Grant writers are tasked with researching, drafting, and submitting proposals for organizations including educational institutions, social advocacy groups, healthcare groups, and more. Often, grant writers also handle other fundraising activities, including identifying funding sources, budgeting, and managing resources.

Not-for-profit (or nonprofit) 501(c) entities rely on fundraising and development to sustain their mission. Grant writing is one of the key strategies in the nonprofits sector for fundraising.

The Federal government is the largest source of grant funding. Additionally, nonprofits organizations can sustain themselves with grants from state, foundation and corporate grants.

Nonprofit organizations will always need fundraising to maintain operational expenses, and grant writing is the main way this is done. Grant writing can be a well-paying career if you have strong history of winning grants, but it can also be very rewarding if you believe in the causes you are writing for.

This course is intended for anyone interested in developing their grant writing skills. You will need an internet connection, be familiar with using the internet, have emailing capabilities, and have experience using a word-processing computer program (Microsoft Word is recommended) and a spreadsheet program (such as Microsoft Excel) for the budgeting portion.

It is also aligned with the Grant Professional Certified (GPC) exam offered by the Grant Professionals Certification Institute (GPCI), which has minimum requirements of education and grant experience based on the level of education obtained. For information on GPC Exam Eligibility

I. Why Get a Grant Writing Certification

II. Being Confident in Your Grant Writing Skills

III. Grant Funding Trends

IV. Grant Funding Resources and Best Matches for Programs and Projects

V. Establishing Initial and Ongoing Relationships with Funders

VI. Relationship Between Organizational Development and Grant Seeking Readiness

VII. Proposal Writing Preparation

VIII. Proposal Writing Research, Implementation Strategies, Writing Characteristics, and Incorporating Graphics

IX. Writing the Boilerplate for the Grant Applicant Organization

X. Diving Deep Into Organizational Development Strategies and Funding Needs

XI. Midterm Exam and Writing Prompt Response

XII. Stakeholders, Partnerships, and Key Personnel Collaborations and Communications

XIII. Effective Program and Project Design and Development Strategies

XIV. Community Resources, Evaluation Designs, and Cultural Competencies

XV. Proposal Budgets

XVI. Grant Proposal Submission Processes and Follow-up for Unfunded Submissions

XVII. Funded Grant Requests

XVIII. Writing an Effective Case Statement for Fundraising Purposes

XIX. Capstone Assignment: Case Statement

XX. Deciding to Move Forward with Certification

XXI. Employability Ethics

XXII. Bonus Lesson: Interview Pregame

XXIII. Final Exam

Dr. Beverly A. Browning is a grant writing consultant and visionary who uses thought leadership to work with nonprofit organizations struggling with the woes of revenue stream imbalances. She has been researching grant funding, grantmaking trends, and board-related barriers to nonprofit capacity building for over 40 years. Together she and her team have helped her clients win over $750 million in grant awards.

Dr. Browning is the founder and director of the Grant Writing Training Foundation and Bev Browning, LLC. She is the author of 44 grant writing publications, including six editions of Grant Writing for Dummies and the 6th edition of Nonprofit Kit for Dummies (to be published in 2021).

Dr. Browning holds graduate and post-graduate degrees in organizational development, public administration, and business administration. She is also a Certified Strategic Planning Facilitator (CSPF), has a McNellis Compression Planning Institute Facilitation Training distinction, and is an Approved Trainer for the Grant Professionals Association (GPA), the Certified Fund Raising Executive International (CFRE, and the Grant Professionals Certification Institute (GPCI).