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We have received some great questions through the
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—keep them coming! One question we have received through the Novice Grant Writer appears below, with my brief answer.
Q: Is it truly necessary to be a "certified" grant writer? Do clients even care?
A: It is definitely not necessary to be a certified grant writer to win the trust of clients and be successful in grant writing. At Educational Resource Consultants, we have succeeded in grant writing for over 10 years and we do not have one “certified” grant writer on staff. Our staff is trained internally. In fact, if someone were to ask me how or where to obtain grant writing certification, I wouldn’t know.
When I first started my grant writing career in 1999, I didn’t have any special background in the field. I also didn’t have any formal background in public education, which is the field within which I became a grant writer. I can say from experience that all it takes to become a successful grant writer is above average writing and critical thinking ability. Also, an experienced mentor helps.
My mentor was my father, who served as the director of resource development for a large school district for 10 years. Although a large part of his job was grant writing, he didn’t have any particular background for it. He was a school psychologist by trade and learned grant writing on the job after he took the position.
Clients will be attracted by your track record of success in grant writing, rather than a particular educational background or certification. Before I had experience, I wrote grants for family friends (who were school administrators). They trusted me because they knew my father and trusted his mentorship.
After getting a number of grants funded, new clients were attracted by the success. No one ever asked me how I learned to write a grant or what training I had completed. They just wanted to get their grants funded.
Want to learn more about the Novice Grant Writer? Click here. Have a question about grant writing you would like answered right here on the blog? E-mail
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to submit your question today!
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