Putting the Fun in Fundraising

Working in development definitely has its ups and downs. When I arrived at Angelwish, the organization had very little experience applying for grants, and as a result one of my primary jobs has been to lay the groundwork for our grant-seeking activities. Initiating something that will affect the organization for years to come was both an exciting and daunting prospect at the start, and after taking an invaluable class at the Foundation Center I dove into my first grant. However, once I finished that first grant and moved on to the next one on our seemingly endless list of potential funders, the sense of excitement quickly wore off. One of the hardest things for me to adjust to at that point in my fellowship was how monotonous grant-writing can be. It was not like Princeton at all with varied assignments for different classes, but rather I was pretty much writing the same thing over and over again with slight changes in format and length.

Nevertheless, I recently noticed that my attitude towards grant-writing has shifted again. I'm not quite sure what sparked this change, but I now approach grants as if it's a game and I need to "beat" the foundation by convincing them to fund our programs. Disclaimer: I am not actually "anti-foundation." - in fact I think collaboration between foundations and non-profits is very important to have effective and efficient programs. However, approaching grant-writing as a form of competition has definitely spurred me to make more tweaks than usual and really work to tailor each grant to its corresponding foundation, all without getting frustrated or bored. In addition to grants, I have also been working on planning some new fundraisers such as cornhole tournaments and events with high school students. Having these extra projects to work on is probably part of the reason my approach to grant-writing has improved- it's nice to be able to take a little break and refresh my thoughts. Angelwish was also recently chosen to be the beneficiary of a Grammy After Party in LA, and we are invited to go meet and greet the guests and tell them about the organization, so that should definitely be another great way to put the fun back in fundraising!

Has anyone else encountered this frustration with the monotony of grants? If so, any other suggestions for how to get past it?