As a new staff grantwriter, the first step is to learn as much as you can about your new organization, its mission, and its environment. Sell yourself on the organization before you sell it to others. Review everything you can find: current and past program materials, newsletters, annual reports, previous grant proposals (funded and not funded), articles about the organization, and reports to funders.

Get to know the people who provide programs. Interview them to learn more about specific programs and how you can best support their work. Begin to establish a relationship that will expedite the flow of information you need for your grantwriting. Critical issues for the grantwriter include:

• How do the programs change people’s lives?

• How do we know that? (The answer should include measurable results, i.e. data.)

• What community needs do the programs address?

• Where does the program need to be one, two, and three years from now?

Talk to direct service staff and observe or take part in the actual service your organization provides (sit in on a class, volunteer at a food bank, attend a concert, etc.). You will be able to write much better proposals if you have had some interaction with the people you are serving.

After you have familiarized yourself with the organization from the inside, begin to look at it from the outside.

Donors:

• Read through the files and talk to the staff to understand the relationships that exist with donors.

• Who funds the organization now?

• Who has funded it in the past?

• Have mid-term and final reports gone out regularly?

Call each funder to introduce yourself. Ask if the organization is current on all reports and if not, assure them you will send them what is missing. Then do it. If they have not come to visit the organization, invite them to do so and make the arrangements.

Environment:

What factors influence the organization? These might be socio-economic, geographic, demographic, etc. Identify sources of data to help describe the needs the organization addresses.