By Roxxi Bartlett

From the inner workings of a busy nonprofit comes a shared scenario. As a grant professional, you have identified a great grant opportunity but the lead time is short. It’s a perfect match, but you know you’re going to have to set up meetings with the program director, finance, and possibly the executive director. 

The struggle is finding a collective time to meet. You need to talk budget, set outcomes, and ask about capacity. Or, do you? You know you can write this quicker than you can pull everyone together. You’re tempted to do just that. But, as the old proverb states, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”  

As the grant professional, you are not the sole decision maker. You must get the buy in, vision, and commitment of those who will be doing the work. They need to know what is being promised, what outcomes will be measured, how much capacity it will take, and what the expectations are. Before you let out that deep sigh, and think this ideal match is going to get away, there is a way to accomplish both. 

The Implementation Plan 

The plan’s design is led by the overarching program officer, who then leads the program directors to create a roadmap of their department’s programs with intentionality. It can include things such as:

* A Program Summary

* Program Timeline

* Outcomes

* Partnerships

* Data Tools

Too much to list here, but you can see how it works, and you can tailor it to your needs. It’s one concise document created by staff who will be responsible for the work and approved by leadership. Not only does this add a level of accountability, but it provides a space to highlight successes, and address obstacles encountered over the year. 

The big bonus in this approach is…it cuts down on the number of meetings, wait time, and gets rid of surprises. So, the go fast go alone thing? Yes, you can. And the go far, go together part? You guessed it. Yes, you can. 

All it takes is time up front, a willingness to work together to pre-plan, and you’ve got an efficient system to help lessen the time spent getting approval because it’s already been favored by the necessary parties. You can just start writing.

Implementation plans are organized jewels that can speed up a grant writer’s work, replace sighs with smiles, create unison with program directors and the organization, too. Implementation plans don’t replace collaboration; they enhance it. Everybody is on the same page from the beginning. 

You can feel good about submitting a clear and well-defined proposal, and the reporting process becomes stronger. Remember, if you want to go fast and far, streamline the process. You’ll still have meetings and still collaborate on new ideas, but in-between you’ll be able to write a few extra grants. 

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Roxxi Bartlett is director of development of the Bresee Youth Center in Los Angeles, California. Here email is rbartlett@bresee.org

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