A Sea of Grants

Well, today I was swimming in a sea of grants- surrounded by Word files, letters, statistics and online applications. Instead of actual swimming, I was copying/pasting and updating information like a madwoman. In good news, I started a grant application, completed it and submitted it- all in one afternoon. I was only going to start this grant application, but I wasn't sure if I could save it and re-open later, so I decided that I might as well just finish the grant right then. We've received a grant from this company for about 8 years- they were one of our first corporate donors. We apply for a grant from one of their local stores. They changed their grant process a couple of years ago to make it all online. This year's application is the same as last year and our program hasn't changed, so that made the grant pretty easy to fill out. I updated the info, but there weren't a lot of other changes to make. I'm still working on the big grant- I made some more progress, but there is more that needs to get done. Grant writing is tiring and by 4pm today I couldn't focus on any more grant writing.

Tonight, I chugged down to N. Attleboro for the DWC monthly networking night. This was one of the first networking groups that I ever joined and it has been a huge support over the years. Tonight's turnout was good with about 20 women. It was a really nice group of women. A number of women that I already know well and a number of new people as well. Small networking groups are actually some of the best because you get to know people more and that leads to developing better relationships. Sometimes, I get lazy and don't want to go to networking events, but they are so important to building a business- it is vital to attend. Just the simple act of showing up and chatting to people is a big step. You're not going to meet helpful people at every event, but you're meeting new people and you never know who you will meet. You also have to attend events consistently- it can be hard, but it is a commitment that has to be made. When you show up at events regularly, people get to know you and hopefully, they will want to help.

Well, that's the latest for tonight.  I'm off to eat my grapefruit and watch Jay Leno's headlines- love those! Until tomorrow friends...