I’m a proud band nerd. I spent eight years of high school and college in itchy, smelly marching band uniforms through all manner of Georgia weather. I was such a band nerd that I barely paid attention to what was happening on the football field. I was more focused on what we did in the stands and during pregame and halftime.
When I got to the University of Georgia, though, that changed. I had friends in the piccolo section who were religious about football. I learned the rules. I finally understood we played certain songs at certain times of the game. Even though I’m not marching with Redcoats anymore, I became a football fanatic just like my friends. Watching a Georgia game with me is not for the faint of heart.
Between marching band and sports, I’ve spent a lot of my life participating in team sports (I technically had an athletic scholarship for college marching band!). And after watching plenty of football already this season, I’ve been thinking about how grant management is a team sport, too.
Grant professionals often talk about how lonely our work can be. We spend a lot of time working independently, but we rely on so many other people throughout the process that we can’t do it alone.
In other words: even a great quarterback (grant professional) can’t win without a clear game plan, strong team, and communication.
Know who’s on your team
When I’m watching a Georgia game, I have the roster pulled up on my phone so I can see each player’s position and stats. (I told you, I’m a fanatic. But I’m not even the worst among my Redcoat friends.) Each position has their own responsibilities in each play.
In your grant team, your grant pro might be coordinating the application, but they don’t own every piece of the process. Program staff provide the substance and context for funders, like who you’re serving and how. Finance staff make sure you have the right budgets and financial reports. The executive team and board establish the strategic direction for the organization overall, which then guides your grant strategy.
Before you ever put pen to paper for a grant application, you have to know who is on your team: who you might need to call on at different stages of the process.
Everyone needs to understand the game plan
In a recent Georgia game, it seemed the quarterback and his receivers weren’t communicating. Incomplete passes, fumbles, interceptions, all the bad stuff (oh, and we lost). Somewhere along the line, the game plan wasn’t clear.
Similarly, having a clear grant strategy and shared expectations helps your team execute on specific opportunities and in your overall goals. Each grant in your portfolio should match the work your program staff feels confident they’ll be able to carry out within the period of performance. The organization should understand what they’re committing to if the grant is awarded.
For example, it can be tempting to pursue a new funder, but if that means expanding a program or creating a new one, you may not have the financial or programmatic capacity to carry it out.
And, communication is key. So often, complex grant applications depend on multiple departments delivering disparate pieces of information. Ever had to painstakingly reconcile mismatched narrative and program budgets? Or write a report to a funder when the project changed drastically from the application? It’s not fun. Clear communication at the beginning and during the process helps alleviate these kinds of issues.
Don’t expect your quarterback to play every position
I get really nervous when the quarterback runs, because it seems the most likely time that he’ll be injured and we’ll need to bring in the second string. But I’d never expect to see him act like an offensive lineman or, God forbid, line up with the defense. Because we’ve come to expect that each position has its own role.
A great grant professional has to not only be a writer, but also a project manager and convener. They need to collect and synthesize data from across multiple sources to tell a compelling story to the funder. But don’t expect them to also create the organizational budget, make decisions about the goals and objectives of your programs, or repeatedly chase down colleagues for information they’ve already agreed to provide. Those responsibilities need to live with the staff members who are best equipped to handle them.
A good team adjusts when the play changes
I love watching a quarterback who has a great offensive line. He has plenty of time to consider his options without being rushed by the defense. Depending on what coverage he’s seeing, he might even call an audible and change the play at the line of scrimmage. But that only works if the rest of the team understands the new play and how to execute it.
In this case, I’m thinking about the defense as all of the factors that could get in your way through the grant process. Funders change their priorities, staff are unexpectedly out of the office, or program plans evolve. When something changes, the grant professional can’t adjust the game plan alone; they need program, finance, and leadership staff to communicate what’s happening and work together to determine next steps. Think back to the earlier example about having to draft a report that is very different from what was promised in the application. With better protocols, the team might have caught those changes in enough time to contact the funder about the changes before they happened.
Through it all, we need to be ready to adapt. That’s easiest to do when we’ve established shared documentation and clear communication.
Build a better grant team, one play at a time
I understand that it can be overwhelming to think about changing your entire grant program at once. There are so many moving pieces and people involved. You have processes and systems that have cost money and time. In football, we hear about these huge shakeups when the head coach has been fired after not performing up to the school’s standards. That level of change is disruptive, to say the least.
Instead, consider what small steps you can make. Pick one upcoming grant application and evaluate how your team is functioning. Does everyone understand the purpose of the grant? Do they know what they’re responsible for contributing and when it’s due? Is there a reliable way to communicate and resolve questions? If your grant pro won the lottery tomorrow, could the rest of the team continue the work?
You don’t need a team stacked with NIL (name image likeness) deals. Strong grant programs aren’t built by expecting one person to carry the entire workload. They’re built by giving people clear roles, useful systems, and the information they need to contribute effectively.
P.S. If your grant team is struggling with unclear responsibilities, communication breakdowns, or processes that depend too heavily on one person, my Increase Your Mileage service can help. We’ll examine your existing grant workflows, identify opportunities for improvement, and develop standard operating procedures that make it easier for your team to work together. Learn more about Increase Your Mileage and book an intro call.
Cover photo from the University of Georgia Redcoat Marching Band.