Today, I’m here to tell you what every grant writer wants nonprofit executives to know. But first, don’t call us grant writers. We do so much more than write.

And for the people in the back who think all we do is cut and paste—let me tell you that we dedicate countless hours to these specialized skills: critical thinking, data analysis, project management, and yes, writing and editing.

Instead, please call us grant professionals and see us for what we bring to the table. Our collaborative efforts with/in organizations keep the lights on, expand capacity, and/or simply change lives through well-aligned grant proposals.

Because we do so much work for nonprofits that is typically behind the scenes from the hoopla of fundraising events or the public face of an organization, grant professionals would appreciate some measure of reciprocity. So here are 9 things every grant professional wants nonprofit executives to know:

  1. Compensate us fairly.
  2. Don’t treat us like Cinderella.
  3. Understand we’re not Santa Claus.
  4. Give us information.
  5. Invest in us.
  6. Combat burnout at the organizational level by seeing us as transformational, not transactional.
  7. Understand the costs of high turnover.
  8. Recognize that a grant is a contract, not a work of fiction.
  9. Value big and small alike.

Read the full article about grant writing by  Colleen Engelbrecht at Blue Avocado.