Do you ever think –“Yes, we would like to apply for funds or respond to that RFP but we don’t have the people we need to follow through on timelines and ensure that expectations on contracts are met.”?
You’re not alone. Capacity overload is a common challenge for communities and businesses dealing with daily operation and tight budgets. Adding the stress of communicating with funders, contractors and contract deliverables can cost you more in time and energy than the money you receive.
So, how can you pursue funds to develop projects/initiatives while maintaining balance in operating?
One way is to contract someone who can work with you over an agreed upon period of time and budget to provide management and project support. Instead of paying high consultant’s fees for one shot sessions that may be shelved because of lack of capacity, think about discussing a working arrangement with a professional you trust who will take the time to get to know what your community or business is all about and can discuss lead up and follow through with you. Your best bet will be a person experienced in administration who can write grants, create budgets, meet with staff and technical people, create deliverables and timelines and provide follow through.
This person will help you connect the dots in management and in technical and web writing, budgeting, timelines, numeracy, communicating, publication, document use, research, working with others to solve problems and make decisions and getting things out on time.
It’s what I do. Having worked with a number of past and ongoing clients, who requested management and project support– I can see, first hand, that it provides value on a number of levels.
