What does Empathy have to do with Grant Writing?

As I step back to reflect, I believe all grant writing should be grounded in empathy; the ability to listen with curiosity, reflect, and see things from multiple perspectives can make the difference between a ‘good enough’ proposal and a compelling one.

There are multiple ‘stakeholders’ in the grant development process;

--The main grant writer and editor

-- The content contributors

-- The person or people signing-off on the application

-- The grantors aka your funders

As a grant writer, your job is to bring together the narrative, data, finances and supporting documents in a cohesive story WHILE balancing the perspectives of each of the people engaged in your grant development process.

Let’s take a moment to think about that.

Imagine you are writing your first grant proposal to raise funds for a program that helps young people who have aged out of foster care transition to independent living.

 If you simply want to describe the program and activities offered, my guess is that you will find existing language on the organization’s website and other communications. Existing template materials are timesaving and provide valuable context and framing. They can also be outdated.

But what if you took the time to talk to the program coordinator who works directly with the young people, and asked “tell me how the young people are doing?” you might hear how Angela who didn’t want to interact with anyone at first, is now thriving in pottery class; how the youth in group therapy are now supporting each other outside of therapy sessions.

If you talk to the executive director, she might tell you about their partnership with the local community center which offers so many free enrichment activities which have been a lifeline to the youth, while relieving financial pressure on the organization’s budget; and how a conversation with a local furniture store owner transformed a bare office room into a welcoming group therapy space.

If you have the opportunity to speak with Angela herself (and this conversation needs to be handled with great care for privacy) you may have the privilege of gaining a deeper understanding of how much relationships and kindness matter in creating safety-nets which prevent young people from falling through the cracks.

And if you take time to delve into the funder’s giving history (priorities and dollar amounts) and ideally have a conversation about their current goals and priorities, that’s when you find figure out where the intersection of both your goals and priorities lie—this is the center point of your proposal narrative.  

At this point, ask yourself; what is my pitch? And how do I make it in a way that respects the dignity of everyone involved?

Compelling grant writing guided by empathy takes time and intent.

It allows others the space to speak, and share what is important to them.

It stops to ask questions and delve deeper.

And sometimes it requires you to step away from your own preconceived notions of how things work.