Motivated to Uncover the “Elusive” Skill of Grant Writing for Nonprofits
Stephanie Soliz’s heart and passion lies with organizations working against domestic violence and sexual
assault. Throughout the past five years, she’s put in nearly full-time job hours volunteering with various
local nonprofit organizations.
In all her experience working with nonprofits, grant writing seemed to be a giant, elusive skill that either
no one was equipped or available for. “It was this giant secret skill. So, I thought, well, why not learn
how to do that?” Stephanie said.
A bit of research later, Stephanie found herself plugged into the Learn Grant Writing community (and we’re
so happy to have her!). We definitely don’t keep grant writing a secret and she’s been able to hone her
grant writing skills in the short few months she’s been part of the
Collective.
Since joining the Collective, Stephanie has won over $150,000 for the non-profits she works with.
In addition, her grant writing work correlates directly with her husband’s consultant work for emergency
services and emergency planning for nonprofit organizations. Together, their work meshes well and they are
able to provide a more rounded service offering depending on client needs.
Becoming a Grant Writer
As a freelance grant writer, Stephanie continues to find herself drawn towards her primary passion of
helping organizations stop domestic violence and support survivors. Her first client was a brand new mental
health organization focused on providing mental health care in a different way.
“It’s not just a sit in the office and talk to somebody approach, but take it outside, learn new skills in
the process, and make it more of a comfortable place to really find healing,” Stephanie said. “I do tend to
find myself more drawn to mental health and the domestic violence survivors and things like that. My heart
is wholly toward the survivors and mental health.”
This type of work also allows Stephanie to think creatively about how to help survivors. She recently
submitted a major league baseball grant and is waiting to hear back on award notification. The kicker is
that major league baseball has donated millions of dollars in the past few years to support the work of
domestic violence nonprofit organizations. Stephanie’s grant writing skills are both directly and indirectly
helping the people her heart is on fire for.
Alongside her husband who does a lot of work with a performing arts center, Stephanie has also assisted with
grant writing in the arts realm, further expanding her expertise.
Discover Grant Writing as a Career
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Access Free ClassBuilding Connections with Nonprofit Leaders
When thinking about her proudest moment of learning grant writing, Stephanie highlighted reaching out to
various nonprofit organizations as her primary accomplishment.
“I'm very introverted and I don't really care for social situations. Reaching out to nonprofits for the
informational interviews, being able to send that email, being able to make that call, and then sitting on a
video is not something I would have done before,” Stephanie said. “The fact that I was able to cross that
hurdle and conquer that fear of talking to people is my biggest accomplishment.”
She’s also incredibly proud of the grants she’s been able to help secure for organizations as well.
Stephanie has celebrated winning grant renewals (critical to the continued success of an organization) and
new grants—one for $40,000!
Building connections with nonprofit staff has also presented unique opportunities to have coworkers of sorts
in a world of Zoom meetings and phone conference calls. “I've been working with another person in the office
to write the grants,” Stephanie said. “He and I were able to build off each other, proofreading and editing
each other’s work. It’s great to have that buddy.”
Her Learn Grant Writing Review?
Stephanie’s experience with the Collective has been more than she ever expected it to be. The process of
learning the skill has been attainable, fun, organized, and highly informative. “It has made it go from this
overwhelming idea of a super secret grant world to taking it step-by-step with so much information. It just
makes it a lot less scary,” Stephanie said.
Stephanie has firsthand experience with a university grant writing course and has found the
Collective to be much
more in tune with the real world of grant writing. “I got way more information from the Collective and way
more help than I ever received from the university,” Stephanie said. “They don’t even compare and the
Collective is more affordable. It's incredible. I love it.”
Moving forward in her grant writing journey, Stephanie is grateful to have continued support in the form of
a “whole pile of people to cheer me on and help me out”.
We’re so happy to be part of your journey, Stephanie!
Grant Writing Resources
If you’d like to learn tips on grant writing for nonprofits, check out
our free grant writing course
on the 7 Steps to Write Winning Grants.
Also, if you’re looking to hire a grant writer for your nonprofit,
find your match here.
We’d love to connect with you! Shoot us a DM on
Instagram! 🦄
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