A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or
more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two
months apart.
All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons
are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have
to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until
the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each
lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such,
we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final
exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work,
including the final exam.
Week One
Wednesday - Lesson 01
There’s nothing magical about preparing a grant request, but in this lesson, you’ll learn some easy and fun tricks of trade that will help you with all sorts of writing projects, even those beyond grant proposals. And you’ll learn special ways to practice these tricks!
Friday - Lesson 02
Those of us who work for causes we think are important care about them in a very special way, usually a rather subjective one. But grantors who deal with literally thousands of institutions and causes have a rather different way of thinking about them. In this lesson, you’ll put yourself in their shoes. And in the process, you’ll learn a great way to describe your own cause to anyone.
Week Two
Wednesday - Lesson 03
Now that you’ve tried on your grantor’s shoes, let's talk about why those grantors look for certain kinds of information and documents. You’ll learn what these documents are so you can dig them out and be ready to supply them when you prepare a grant request.
Friday - Lesson 04
There are lots of interesting things to know about each individual nonprofit organization, but all nonprofits share one thing: They're not in it to for the money! We all know that you can measure a good business by its bottom line—whether it makes money or not. But how do you measure the effectiveness of a nonprofit that needs money? In this lesson, we’ll start to look into it.
Week Three
Wednesday - Lesson 05
The hunt for funding sources is the eternal game of hide and seek that we all play in this business. How do you find sources that might be appropriate for you? It’s a game that we can play in a library or on the Web, but the Web makes it easiest! This lesson will point you toward the most effective research tools available.
Friday - Lesson 06
Once you find some foundations that you think might be a good fit for your cause, how do you choose among a field that might include hundreds? In this lesson, we’ll discuss ways to sift through these foundations, and in the course of this process, we may unearth sources you haven’t even considered!
Week Four
Wednesday - Lesson 07
You've looked at all the possible charitable foundations that fit your cause, but don't stop there. What about the corporate world? Corporations have foundations, but they also have other ways of giving. We’ll talk about packaging your projects for corporations, then we’ll decide when to ask the corporate foundation and when to approach them in another way.
Friday - Lesson 08
For those of you who are word people, you’ll learn another way to tell your story—let the numbers do the talking! People reviewing your proposals will attach great importance to numbers, so you can’t get away with simply describing a project with words. In this lesson, we’ll discuss ways of preparing numbers effectively. It’s not hard to do, and it’s essential to the success of your proposal.
Week Five
Wednesday - Lesson 09
By the time you reach this lesson, you’ll have all the pieces you need for your proposal. Here we’ll fine-tune what you have. Then we’ll put them all together and add the finishing touches so you can finally put a complete proposal in the mail.
Friday - Lesson 10
Everyone knows that you can’t win ‘em all! But when you do get a turndown, there are positive alternatives to doom and gloom. The suggestions in this lesson will help you deal with those inevitable turndowns.
Week Six
Wednesday - Lesson 11
Okay, just as you hoped—you did get a gift! There’s an old saying in this business: Every gift paves the way to the next. In this lesson, we'll make sure you know just how to pave that road!
Friday - Lesson 12
Now that you have all the elements you need for your proposal, can you also send it to an individual? Well, not really—at least not the whole thing. You need to think about what would interest those individuals and how you can best present it to them. That’s what we'll cover in the final lesson of this course. I think you’ll enjoy it and I know you’ll find it useful!