Chapter 3
Storytelling: Grant writing
Storytelling is not mainly for entertainment anymore, neither is it academic paperwork. As the world is moving, storytelling is also becoming an important feature in the not-for-profit organizations and corporate worlds.
Stories may be told at the cooperate level in form of training, public relations, politics, journalism, grant writing, or even advertising.
I love expressing myself through storytelling. Storytelling is a powerful art that entertains, informs, and enlightens.
It has the power to change and transform, it also has the power to take its audience to another world of people and places just as grant writing does.
Grant writing is the process of completing an application for funding which is provided by an institution such as a government department, a corporation, a foundation, or a trust.
The process of its application is often referred to as either a grant proposal or a grant submission.
For years, grant writing has been seriously boring, both to write and to read. A grant writing process begins with a letter of intent and a one or two-pages letter that summarises the request which is sent to a funding organization as an example.
The funding body then looks into the request for merits and will then ask you to submit a full proposal.
In the creative world of writing, you may compare the letter of intent to a short story and the full grant proposal to a novel if you like.
Like short stories or novels, grant writing should also have protagonists or antagonists with a conflict. The protagonist, or should I say the hero in this writing would be the not-for-profit organization, that is the person or people leading a vision.
Not-for-profit organizations are known for the heroic work that they do and they are the voices behind every written proposal.
Not-for-profit organizations work diligently to meet the needs of the needy by providing food and shelter, supporting the sick by preventing illnesses and medical complications, as well as enhancing the quality of people’s lives. And through these acts is how Not-for-profit organizations tell their beautiful stories.
The antagonist is basically the identified problem such as hunger, domestic violence, or ailment as examples and any of these may be the conflicts or main character of the grant proposal.
Not-for-profit organizations represent a voice, a message, or an answer which may be conveyed through storytelling or grant writing.
I have personally had to ask myself questions that came up due to the challenges that I have once faced, to be able to address them in a better way. That is what is called being an overcomer. This is nice because others can now benefit from you being a problem solver.
The answers to these questions were what birth the vision: Destiny Books: www.titilopedestinytalks.com/Destiny-Books
These answers become the dialogue in your story or grant writing. Although, grant writing includes other traditional features such as backstories, settings, and resolutions which you may look into later for your own interest.
Grant writing and storytelling are equally important parts of an advertisement. What are you doing today? Have you got something to say? Use storytelling or Grant writing to pitch better, sell better and faster, and most importantly, win BIG.
You can tell, people just love a good story, and trust me, you can’t get enough of them because a brilliant story is infectious.
It speaks, sparks, and spreads just like a wildfire. So have fun living your life with a purpose and telling your stories.
Learn to enjoy your life, and learn how to tell a good story. At the same time, develop a marketable skill because, apparently, just in case you do not know it, storytelling has become an essential commodity in a fast-growing corporate world.
© 2021 Titilope Iyowu