It’s no secret that Billy Madison is one of my all-time favorite films. The climactic scene during the academic decathlon remains one of the greatest moments in cinematic history and I will die on this hill. Why do I bring this up? Business Ethics. Someone out there just chortled. Anyway, it is considered unethical in the grants profession and by the Georgia Grant Professionals Association of which I am a member to be paid on commission. But why? Lots of people find this c

What should I pay my grant-writer? How much should I charge as a consultant? Money questions are essential no matter if they come from the client side or the consultant side. It's tricky to say what's right, as a lot can depend on what feels most comfortable for the consultant and client in question. Nah, I'm kidding. There's definitely a right and a wrong answer. First, let's go through a couple of the more common set-ups before diving in to what I think may be most ideal f

Wow, aren't you sick of AI? I sure am. I'd much rather talk about puppies. Little, robot puppies. There are certainly some pros and cons to using AI when it comes to grant-writing. Proper and improper uses. Obviously, you don't want AI writing the whole grant for you. That would be cheating and no fun at all, if you're the sort of person who actually enjoys their job. Plus, AI makes mistakes. I've used AI to suggest edits, and it has proposed changes to data which were incorr

Today's post brought to you by an AI-bot. Not written by it, but the idea was inspired during a brain-storming session with ChatGPT. Don't worry. We only drained one river basin in Minnesota. I'm sure that won't have any lasting effects on the local ecosystem. "I'm coming for all of you." Everybody wants to dive into grants head-first, but it's important to have a clear grants strategy first. Grants strategy is part of what we in the Biz call "Grants Readiness." Grants Readin

This article previously appeared on LinkedIn September 2025. Last week, my BNI friend asked me what was the matter. I answered that my leg was bothering me. Now that's a perfectly fine answer. Nothing wrong with it. It's technically correct -- the best kind of correct. Truthful, to an extent. But if you noticed, I didn't really answer the question. She could see my leg was bothering me. It was very obvious. I was limping as I came into the room. I struggled to settle into my

Grant applications live and die by their ability to cram a bajillion shades of meaning into approximately 1000 characters or less, and while these articles won't be quite so pithy, I hope you will allow me the opportunity to share a few of the tips and tricks I've learned by tuning in every Tuesday to my cool little corner of the Interwebs. Today's topic is the elephant in the room: Can't we just do all this ourselves? Grant-writing, I mean. And the answer is of course you ca