Webinar Description:
Imagine your average grant reviewer with a pile of papers on the desk and a full inbox. After putting out the emergencies of the day, the reviewer sits down to read a pile of applications, most of which sound very similar while some make no sense at all. The reviewer feels for the people these grants want to help, but has no feel for the extent of the problems they discuss or if the proposed plan will work.
Want your application to stand out from the pile (for good reasons)? You’ve heard you should tell a good story, but is a story enough?
NO!
A story by itself does not provide enough information to warrant a grantor’s investment. You need to justify the need and solutions outlined in your story. That’s where arguments come in. Want your reviewers to finish reading the application without any questions about the worth and value of your project and proposal? Use arguments – with good data and claims!
When done correctly, arguments provide all of the information that a reviewer needs to understand your need, your plan to meet that need, and why your approach will work to solve that need.
Presenter:
Linda Wastyn has more than 30 years of grant development experience – 8 as a consultant. During that time, she has written more than 1,000 grant applications, raising more than $22 million. A self-professed data geek, Linda blends artful storytelling with data-based logical arguments in her grant applications to appeal to both the readers’ logical and emotional sides with great success. With a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication and rhetoric and years of debate training, she approaches grant applications with an eye for successful argumentation. As such, she brings both the academic foundation and real-world experiences to provide practical advice that attendees can immediately implement in their next grant applications to make them more compelling and clearer.
Skill Level:
Early-Career
Mid-Career
Advanced-Career
Learning Track:
Proposal Development/Communication Strategies
GPC Competencies:
How to craft, construct, and submit an effective grant application
Originally Recorded:
2019
GPA Webinar: Using Arguments To Improve Your Grant Application
Content Types: 
Write a better application by incorporating formal arguments and storytelling into a grant narrative to better engage and inform the grant reviewer. Learn how and why in this presentation! Presented in an interactive format, attendees will learn the theories for integrating arguments into their grant narratives and discuss ways they might use this technique to improve their own grant narratives. We will also review potential source for data to strengthen your application.