Today is back-to-school day for my kiddo, so I got to my laptop a bit later than usual. When I opened my email, I saw that I had received three grant notifications. Two of them were grant awards- WooHoo! —and one was a denial letter.
I never like denial letters, but this one had less of a sting.
Although grant writers must get used to rejection as a survival skill in this industry, there are different types of rejection.
- Ghosting– You take hours or days to painstakingly craft a beautiful proposal and never hear from the grant funder. Terrible.
- Boilerplate– While a bit better than ghosting, receiving a boilerplate denial– thanks for applying, we aren’t interested, blah, blah- also stings. It is a disproportionate level of response for the effort we put into our proposals.
- Why Did You Apply– This is the letter you get when you apply for a grant that doesn’t match your focus or mission. Thankfully, I have only received one of these and it was my 1st year of grant writing. It is hard to be mad about this one- just learn from it.
- Thoughtful Consideration– You feel genuinely appreciated and are disappointed but understand that limited resources do not exist.
The denial letter I received today was one of the best “Thoughtful Consideration” letters I have received.
The letter is personalized and addresses the details of my proposal. I also appreciated the part about “Your proposal was well presented.” This part helps my client to understand that we can’t win them all, but I am giving us the best possible chance.
And my client is the best. Her email said, “See attached letter. Thanks for always trying.”
And letters like this make it easier to keep trying and striving toward my grant writing goals.
Until next time,
Write Epic Grants
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