Keeping that Grant Conference High

For 1,200 grant professionals, including me, this week marks the return to business as usual after the hybrid 2021 Grant Professionals Association’s Annual Conference. It featured in-person and virtual learning tools, camaraderie, engaging workshops, and fun-filled shenanigans, like our first ever spelling bee. Chances are you are riding a high from an incredible event.

You may find yourself both exhausted and excited, brimming with new ideas to implement yet overwhelmed on where to begin. Here’s my advice (in three simple steps) for keeping that high, putting into practice what you have learned, and ensuring you don’t quickly ignore it all and fall back into your old patterns of working.

First, consider the tech tools such as prospect research and grant management that you encountered at the conference through exhibitors’ booths. Most of these have a two-week trial, and you are probably eager to give them a whirl right away. I recommend spacing the freebie weeks with enough time between each to delve into the many features. Remember to take notes on the pros and cons, including ease of use, features, and price. Once you have tried them all, you will have a better sense of the platform that best fits your organization’s needs and working style.

Chances are you learned about a new website, app, or resource thanks to a presenter or new colleague. Thanks to GPA, I now regularly use Doodle polls, Voxer, Trello, and Toggl to get my work done. A conference workshop from long ago was aptly titled “25 Tech Tools for a Grant Professional” – hands down one of the most valuable sessions I have ever attended. And the presenter wisely suggested we try only one or two tools at a time to make sure they suited our purposes, rather than trying to implement all 25 at once, unsuccessfully. I love the brilliance of grant writers.

Second, workshops are full of new ideas and methods for working – strategies for writing tighter. Ways to manage your grant team. How to start your own consulting business. And so much more. I returned from my first GPA Conference with pages and pages and pages of notes, and I did not know where to start. I have since learned it’s wise to review your notes, list a few top priorities, and implement one idea at a time. Otherwise, you will overwhelm yourself and your co-workers. (Ask me how I know.) I always feel if I come back with two amazing ideas that work, then the conference has been more than worthwhile.

And finally, be sure to keep in touch with the new friends you met at the conference. Trust me when I say that sometimes these are the best “takeaways” from GPA. Send a follow-up email with your contact information. Attend your next local chapter meeting to stay in touch with any local individuals you met. Join one of the many great grant related communities on Facebook to engage with your fellow grant professionals. More than the workshops and tech tools, the people I met and have built relationships with over the past 15 plus years are the most incredible resources for a working grant pro.

Whether this was your first GPA conference or your 23^rd, what is your best piece of advice for riding that conference high into the new year?

Author Bio: Amanda Day, GPC, is a national grant trainer and consultant. She is the co-host of the Fundraising HayDay Podcast. Follow her on Twitter @wholewheatgirl and @fundinghayday. www.fundraisinghayday.com

Article Theme: Getting the most out of your professional development conference

GPC Competency: .7 Professionalism