Alexis first learned about grant writing while working for a nonprofit organization. She later founded a writing business with grant writing as a primary service offering. Alexis secured over $1.3M in grants in the four months after receiving her certificate from Learn Grant Writing. She now regularly contributes to Learn Grant Writing.
Location
Audubon, MN
Funding Area
Healthcare, Youth, Tribes, Social Services
Website
Goods of a Soul
Learning Grant Writing as a Beginner
Alexis Swenson first learned about grant writing while working as a Development Coordinator for a nonprofit organization. Her boss walked into her office one day and asked if she wanted to learn. Alexis knew nothing about grant writing—only that it was likely a great skill to learn. Her answer was an easy yes.
“It was an incredible opportunity. With the help of a seasoned grant writer from another organization, we won the first grant I ever worked on. I pretty much took over all grant writing for the remaining 2 ½ years I worked there,” said Alexis.
As Alexis considered what she wanted her life to look like as her and her husband planned to grow their family, she decided to launch her own business and pursue that as her primary work. She wanted a flexible schedule, the ability to work from home, to make decent money, and work that could be scaled part-time to full-time and vice versa depending on the season. She founded Goods of a Soul and began offering copywriting, ghost writing, and grant writing services. The first six months of starting out was slow and she realized there was room for improvement in her grant writing skills.
“I first bought Meredith’s book, then signed up for the course, and almost immediately joined the team to write grants and blog posts for Learn Grant Writing. I’ve learned a ton about grant writing from saying yes to each of those adventures,” said Alexis.
Grant Writing Community Increased Confidence
For Alexis, being involved with a community of like-minded individuals has been a huge confidence booster in more ways than one. Not to mention, she finally feels like she has co-workers again! Not having co-workers and working from home alone was a difficult adjustment when she first started her business.“Every single one of my clients has been a referral, which I really like. First, referrals were coming from my nonprofit network. Since joining the Grant Writing Unicorn Collective, I’ve received several referrals through the community—whether taking over contracts for a fellow Unicorn or being referred when a fellow Unicorn isn’t taking on new clients,” said Alexis.
The community has also been great at instilling confidence to go after intimidating contracts. Alexis was encouraged to apply for a large out of state contract with a client she had worked with before through the Learn Grant Writing team. Instantly, she dealt with imposter syndrome. She knew the opportunity could be huge for her, but she was still scared of what work might be required from it—hiring a team, improved project management, time requirements, and possibility of failure.
Alexis’s strategy was to “act like she belonged” in the pile of proposals. She submitted her proposal with guidance from folks in the Collective, including some who agreed to be on her team if she won the contract. She ultimately did not win the contract, but reached out to the client for feedback.
“Asking for feedback is crucial. I knew only good things could happen from doing so. I learned more about what the client is looking for, how to improve my proposal for next time, and that they will be publishing another Request for Proposals in a few months. I plan to try again,” said Alexis.
Discover Grant Writing as a Career
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Access Free ClassProudest Moment as a Grant Writer
Throughout her experience with Learn Grant Writing, Alexis is most proud of and grateful for all the people she’s been able to work with. She loves the exposure to different cultures and communities. She directly attributes these opportunities including working with tribes in remote Alaska to her participation in the Collective.Alexis was more than a little jazzed when two Housing and Urban Development Healthy Homes grants she was lead writer on for remote Alaskan tribal communities were awarded in full—a whopping $1.3 million dollars. To date, she’s helped organizations secure over $2.2 million dollars to help them keep doing their good work.
“I have connections with clients and grant writers from all across the United States. I have colleagues in multiple time zones—it’s amazing! I don’t think I would ever have been able to make that happen on my own,” said Alexis.
If you’d like to become a grant writing unicorn, check out our free training on how to build a career in grant writing.
How to Make a Career Change and Become a Grant Writer
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