#SMRTPOP Lil' Biz: Basic grant writing tips

Basic grant writing tips:

•    Trust your project and your grant writer, if you have one.
•    If you’re working alone, read the program requirements and keep them in mind at all times when writing your application.
•    Your work is part of a living ecosystem: it has roots and will connect and impact others. Try to articulate this.
•    Your work is part of a living history: it has a past, a present and a future. Try to contextualize the nature of your work in accessible terms that reflect the instruments, materials and forms which define your practice.
•    Even though you really like your own creative way of speaking, you may wish to try to imagine that your writing is to be understood by an artist of another discipline who has a cursory knowledge of yours.
•    Before thinking you’re done, go through the program requirements again and ask yourself if you’ve thoroughly laid out the steps to accomplishing the project and shown that you have the skills to pull it off, or will be working towards acquiring them with the help of citable professionals in your field.
•    Your work has an impact and comes from a desire to create. Those impulses deserve assistance, so don’t be afraid to believe in that when articulating the defence and impact of your project.
•    Stay tidy, grammatically correct and concise!
•    Have a friend or colleague read it over.
•    Ask questions to the funding bodies! Even if you think you’re being annoying, curiosity demonstrates interest. Openness to feedback will improve the final result.
•    It’s free money, so if you don’t get it, keep trying.
•    Take it one step at a time: get in the system, build your profile, press, and team (in some cases).  
•    Make sure your support materials are well recorded or documented. This matters so much.

Get what you pay for

Grant writers aren’t managers. A manager will help you develop your career goals and strategies. Grant writers can channel those into funding applications. That line can feel blurry and it is. Check in with your grant writer about this

Grant writers will have several pay schemes. Talk about money right away. It’s best to know what you’re getting into. No one is really good at talking about it at the start, but if we respect our own work and respect others’, then this conversation will be a lot easier. Some grant writers will have set rates that are based on a combination of factors, experience and ability being the most important. Their success rate will vary based on how complementary your music or art is with the program you’re applying for. A great grant writer will be able to dissuade you from pursuing an ill-fitting goal.

If you wish for your grant writer to liaise with the funding body on your behalf, you must make that clear from the start.

Your grant writer may not necessarily be able to help you with come aspects of your budget. You know your project best. If you’re working on a creation project, the budget you’re seeking from a funder will be heavily dependent on the program’s expense guidelines. Make sure that you understand these or that you have a thorough conversation with your grant writer about these.

The rest is up to your art. And people like your PR support, local bookers and venue folks.

Resources:
http://www.artere.qc.ca for searching grants by discipline
http://canadacouncil.ca/
https://www.calq.gouv.qc.ca/
http://www.factor.ca/
http://www.socanfoundation.ca
https://www.lojiq.org/

Recommended grant writers:
Melanie Turner: melanielturner@gmail.com - Music, Arts Organizations - ENGLISH
Christopher Willes: Christopher.willes@gmail.com - Music, Media Arts, Visual Artists - ENGLISH
Pierre B. Gourde: pierrebgourde@gmail.com - Music (Franco; Musicaction/SODEC) - FRENCH
Pablo Rodriguez: http://www.pablo-rodriguez.ca/ - Visual Arts, Arts Organizations - ENGLISH
Edwin Janzen: www.janzencopywriting.com - Visual Arts - ENGLISH
Marie-Douce Saint-Jacques: laladouce@gmail.com - Visual Arts, Cinema, Arts Organizations - FRENCH