Grant Writer: A Challenging Career

From individuals majoring in journalism or english to sales and marking professionals, pursing a career as a Grant Writer offers rewarding benefits. As a professional which requires superb writing and marketing skills, the Grant Writer is a key player among non-for profit-organizations. Understanding the importance of a Grant Writer, within the non-for-profit sector, will provide professional writers with an opportunity to glance into a profession so commonly overlooked.

For some professional writers as well as professionals in the sales and marketing field, choosing to pursue a freelance career as a Grant Writer offers not only an opportunity to express a creative writing talent but also to be a part of a worthy cause. As a team member for a non-for profit organization, the Grant Writer is responsible for a variety of duties primarily involving the research into grants which will financially support the organization for which they are employed. For freelance writers and sales professionals looking to expand a career path, considering a path as a Grant Writer requires some basic experience and success in the area of fundraising. As a result, may professional Grant Writers will strive to become involved in the community and work as a key member, on a volunteer basis, in a fundraising process. From this experience, the Grant Writer learns, first hand, the dynamics of fund applications in the non-for-profit organization.

Through the networking at the fundraising levels, freelance writers as well as sales professionals, will begin to develop a more thorough understanding of the dynamics of a non-for-profit organization. From this, a professional interested in Grant Writing, should begin to take courses specifically designed to teach the mechanics of proper grant proposal writing. Offering to write grant proposals for a local non-for-profit organization, will provide the freelance writer with a local contact to begin the profession, possibly shadowing and mentoring aside another Grant Writer. It is from this experience, that many freelance writers and sales professionals begin the networking process.

In addition to networking with professionals, freelance writers and sales professionals who wish to pursue grant writing professions, may find it of benefit to go one step further and obtain a grant writing professional certification which involves attending seminars and courses to learn the basic fundamentals of grant writing. Through these seminars, students are provided more indepth education in the grant proposal process including narratives, financials and key points of focus with a emphasis on a particular type of non-for-profit organization such as education programs, animal welfare or even political campaign grant writing.

Once grant writing is developed, the freelance writer is then able to self market skills and talents to a variety of non-for-profit organizations leading to freelance and contract employment which, oftentimes, offers the freelance writer the opportunity to work out of the home.

For more information regarding Grant Writing courses, visit www.unt.edu and obtain information on the professional, online mini-course programs.

Reference:

• www.theideabank.com