United States
My undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas, as well as my graduate credits from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, emphasized English Literature, Creative Writing, and Composition and Rhetoric. Following a misguided attempt at a career in logistics and distribution management, I recalled my passion and skill as a writer and became a secondary teacher of Composition, World Lit., American Lit., Publications/Journalism and Creative Writing for the next decade. During this period I also worked as a writer for the Hiawatha World newspaper.
Since 2020 I have worked as a grant writer and development manager in the nonprofit sector, primarily supporting the arts and culture, but also working to garner financial support for entrepreneurial development in the Kansas City metro. In the past 5 years I have garnered more than $1 million in funding, maintaining an average application success rate of 31.5%. Included in this portfolio is a sampling of the successful grant writing I have done, as well as some samples of other organizational writing. I look forward to working to support your mission, and am excited to learn more about your organization.
Below are selections from an application for General Operating funding to the Kansas Arts Commission, a division of the Kansas Department of Commerce, submitted February 2024 on behalf of InterUrban ArtHouse and awarded August 2024. Awards based on organization budget–IUAH received $16,678.
This application was completed in 2 parts. Part 1 consisted of a nationwide call to nonprofits and communities, and required a brief overview of the project, along with images (not included). Part 2 was extended to 100 finalists, including InterUrban ArtHouse, who received $100,000 in funding from Lowe’s (through the Lowe’s Hometowns opportunity) for community enhancement projects.
This Org. Summary shares the first 2-pages to give a feel for the language, and lists additional sections for inclusion. An Org. Summary document is uniquely customized to each client, and serves as a dashboard for boilerplate narrative and links to key attachments.
This is the first 2 units in an unpublished workbook on grant writing for artists and creatives. Excited to finish this!
This series was intended to feature IUAH Studio Artists on a web-based blog linked to the InterUrban ArtHouse website.
This annual report is always a team effort. The gorgeous layout (and financials, and a bunch of other stuff) is the product of design genius, Renaissance woman and IUAH CEO Angi Hejduk. Most of the copy was written by James Farnen.