Hey there! My name is Lisa, and I'm SO excited that you're here!
I want to introduce myself, and GroundRoot Grants, to you. You can read more about my credentials and professional experience on the About page (and I encourage you to take a look!), but I wanted to use my very first blog post as an opportunity to tell you about who I am as a person, and why I started GroundRoot Grants.
So who am I?
I'm a doting cat-mom, a foodie obsessed with farmers markets and gourmet cheeses, a current roller skating enthusiast and former roller derby player, an avid reader of memoirs and of historical fiction novels, a lover of stand-up comedy, a proud younger sister, a compassionate friend, and, perhaps most importantly, a believer in the power of community and collective effort.
That’s why I started GroundRoot Grants.
In working for small non-profits, I have learned the importance of grant funding, organizational systems, and planning. In my day job as a Program Director and Grant Writer at a local non-profit, meetings with colleagues and partner organizations often result in some AMAZING program ideas to fix the problems we see and make our communities a better place!
However, it quickly became apparent that great ideas are only the very beginning of what it takes to make change happen. Despite dedicated and passionate staff who work tirelessly, ideas still require capital -- financial and human -- in order to happen. At many smaller non-profit organizations, that capital comes together in piecemeal, through lengthy and tedious applications and requests for funding, often in the form of grants.
When I first started working in non-profits, I thought that grants were just funds that were awarded to organizations for their commendable mission, and could be used for anything that organization needed. That assumption was very wrong! While grants consist of funds that are awarded, they entail so much more. To start, you have to submit a letter describing your interest in applying for the grant. Only if your letter passes muster, are you invited to submit a full application, followed by developing a detailed project plan and budget, evaluating and reporting on your efforts, submitting letters of support from your partners, adhering to specific funding restrictions and communication guidelines, attending trainings and meetings with the funders, maintaining detailed accounting records of your expenses, and more! The strings tied to a grant award can feel never-ending, and suddenly those great ideas you had have turned into a whole lot of administrative work!
And that’s where the idea for GroundRoot Grants took hold. As someone who has worked almost entirely with non-profits for the tenure of my professional career, I know that all these tasks are time-consuming and are often assigned to the same person who is implementing the project. (And I tip my hat to those of us who wear MANY hats in our jobs!) For me, these extra hats are my FAVORITE part of the proverbial work uniform. (Real uniforms I’m not such a fan of!) I love writing and wordsmithing, organizing, planning, crunching numbers, and even doing paperwork! When all these things are done successfully in combination, real change not only happens, but the impact becomes visible and evident in a really exciting way -- to your staff, to current and future funders, and to the very communities that you work in.
In launching GroundRoot Grants, I’m excited to learn about and get to know different people, organizations, and projects, and to take off some of those hats for you! Although my specialty lies in writing proposals, I am well-versed in program planning and evaluation, seeking out corporate funders and sponsors, and helping you build efficient, impactful, and sustainable programs at your non-profit. I hope that you will reach out when you need support!
In my blog posts, I’ll be sharing more information about the different elements of writing grants, some technical tips and tools, downloadable templates, and all things non-profit! I hope you will follow along by signing up for the GroundRoot Grants email list, joining the GG social media pages (@groundrootgrants), or simply sending me an email to say hello!
I’d love to learn more about you! Leave a comment on this post to say hi, and let me know if there’s anything non-profit or grant related that you’d like to learn more about!
In kindness and community,
Lisa