Are you an employee of an organization who is looking to develop your skills in writing grant funding applications, or in producing tenders for contracts?
Maybe you’re an employer looking for opportunities to develop the ability of your staff to write grant applications. Not only are you upskilling your staff, you’re also investing in their ability to develop more business by winning grants and contracts to deliver products and services; all contributing to the sustainability and growth of your organization.
On the other hand, you might want to start a grant writing consultancy business and would like to develop your competency in writing proposals, tenders and bids.
To get started, take a look at the following posts to help you begin the journey to becoming a grant writer:
How to Write Persuasive Business Proposals
Of course, you could also find training opportunities in writing grants. However, what if you don’t have the budget to attend live face-to-face training?
Online training courses in writing proposals could be a more cost effective solution.
The great thing about such courses is not only are they cheaper, they’re also convenient to make use of, because you can study at your own pace, in your own time and come back to the resources again and again. All you need is access to the Internet, and a device to access the course such as a laptop or a tablet.
And if you’re looking for online grant writing courses, we’ve just made your search easier.
Below are 13 of the best online grant writing courses you should take a look at.
1. A to Z Grant Writing by the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Hotel
Delivered through ed2go, University of Georgia’s Center for Continuing Education and Hotel’s A to Z Grant Writing course, which is suitable for varying experience levels, can equip you with the skills to apply for grants on offer from foundations, businesses, individual persons and also the government. The course covers looking for sources of funding, how to build partnerships with funding organizations, and how to write winning proposals. The A to Z Grant Writing course is suitable for you if you’re working in nonprofit organizations, schools, research organizations and religious institutions.
The course offers two enrollment options – if you work better by yourself, then you can opt for the self-paced version, which involves no instructor. This involves 3 months of access and you can begin anytime you want. The second version is instructor-led and it runs over 6 weeks with a new course starting every month, respectively on April 15, May 13, June 17, and July 15. Each of them costs $159.
2. Advanced Grant Proposal Writing by University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Hotel
Another University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Hotel course delivered through ed2go.com, with the Advanced Grant Proposal Writing course, you will become intimately familiar with the proposal template used by most public foundations and develop skills in how to complete the different sections of a proposal template (cover sheet, background page, stakeholder and third-party evaluation plan etc.) and also learn how to collect all the information needed to comprehensively complete the various parts of a proposal including the attachments.
In addition, you’ll also learn about the criteria funders use when distributing grants and how you can ensure your proposal matches each element of the criteria. The importance of obtaining political and community support when you’re submitting proposals to government agencies will be taught as well. . This course provides the same enrollment options as the first one. The instructor for the course is someone who has won in excess of $430 million in grant funding and contracts; namely Dr Beverly Browning. The price for the Advanced Grant Proposal Writing course is $159.
3. Federal Grant Writing 101
This is another course by Dr Beverly Browning, which you can access through Udemy and it focuses on teaching you how to write federal grant applications. The course includes instruction on incorporating the best practices in your program design, on determining the requirements of a highly competitive written response, on learning how to read the guidelines of federal grant applications properly, and on a few other things. This course seems to have pretty good reviews and is reasonably priced at €13.99, which also gives you lifetime access to the 35 downloadable resources and the 1 hour on-demand video. However, you might miss the current offer, in which case you would have to pay the full price of €44.99.
4. Grant Writing for Nonprofits and Freelance Writers available through Udemy
If you’re a freelance writer or a nonprofit organization member, this course is for you. Taught by Tim Whitney, a nonprofit and public policy strategist, as well as a design practitioner, the course will allow you to learn about essential strategies for solid applications and to improve your proposal writing skills. You will find out how to identify five relevant local foundations, how to gather information about grants on any level, and how to offer your clients a better approach to grant writing, all while using real examples and real language. For the price of €24,99, you will receive 1 hour and a half of on-demand video, 35 downloadable resources, lifetime access, and a few others. However, if you hurry, you will be able to purchase all of these at only €11,99.
5. Grant Writing: Keys to a Successful Proposal available through Udemy
Regardless of who you’re writing for, this course is meant for anyone looking to improve their grant writing skills. Since it is self-paced, you will have the benefit of completing it whenever you want to – it mainly focuses on the basics of grant writing, on how to write a successful grant proposal, and on searching for funding by conducting Internet research and by using databases. These topics will be discussed in a series of short lectures and a quiz, and you will need no prerequisites to be able to manage them. For €99,99, you will receive 2 hours of on-demand video, 1 article, 6 downloadable resources, and more. Right now, though, the course is available at only €11,99.
6. Bid Writing Online Training available through Udemy
If you’re interested in applying for funds of up to £10,000 in order to establish local projects, the Bid Writing Online Training course will provide you with the necessary information to do so. The main topics are developing and selling your project idea, presenting the difference you’re trying to make in a proper manner, writing a convincing bid, preparing the best answers when it comes to the funder’s criteria and priorities, as well as a few others. This course will be available online immediately after enrollment, and it is compatible with all mobile devices. For the price of £23.00, you will have 6 months of access to the platform.
7. Effective Grant Proposal Writing by the University of Notre Dame
Provided by the University of Notre Dame, the Effective Grant Proposal Writing course will help you become accustomed with the grant writing process, and it was particularly created for students who are interested in mastering it. This is a 8-week course with a preset curriculum – for instance, during your third lesson you will learn about developing a case statement and a strategic plan, about creating a needs statement and an explanation regarding your way of executing the solution, as well as about the importance of building partnerships and about activities conducted after submitting a grant proposal.
Lastly, the 8th lesson involves the grant proposal review process, the presentation of grant proposals from a community foundation perspective, the understanding of a sustainability plan’s importance, and a few more. The next start date is June 1st, and the full price is $1980. If it exceeds your current budget, there are flexible payment options available as well.
8. Writing Successful Grant Proposals by Elevate
If you’re a professional in the healthcare sector, or carry out medical research and are looking for training in proposal writing, Writing Successful Grant Proposals, an online grant writing course by Elevate, might be worth taking a look at. Elevate’s course runs for 4 weeks and covers many topics such as choosing the appropriate funding opportunity, creating a realistic project plan for writing and preparing proposals, persuasive writing, effective usage of graphics, presenting you and your team’s research background compellingly, creating work packages, and a budget correctly. The course will begin on April 27, on August 3, and on November 9 – when it comes to the first date, the enrollment deadline is April 20. Regardless of the period, though, the price is still €379.
9. Government Funding: Writing the Proposal by GrantSpace
Whether you’re a beginner in the field or an experienced foundation fundraiser, this course will improve your skills in terms of writing competitive proposals for government grants. The focus is placed on the interests of government agencies, particularly when it comes to evaluation and program design. By attending this course, you will learn about the difference between a foundation and a government proposal, about government grant downsides and highlights, as well as about strategies for eye-catching proposals, which also address grammar and style. Your webinar instructor will be Cheryl Kester, the co-author of Writing to Win Federal Grants: A Must-Have for Your Fundraising Toolbox.
The course can be completed in 1-2 hours and it only costs $35.
10. Professional Certificate in Grant Writing Online by San Diego State University’s College of Extended Studies
If you work as a grant writer in a non-for-profit organization, or for the government at city or county level, in education, chambers of commerce, public health or social work organizations, or you’re a business owner offering grant writing services, you may want to take a look at San Diego State University’s Professional Certificate in Grant Writing. In order to achieve the certification, there are two courses you would need to go through. The first one is Introduction to Grants and Funding Research and the second one is Grant Proposal Development.
With regards to content, Introduction to Grants and Funding Research places emphasis on researching for grant funding opportunities for not-for-profit organizations and institutions that are exempt from paying tax. You also have an opportunity to put yourself into the shoes of a potential funder in order to get an idea of what the funder is looking for in a grant application and create a plan for managing the proposals you want to pursue.
The material in the Grant Proposal Development course focuses on writing grant applications and in this course you can learn how to write eye catching, persuasive proposals and structure the written parts of the document and how to create a budget At the same time, you will gain knowledge on the guidelines of federal, state, and private foundations.
The first course will take place between May 11 and June 14, while the second one will take place between June 29 and August 2. Each of them costs $349 and will be taught by Jay Katz, the establisher of Grants West. To find out more, you can inquire here.
11. Certificate In Proposal Writing Online Course by Courses for Success
Courses for Success offers a Certificate in Proposal Writing Online Course, which takes around 6 to 8 hours to complete and comes with lifetime access. This course also happens to be accredited by the International Association of Online Training Standards (IAOTS). The course covers many topics, which among others include Requests for Proposals and what they are, the steps involved with writing a proposal, understanding what the customer requires, information gathering, how to make clear your organization’s unique selling point (USP) in the proposal, creating table of contents, organizing information in your proposal, writing executive summaries, editing and proofreading. This course is priced at $199 and can be accessed through various devices, including PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
12. The ExpertRating Online Grant Writing Course by ExpertRating
The ExpertRating Grant Writing Course is meant for anyone who is interested in starting their journey in the field, but doesn’t know how. The curriculum covers the basics of each step of the grant writing process, thus helping you learn about different grant types, about their management, and about efficient fundraising strategies. There are 11 chapters into which all topics are divided – for instance, chapter 5 is about designing your program and it involves an overview, the work plan, interactive activity, and self-study questions.
For $69.99, this course provides the benefit of obtaining a certification in grant writing, which will be yours after taking the final exam. Luckily, this is a self-paced course, so you can complete it whenever you want, as long as you do it within a year of enrollment. Your instructor will be Maria Brodine, a grant writer and program coordinator who is specialized in academic research and federal grants.
13. How to Write a Grant Proposal by Universal Class
It doesn’t matter if you want to improve your grant writing skills in order to build a full-time career or if it’s just curiosity – this course is meant to help everyone who simply wants to learn more. At the end of it, you will be able to summarize the best funding sources, the key elements of a grant proposal, and the reporting types required to obtain a grant, among others. Even more, you will also have the knowledge to set an appropriate budget for a grant proposal, to create a cover letter, and to complete the application. There are 16 lessons encompassed in the course, and you can get all of them for $50. However, if you also want the CEU Certificate, you will have to pay a total of $75. Even so, it is a self-paced course, so you can complete it anytime.
What did you think of our list of the best online grant writing courses? Have you taken any of them? If so, how did you find them? Please share in the comments box below! Are there any online grant writing courses, which we’ve missed out? Please tell us more!
13 of the Best Online Grant Writing Courses is an article from Writing Tips Oasis.
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