FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: April Montgomery

970-728-8717

Ashley Coady Smith

727-510-9666

Erin Spillane

970-729-3170

GRANT WRITING: COMPOSING A COMPELLING NARRATIVE 

Free Telluride Workshop to Strengthen Nonprofit Grant Writing Skills

TELLURIDE, Colo. – (June 12, 2023) Telling your story is an important component of grant writing. As grant awards become more competitive across the state, in particular with so many worthy organizations to fund, it can be difficult to compose a narrative that allows your organization to stand out and get the funding it needs. 

With this in mind, the Telluride Foundation has organized a two-hour grant writing workshop on Composing a Compelling Narrative that shares WHY you are relevant and WHY your organization needs funding now. 

The workshop will take place June 28, 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the Wilkinson Public Library Program Room. It will be a hybrid meeting so participants can attend in person or via Zoom.  

Instructors are Ashley Coady Smith of Sage Advice, a development and capacity building consulting firm for nonprofits; One to One Mentoring grant writer Erin Spillane; and April Montgomery, Vice President of Programs at the Telluride Foundation. All three instructors have extensive experience writing grants and offer a range of perspectives on what makes a good proposal. 

The workshop will focus on three areas: 1.) the statement of need component of a grant application, including using demographics and data to emphasize need; 2.) collaborations and describing them effectively in grant applications; and 3.) expressing action-based responses to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) questions. 

During the second part of the workshop, participants will break out into groups to work on strengthening the answers from real grant proposals. 

“Nonprofits are often looking for ways to make their grant applications more compelling, whether that’s persuasive demographics or telling a convincing story,” said Montgomery. “We’ll discuss tips for putting your best case forward and even where Chat GPT fits in.”

Added Spillane, “I hope this workshop helps participants better understand why these questions exist — what are grantors looking for in asking for this information? — and, in doing so, helps them write more effective responses.”

Smith pointed to the region’s many nonprofits and the importance of developing a good narrative, “but even more valuable,” she said, “is creating meaningful connections and critical collaborations within our community. I am hopeful that attendees will walk away from this workshop with a list of new allies, nonprofit partners and community resources to better engage with one another in pursuing actionable impact and gaining organizational capacity.”

For more information or to RSVP for the workshop, contact April Montgomery at 970-728-8717 or april@telluridefoundation.org. If you plan to attend via Zoom, you must register at: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvfu-oqjosGN1GlS1KEBc0VSj_wY3Bd1_X.

The Telluride Foundation exists to create a stronger Telluride community through the promotion and support of philanthropy. It is a nonprofit, apolitical community foundation that provides support for local organizations involved in arts, education, athletics, charitable causes, land conservation and other community-based efforts through technical assistance, education and grant making. As a grant maker, the Foundation awards grants to qualified applicants that serve the people living and working in the Telluride region for the purpose of enhancing the quality of life. For more information on the Telluride Foundation, visit www.telluridefoundation.org.

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