Grant Seeking High

I don’t know how to explain this to someone who has never applied for a grant, but I’m going to give it a shot.

Something happens to me when I find a really good funding opportunity to explore. I start to get really excited and my neurons and protons (ok, I don’t really know what those are called in my brain) start firing rapidly. Ideas start flooding my mind and I have a strong desire to share the good news with anyone that will listen. It’s like finding that $1 bill on the ground by your feet when you are walking down the street. Free money!

I love the excitement of the development part – that place where ideas flow freely and no one shoots you down. The problem as this entire neurological reaction also takes away any inhibition I may have when it comes to my time. I start agreeing to do work that I would never imagine and even search out ways for me to be as involved as possible in the grant process. I even find myself making promises I can’t keep. It’s like the lure of that money is too hard for me to resist. I can’t look away…

The good news is that I even get a thrill out of putting the proposal together. Grants are like really large lists with a little bit of story thrown in. The story can be the unfolding of the mystery of your project or idea for whoever the reviewer might be. So, bingo, hit on two of my favorite things: lists and mysteries! Again, duh…

The bad news is that I usually end up putting 150% of my life into the proposal process. I can’t let any typo or grammatical error slide. I have to triple check every budget number and quadruple check every federal form for accuracy. I get nervous and sweaty and irritable when we get closer to the deadline. What if my one missed mistake causes us not to get the funding? What if I forgot to include something and that causes us not to get the funding? What if we miss our deadline? Egads!

I love being a grant professional and wouldn’t trade in the thrill of the chase for anything. My wish is that everyone who ever gets this high from writing a grant never feels that low that happens when you don’t get funding after putting in 160 hours in 3 days into a proposal. So, I’m off and running on another great funding possibility – wish me luck! Yipee!