Programming Assistant for ArtsNow/uLearn
On Saturday, Februray 11, I attended a session of "Grantwriting for Non-Profits" taught by Joyce Mork-O'Brien. As a local artist, who frequently finds himself working for and with non-profits, I wanted to understand the current funding landscape and the pitfalls and shortcuts that are available, if any.
Mork-O'Brien, a freelance grantwriter, opened the exporation with the "good new and bad news". The bad news, she said, is that when money gets tight, Arts and Education are always the first to lose funding (all of us were there to represent Arts and Educational organizations). The good news is that the American people are the most generous in the world when supporting non-profit organizations. Therefore, with patience, determination, and willingness to jump through the right hoops, it is possible to secure funding to help your non-profit flourish.
This no-holds barred, yet positive, style made Mork-O'Brien a highly effective instructor. She treated heavy and sometimes bleak subject matter with respect and humor. She had priceless handouts containing resources, both online and print, and where exactly to find them. In addition to grantwriting, she spent a good deal of time advising us on how to deal with the root problem: funding. Grants are important and can be quite viable as a financial resource, but it is incredibly important to diversify your non-profit's income with other fundraising sources. Again, those priceless handouts were very useful.
Though we were all representing Arts and Education, our class was still diverse in terms of organizational maturity, specificity of purpose, and fundraising experience. The floor was frequently open to questions, and Mork-O'Brien excelled at taking open and vague questions and condensing them into the need of the asker. Like a laser beam, she focused on the actual need, answered it, and expanded it to apply to most everyone in attendance.
In addition, Mork-O'Brien gave us brief assignments throughout the session to keep us engaged and to reinforce our learning: websites of real, grant-offering foundations and actual grantwriting proposals which she had us apply our new-taught concepts to assess the strengths and weaknesses.
As artists, money seems to always be that vaporous thing that eludes us all. However, a class like this helped me to understand that financing can be had, but, like anything that is worthwhile, you must be willing to work at developing it. This was no sit back and listen lecture class. This was an interactive experience that left us all a little wiser, yet optimistic for the journey ahead.
This class is going to be offered again in the Spring! Don't miss it.
