Grants management is an art, and there are several key competencies that require in-depth training to grasp.
Fortunately, there are a wealth of tools and resources burgeoning grants managers can leverage to achieve success. In this article, we will share the top grants management training courses, workshops, and self-guided resources you can learn from.For each, we will explain:
What content they cover
What skills you will learn
Who they are a good fit for
Ready to elevate your skills? Let's dive in!
How We Evaluated the Best Grant Management Courses
There are many grant management training opportunities available on the market, which is why we evaluated the ones included in our list based on the following criteria:
Content: Course content and resources should be succinct, informative, and easy-to-follow, whether they are for those just starting out or for those elevating existing skills.
Price: We wanted to ensure that all the learning opportunities provide content that is worth the cost of the training.
Length: We made it a priority to evaluate the length of each learning opportunity and whether it is worth a person’s time and effort.
Instructor Experience: The best grants management training opportunities are developed by individuals with a wealth of sector experience and grants expertise. Ensuring that these courses are led by individuals who draw on their own work careers to provide relevant, real world information is crucial.
With the aid of the evaluative criteria, we have developed a collection of highly effective, applicable, and high-quality training opportunities that will take your grants management knowledge to the next level.
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How to Use an Agile Framework to Write (and Win) More Grants w/ Diane Leonard
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What it is: Webinar, led by Diane Leonard, GPC, RST and Approved Trainer of the Grant Professionals Association.
What you’ll learn: How to implement Agile or “Scrum” frameworks in your nonprofit organization’s fundraising and grants management practices to increase efficiency and win more grants.
You should watch if: You are interested in streamlining each process in the grant lifecycle from identification, tracking, management, and reporting.
In this webinar, Leonard guides students through Agile frameworks to help boost efficiency in the grant process with the aim of writing more and ultimately winning more grants.
Students will learn what Agile and Scrum are, how to implement them and what these frameworks value. If you are interested in adopting nimble, customer centered interactions into your grantmaking and development work then this webinar is for you!
Financial Planning 101: How To Master Your Budgeting and Forecasting in 2023 w/ Don Needs
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What it is:Webinar led by Don Needs, Chief Financial Officer at Jitasa.
What you’ll learn: In this course, students will explore different types of budgeting methodologies and identify which strategies are the most effective for different scenarios.
In his webinar, Financial Planning 101: How to Master Your Budgeting and Forecasting in 2023 w/ Don Needs, Needs leverages his decades of experience as a financial leader and expert in the nonprofit sector to provide a comprehensive overview of the essential elements of budgeting and forecasting to help nonprofit professionals make the most of their financial resources throughout the year.
You will learn step-by-step processes for building a budget that sets you up for success, acquiring the skills to determine the difference between budgeting and forecasting and why nonprofit organizations need both.
How to Unlock Recurring Grants Through Your Volunteer Program With Geng Wang
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What it is: Webinar led by Geng Wang, CEO of Civic Champs
What you’ll learn: How to secure recurring grants and donations via a robust volunteer program.
You should watch if: You want to leverage your volunteer network to jumpstart your fundraising program.
Led by the highly experienced Geng Wang, CEO of Civic Champs, this webinar provides a comprehensive overview of how to secure recurring grants through your volunteer program. This interactive workshop teaches the following key competencies associated with this niche type of grant:
​An overview of what volunteer matching grants are and why they are so valuable;
How to utilize your nonprofit’s existing volunteer program to find Recurring Volunteer Matching Grants;
Learn how to qualify for these types of grants and how to set yourself up for success; and
Best practices for receiving and growing your nonprofit's volunteer grant program.
With Wang’s guidance, students can learn about these unique opportunities and get an upper hand on other organizations by creating a more strategic fundraising strategy while sustaining a strong network of corporate volunteers.
Stop Chasing the Money: Creating Winning Grant Strategies w/ Amanda Day & Kimberly Hays de Muga
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What it is:Webinar led by Amanda Day and Kimberly de Muga
What you’ll learn: How to identify well-aligned grant opportunities and develop better fundraising strategies.
You should watch if: You want to improve your identification practices and find better grants that you are more likely to secure.
Led by nonprofit professionals Amanda Day and Kimberly Hays de Muga—experts with decades of combined experience in the nonprofit sector—”Stop Chasing the Money: Creating Winning Grant Strategies” is a webinar that will teach students how to unlock the full potential of your grant management process by learning the importance of strategic grant calendars, how to strategically examine RFP's, and how to document your decision-making process.
Writing Powerful Performance Indicators w/ Lori Foltz Fabian
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What it is:Workshop led by Lori Foltz Fabian, President of Fabian Consulting
What you’ll learn: How to improve your ability to write compelling performance indicators, outcomes, and outputs.
You should watch if: You want to improve your ability to develop strong grant reports and create suitable indicators to better illustrate your organization or program’s impact.
​In this one-hour special workshop “Writing Powerful Performance Indicators” hosted by Lori Foltz Fabian, the President of Fabian Consulting and a nonprofit professional with over three decades of experience, you will learn how to set your nonprofit up for success with funders by designing accurate and achievable performance indicators.
A grant manager’s ability to effectively illustrate the impact of their program and prove the efficacy of a nonprofit organization’s work is an essential skill. Fabian’s workshop will provide a foundational understanding of how to create goals, objectives, and other performance indicators that will contribute to a competitive grant proposal.
Partnership Pays! 5 Ways Partnering Builds More Grants Success, Faster with Maryn Boess
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What it is: Webinar led by Maryn Boess, Grant Writer
What you’ll learn: How to strengthen your organizational partnerships to efficiently secure grants.
You should watch if: You want to increase the amount of partnerships your nonprofit has and want to leverage those partnerships to win grants.
What you’ll learn: How to write government grant proposals, analyze your organization’s readiness for government funding, and stay up to date on federal grantmaking rules and regulations.
You should watch if: You want to increase the amount of partnerships your nonprofit has and want to leverage those partnerships to win grants.
Learn what it takes to be a successful federal grant recipient with comprehensive federal grant readiness workshops taught by Management Concepts. Through this grants management training workshop, even seasoned grant managers can learn vital skills that will improve chances of securing federal funding.
Moreover, students who successfully complete the workshop have the opportunity to receive Continuing Education Credits which can be attributed to the completion of other degree programs as well as maintaining a variety of professional licenses.
The Grantsmanship Center: Grant Management Essentials
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What it is:Training led by Grant Management Essentials
What you’ll learn: The essentials of grant management including how to cultivate funder relationships, grant writing best practices, prospect research, pre-award management, reporting, and compliance.
You should watch if: You want to develop a strong foundational knowledge of grants management best practices and processes.
The Grantsmanship Center’s Grant Management Essentials training is an online, live training provided over the course of two days. The training teaches several grants management competencies including:
How to develop effective funder relationships that will result in future grant opportunities;
Best practices and how to avoid common pitfalls that will damage relationships with funders and other grantmaking agencies;
Addressing aspects of budgeting, managing finances, and other fiscal requirements associated with the grants process;
How manage the pre-award phase of the grants process;
How to delegate tasks and responsibilities to members of your organization’s grant management team; and
Addressing all essential components of the post-award reporting process and how to close out a grant.
The course also comes with the opportunity for one-on-one consultations with the trainer and an e-book that provides an assortment of resources so that students can continue learning more about the content made available in the workshop.
What you’ll learn: Best practices for grants management and writing with a focus on federal grants.
You should watch if: You want to gain foundational knowledge about grants management practices and improve your understanding of rules and regulations associated with federal grant opportunities.
The Grant Management Boot Camp is tailored to individuals who are new to grants management and require support learning the requirements and regulations associated with managing a federal award.
The Boot Camp provides up-to-date overview of changing regulations associated with federal grantmaking agencies, deepens learner’s expertise, and provides a variety of vital resources that learners can utilize to learn more including study guides with review questions.
Training and professional development courses are only a piece of the puzzle when it comes to effective grants management. The ability to leverage new technology is another essential aspect to building strong grants programs and becoming a better grants manager.
Instrumentl is a vital grants management tool that streamlines the entire grant lifecycle—from identifying funders to reporting on awards.
When you sign up for Instrumentl, you will receive grant “matches” that align with your nonprofit’s specific mission and funding needs.
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You can then evaluate potential funders based on key information pulled directly from their 990s, including their:
Past giving history
Average and median grant size
Key personnel
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And once you decide a grant is worth pursuing, you can add it to your Tracker within Instrumentl so that you can manage your deadlines, tasks, and more all in one place.
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Whether you are working with a small, nimble team or a vast network of grants professionals, Instrumentl ensures you can collaborate efficiently and effectively.
Don’t just take our own word for it. Take a look at what customers like Kris Cole, Director of Marketing and Development at the Carolina Raptor Center has to say about the success they have found through Instrumentl: ‍
“I'm very impressed with Instrumentl. I can now have all [our] grant information in one place. Not only do I receive a massive amount of new matches on our projects, I can also see deadlines and pipeline status at a glance. It's been great to share the load with teammates through the platform and stay organized.”
You can try Instrumentl out for free for 14 days by signing up here.
Wrapping Up: Take Your Grant Management to the Next Level
With the content available through the variety of comprehensive grants management training we’ve shared, you have all the resources and expertise at your disposal to become a master grants manager in no time.
Learning to be the best grants manager possible is oftentimes a lifelong pursuit. In addition to the trainings offered above, Instrumentl offers robust tools, resources, webinars, workshops, and e-books to continuously improve upon your skills and advance your career.
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