When I’m teaching grant-writing workshops outside the U.S. the participants sometimes ask me a very basic question: “Why do foundations give away money?” My answer is that in the United States, people who accumulate large amounts of wealth naturally want to see that wealth stay aggregated in one lump sum after they are gone. (I think it makes them feel better to know that their wealth will continue doing good things for the world long after they are gone.) So, while they cannot take this wealth with them, they can take steps to make sure that it continues to have a powerful influence. The ..read more

The grant innovator form is a simple document I use to organize an agency as it seeks grants.  Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with this surprisingly valuable document by checking out the link at the end of this article. By asking your colleagues to fill it out, you will tactfully motivate them to help you get grant funding.  The form also subtly calls upon you and your associates to think through why a program is needed by your clients in the first place.  It reminds you that the clients are the reason why the foundation feels comfortable giving money to your non-p ..read more

Parallel to the improvisation you do yourself as a grant writer, it is also important to know tools for helping your grant writing team improvise as well. Too often a lack of creative energy can be traced to the fact that various team members may be afraid of failing. With this motivation, they may be more creative in inventing reasons for giving up than coming up with solutions that will make it happen. Below, I will share with you the five most important techniques I have used to help my teams improvise like jazz musicians.  1. Do the Right Thing I picked up this idea from George H.W. B ..read more

Mele Kalikimaka! We wish you a Merry Christmas in Hawaiian because we are in Honolulu tonight enjoying the warm, rainy weather. We welcome a chance to recall the best of 2023. Surprisingly, neither of us native Californians had ever visited Death Valley, despite the fact it is only a four-hour drive away. In February, however, we took a tour of it and tasted the exceptionally pure salt at Badwater Basin, a salt flat located 282 feet below sea level. It is the lowest elevation in North America. Later, we visited the pastel-colored cliffs of Artist’s Palette and iconic movie locations including ..read more

We want to take a moment to let you know how thankful we are to have customers like you. We wish you and your family the best this Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season. Feel free to contact us anytime you have grant writing questions or concerns. Sincerely, John & Trish Drew Lightning Fast Grant Writing john.drew@lightningfastgrantwriting.com 949-338-5921 ..read more

For better or worse, the last two weeks of December are the worst possible time for fundraising activities. The problem is that your donors – individual, corporate, or foundation – are too busy during the holidays to worry about the needs of your charity. Nevertheless, you can make the best use of those last two weeks if you turn your attention to internal projects that otherwise might be neglected due to the business of the year. Completing the tasks listed below will create the foundation for a truly great 2024. The first thing to do is to ask all your management-level staff to fill out the ..read more

Federal grants are highly competitive. These grants can become quite technical and your ability to win may depend on the last-minute relationships you build with people who have very specialized expertise. Below, I will give you a peek at the techniques I use to manage these temporary but very important relationships. Since I do not do academic research full-time anymore, I find I am now more dependent on the goodwill and understanding of national-level research/evaluation consultants. I still remember how to do regression analysis, survey research, or program evaluation; Nevertheless, my expe ..read more

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA – The new Tom Cruise thriller, Dead Reckoning Part One, will be in theaters in July 2023. The return of Ethan Hunt reminds us that one of the most important secrets of success for grant writers is to blow away the funder. After funders have read your application, they should be in awe of your charity. This is particularly true when you are writing grants for a new charity that lacks the built-in credibility of older charities. This raises the question of what techniques can you rely on to help you come up with a creative, remarkable project that would impress even a hard ..read more

As a political scientist, I am always interested in how political consultants used direct mail to raise money and advertise their political candidates. As a grant writing consultant, I have adopted a lot of these same techniques to benefit the non-profit clients we serve at Lightning Fast Grant Writing. Many of the political consultant’s best ideas were the result of early eye-tracking experiments. For a look at some of the most recent developments in eye tracking, please check out the video below:  For example, it turns out that when someone opens a letter the first thing that attracts ..read more

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA – My schedule is not as busy as Elon Musk. Nevertheless, I like to run a tightly organized staff meeting when I get together with our senior grant writers, research assistants, and marketing staff. Here are the tips that I follow to create an effective Lightning Fast meeting. 1. Punctuality: My meetings start and end exactly on time. In my experience, if I get sloppy about starting and ending the meeting on time, people start showing up late and failing to use our limited time efficiently. In my experience, no one shows up late. 2. Allow Time to Blow Off Steam: I start each s ..read more