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How to Get Grants
By B.J. Epstein
In the past year alone, I’ve been the recipient of 16 different
grants. Eleven of these were on behalf of a major international
conference I organized and five were for me individually. Of
those five, one was a grant for my academic research on the
translation of children’s literature, two were for my writing
(one of those two paid half of the costs for me to attend a
writing workshop), one helped pay for me to attend a conference,
and the most recent one is to support my work translating a novel
from Swedish to English. In this same year, I applied for two other
grants that I did not receive; the rejection letter for one
explained that the foundation preferred to support people further
along in their doctoral studies and encouraged me to apply again
next year. This means that out of approximately 18 applications/
requests (it is possible that I may be forgetting something here),
I had a success rate of close to 90%. The total sum of these grants
was over $30,000.
So how have I been so successful? What are my tips for getting
grants? Here, I will give you the secret to my success.
-Research is the first step. This is the same advice I’d give
if you were, say, looking to query a publication or apply to an
MFA program. You should carefully study any information the
foundation or other grant-giving body provides, whether it is
just a blurb in a newsletter or a multi-paged, detailed website.
You must understand what the foundation is looking for and whether
you fit the profile, so you don’t waste both your time and theirs.
If you are unsure, call or email them and tell them a little bit
about yourself and your project and see if they think you should
apply. If you do contact them, don’t take up too much of their
time. There are reference books on grants at many libraries and
bookstores and helpful newsletters and websites, so use these
resources, too.
-Apply for any grant that is even slightly relevant, no matter
how small the amount of money they offer is. Remember that each
grant you receive helps you get the next one by showing other
potential sponsors that people already believe in you. Also, of
course, even small sums matter, especially for struggling writers.
The smallest sum I received was $100 but it still made a difference
to me and it helped build the “grants received” section of my CV.
-Write excellent letters/essays. Here again is where the research
comes in; refer to the foundation or organization in particular
and explain why what you are doing fits in with their goals and
how it will benefit them to support you. Do not just explain why
and how they can help you. They already know you are looking for
money and they are surely inundated with letters from people like
you. State what you can do for them. If it is a foundation that
focuses on supporting writers from a certain region, discuss your
connection to that region and how your work is inspired by it.
If you are applying for a grant and you know your project is a
bit different from what they usually choose to sponsor, make sure
you tell them why you felt it was worthwhile to apply anyway and
why your project relates to their foundation. Do not send a form
letter for every grant you apply for. You must personalize each
application by referring to the particular foundation and their
objective.
-In your application pack, include all the information they ask
for. Do not send anything they don’t really need, as that just
creates more work for them. Don’t try to impress them with extra
reference letters or by sending many samples of your work.
Similarly, don’t send them less than they ask for, as they can
not thoroughly judge you then. Follow the instructions precisely
or you will end up overwhelming and/or annoying them.
-Check the grammar and spelling of everything you send. Remember
that if a foundation receives a letter riddled with misspellings
and odd grammar, they will not feel confidence in your writing
skills and they will be glad to have a reason to swiftly reject
you rather than have to spend time reading your application.
-Always be polite in your dealings with the foundation.
Sounds obvious, right? Well, I have had to deal with
secretaries of foundations who spelled my name wrong or
addressed me as Mr. (I am a Ms.), but I always politely
correct them, or just let it go, rather than write a rude
email such as, “My name is clearly spelled in my signature!
How hard is it to get it right?” I have also had meetings,
such as on behalf of the conference, with people who were
clearly unsure about me and whether I could pull off the
project. Sometimes such people made harsh comments that
hurt my feelings. I always stayed calm and polite and just
explained again who I was and what I could do for them.
Offending people is a sure way of not getting the grant.
-If you need letters of reference, ask the referees early
(i.e. weeks before the application is due) and give them
all the information they need. Give them the name and
address for where they should send their letters. Provide
letters and stamps if snail mail is required. Tell them all
about the foundation and why you think this grant suits you.
Give them the latest copy of your CV, your list of
publications, writing samples, and anything else that is
appropriate, so they have enough information about you to
write a good letter. One of my grants came from a foundation
in Sweden. None of my referees knew Swedish, so they could
not read the website that offered information on how the
letters were to be written and what issues should be addressed
in them. Therefore, I translated all the relevant details for
my referees. I was later told how helpful this was. Make the
process of writing letters as easy for your referees as possible.
Following the steps above should help you as you apply for
grants. But writing a great letter and being polite is not
all that you need to do. Here are a few final tips for after
you’ve submitted your application:
-Here’s another obvious point. Thank your referees and anyone
else who has helped you as you applied. For one application,
the administrator actually took the time to let me know that
one of my references hadn’t arrived and since the reference
was coming abroad, she offered to accept the letter by e-mail
for the time being. The letter did eventually arrive, but the
fact that she both let me know and helped me find a solution
to the problem was something I definitely thanked her for. It’s
good manners to be grateful to anyone who goes out of their way
for you.
-If you do not get a grant and no reason has been given,
whether in the letter to you or else on their websites (such
as in the form of a press release about what projects they
have supported and why or in statistics), write to the
administrators and ask if they can tell you why. Say that you
would like to know so you can make your application stronger
for the next time. Whether they give you this information or
not, if you do apply again, clearly state both that you have
applied before and that you have developed since your last
application. Then say what you have done differently and/or
what is new with your project since you last applied.
-Add all the grants you’ve received to your CV and your
website. As I said above, the knowledge that others have
sponsored and believed in you often can have a domino effect
that makes additional foundations look at you differently.
- Many foundations require a detailed report of what you did,
sample work finished during the time of the grant, and
complete budgets for how you spent the money. Keep careful
track of all the money you have spent. Get receipts and have
a running spreadsheet for the period of your project.
Depending on the grant, different things count: if you bought
a pen or a notebook or an ink cartridge for your printer, if
you traveled by train to a workshop, if you bought groceries,
workshop fees, if you took time off work, etc. Be very clear
in advance about what you can use the money for. Provide the
foundation with the complete budget and report and anything
else they want to see by the deadline they give you.
I hope this advice will help you successfully apply for more grants!
BIO
B.J. Epstein is a translator, writer, editor, and Ph.D. student
in translation studies, and she is the proud recipient of grants
from the Welsh Academi, the Karin and Hjalmar Tornblad Foundation
Fund, and the Anglo-Swedish Literary Foundation, among other
awards. More information about her is available at
http://www.awaywithwords.se and
http://brave-new-words.blogspot.com/
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