helped my healing process and eventually I was able to try working again in a position that combined my writing and training skills at a psychology consulting firm. I was back in the workforce! After two years, the company moved to the West Coast, and I was faced with another decision about where to take my writing skills next. I volunteered to write my first grant proposal for a small nonprofit where my spouse was working in 2002. I loved this type of writing (!) and the proposal earned much-needed funding. The CEO offered a stipend to continue writing for the organization. We were 100% successful working together with three different nonprofits, a real feat in the competitive World of Grants. My enjoyment of this form of writing grew into Heart Resources, LLC in 2005. There was a learning curve to starting this type of business, so I did not let go of disability benefits until I was certain of my health and ability to navigate the stressors of earning a living via writing high-stakes deadline proposals for clients. I attempted to manage grant offices at a few nonprofits and found an undesirable stress level, but working from my home office has allowed me to manage the periodic challenges. Discovering the grant profession was a gift! 24 years as a grant business owner has been deeply meaningful and has allowed me the honor of assisting dozens of organizations to earn millions of dollars - and teaching grants to hundreds of nonprofits and consultants - to improve our communities.
What gifts has the grant profession given to you? Happy #IGPD to all of my grant colleagues!