Welcome everybody to Midday Magazine for this Thursday, February 20th, 2025.
Have your host James J here with you and we're joined right now by our great friend,
Kayla Rumbalski, Community Development Educator Wood County UW Extension.
Kayla, good to have you with us.
Hi, James.
Good to be here.
Thanks so much.
Appreciate you being able to make the time Kayla had a very busy day today and still was
able to get us on the airwaves.
That's just how much you mean to all of her out there and she means to you and all that.
And we appreciate the time and what we're going to be able to get into today, Kayla,
because we're going to talk about the 2025 grant writing basis six, basics classes that
where you guys are doing over their extension.
Yeah, absolutely.
So a couple of caveats before we dive into this topic, I am going through completely
avoid the topic of federal funding and federal grants.
We know that there's a lot of uncertainty happening at a federal level right now.
So when we talk about grant writing today, we're talking about some state funding, some
state grants that are available, and then also private philanthropy and foundations that
have grants available.
We're just going to ignore that elephant in the room that could be federal funding at
this point.
Yeah.
That's a smart idea.
I feel for you that you have to, but I understand and appreciate the caveat there.
Let's go ahead and dive right in, Kayla.
So yeah, so we are hosting.
I'm part of a statewide team of extension educators that is again hosting a series
of grant writing, basics workshop.
So this is a perfect workshop for someone who maybe is in a new role with a nonprofit
organization.
Maybe they're working as a town clerk at a, you know, local town or municipality, and
they're really looking to increase their capacity with additional funding and thinking that
the right way to go about that might be by applying for grants to either private foundations
or, you know, there are several state grants that are available, so maybe thinking that
they might want to pursue one of those.
This workshop that I'm hosting with some extension colleagues is really a great starting
point to dive into what do you need to know?
How do you go about preparing that grant application?
What are some things you should think about before you even dive in to the work of writing
grants?
And so we're offering these workshops.
We do them annually.
We offer them free of charge to anyone across the state.
It's a virtual Zoom call that folks can jump on.
They're two hours long.
And really again, we'll give you that great foundation of what to expect when applied
for a grant.
And Kayla, this is a topic that I just learned more about as I started doing this particular
job.
I had never really thought much about grants, grant writing, what goes into it.
It's a much deeper topic than I think most people would think on the surface.
And the difference between getting your grant, you know, getting the grant and not, sometimes
can be the simplest of things.
Can we go through some of the basics of what you do in this class?
Yeah, absolutely.
So really a couple of the tips that I suggest.
So grant writing comes down to, you know, preparing to write the application.
And in many ways, that preparation that you do is harder than writing the application
itself.
So there's a lot of focus in the workshop on what you need to do to prepare to write
your first grant and then to prepare to submit it.
And we spend a little bit of time talking about, hey, great, you receive the grant.
Here's what you need to do in the next part of the process.
But really, we walk you through everything you would need to know when you're thinking
about it.
So the first thing that we're going to do is talk about how, well, actually, excuse me,
let me back up.
Before we talk about researching a grant, the first thing that we're going to do is talk
about what is a grant.
What do we mean when we say grant?
So a grant typically is an award, typically it's financial and it's given by one entity
to another entity, either an individual or a company to facilitate a goal or incentivize
performance.
So when we say one entity, you know, sometimes it's a company, a corporate, you know,
grants officer or grants department, sometimes it's a foundation, sometimes it's a government.
I just came off of a broadband meeting for the county.
So we're talking about internet access and digital equity.
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has lots of grants available right now.
And there's a lot of funding coming down from the federal level for broadband access and
deployment.
And so when we talk about grants, you know, that's a perfect example.
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin puts out what they call a nofo or a notice of
notice of funding opportunity, you know, there is have to be these fun acronyms, right?
Yeah.
We couldn't do this without acronyms.
No, no.
So they put out their notice of funding opportunity and then they were they expect and sort
of request that municipalities and different organizations are going to apply to receive
the funds that they have to give out.
So that's some of the first step in these workshops.
You know, we talk about what is a grant, what can you apply for grant funding for, like
what types of activities can you apply for grant funding for?
And then we really dive into the research phase.
So this is most commonly people's first question is like, okay, so you're telling me that
there are grants out there.
You're telling me that I can find this funding, but how do I find it?
Or how do I know where to look?
What if I don't know about private foundations that existed in my area?
How do I figure out who has, you know, who has the money and where they're giving it?
So we kind of walked through some of the common places to find grants looking at, you
know, different research libraries that access that the internet has and makes available.
And we actually walk you through as a participant the 994, that's an IRS form and that all funders
need to complete.
And we walk you through that and talk about how you can use that form, that task form,
which is publicly available to figure out from a private foundation, say, or a family foundation,
what their typical funding looks like for organizations who might be someone that you
could have in your corner.
So we walk you through how to figure out like who's on the board for that foundation.
So if you wanted to have an in with that funder, who would you need to talk to?
And then once we cover research and we kind of get you through that process, then we talk
about how to prepare for the grant.
How to actually tell your story and explore the idea of what you're wanting to fund.
We give some information on plain language, so really using concise and clear concept
and goals in your grant application and being able to tell a compelling story and really
tell that funder why they should pick you, right?
And I often compare grant writing, sometimes the writing, a resume and a cover letter,
right?
It's the same kind of concept.
Yeah, if you're looking for funds as an organization, it's very similar to when you as an individual
are telling your company, this is why you should hire me.
This is why I stand apart from all of the other candidates.
So when you're doing a grant writing, when you're writing a grant or when you're telling
that story, you're doing a similar thing, really, you're looking at why you stand apart,
what makes your project unique and what makes it compelling enough that the funder would
want to say yes and to give you the money you're looking for.
So we can walk you through that process of all of the things, if I can use the term,
getting your ducks at a row, you know, walking you through how to get them all lined up,
how to make sure that you've got everything ready to go before you ever actually start
writing in the grant application and applying.
And then once we've done that, we walk you through the types of grant applications and
what you need to pay attention to when you're writing a letter of intent.
So that really is an introduction to your idea.
And then what you need to pay attention to when you're filling out a long proposal or
a full proposal for the funder.
And again, different funders have different types of requests when it comes to grant writing.
You know, if you're applying for, I mentioned the Public Service Commission earlier, some
of those grants are quite lengthy and they're asking for a lot of information, typically
because they're giving out larger amounts of money.
But we kind of walk you through all of that, make sure that you feel comfortable with what
you would be asked to provide.
And then we have some time.
So this is two hours, right?
So there's a lot of information to cover in a short time.
But we save some time at the end to talk about your relationship with the funder to talk
about like some common, you know, grant writing mistakes and answer questions that people
have.
So it's really a crash course in grant writing, but in today's world where funding and
budgets are really tight, and we know that, you know, typically our, especially our nonprofit
organizations are being told, do more with less.
Do more with less.
We're going to cut staffing and expect that you can do the same amount of work.
Typically, one way to increase your capacity is to apply for grant funding, either to
hire staff or to take on a new project that maybe we'll bring in some revenue.
And so this, this workshop really gives you the, the foundational skill that you need
to be able to do that.
We're speaking with Kayla Rumbalski, Community Development Educator at Wood County and UW
Madison Extension and Kayla, you bring up such great points, especially with what is
happening with a lot of our nonprofits, a lot of our government organizations and the
cutting and the funding that is going on.
And so for some of those groups, maybe they haven't been in this situation in a while
or at all.
And I think one of the first thoughts that I had with this, and it's actually come up
with other nonprofits we've talked to when it comes to grants and grant writing, is
there's some people that may not even realize there is a grant available for them.
Right.
And it sounds like that's something that you guys help hone down as well, like to anybody
out there listening that's thinking about taking this course or doing any of this.
You may think, well, there's no help for me out there.
There may be help available, you just don't know about it.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And not only that, but maybe it's not a grant, but maybe there's a, you know, a funder
or someone who's planning for their estate planning.
So maybe end of life planning, you know, they're maybe they've been fortunate in life to
have a math somewhere else, and they're looking at how they're going to distribute that after
they pass.
And so, you know, folks like that also potentially could be sources of funding.
And so even if you're not writing a grant, my point to bring this up is even if you're
not writing a physical grant, the process that you go through to write a grant just helps
you to hold your story and to really be able to have that compelling argument so that maybe
there is.
You know, you never know who you're going to meet and how they're going to impact you
either immediately or later in life, and maybe there is a, you know, a funder out there
that is interested in your project and really wants to support you with, with an investment
of, of capital to move, move it forward.
It's such a great point.
And, and while I personally I'm focusing a lot on nonprofits and businesses out there,
this is an individual thing too to keep in mind.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And, and especially for, for those entrepreneurs that are out there in the community and,
you know, they have these business ideas and, you know, you're wondering, you're working
your day job and wondering if you could ever take it to the next level.
The skills that you do in grant writing, the skills that you really need to build in
being an entrepreneur and telling your business story, you know, giving that pitch, if you
will, are similar.
And so I think any practice that you can get in being able to craft that story and hone
in and what makes you unique and what you're, you know, in business we call it a unique
selling proposition, but what, what sets you apart, I think is an important, an important
skill to have and certainly will lead to success down the line.
Well, and a great point to bring up with this and especially with everything else we've
talked about and we, what the world that we're in right now that we all understand, grants
are only going to become more and more popular.
So you may actually be finding a new line of work here by taking this course and learning
how to do grants to a great level.
And just in the point two of there, these, these, the skill sets that you learned from
this, that you grow from this, you can use to so many different aspects of your life
and your job, your career.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And Kayla, sorry, I had one other thought here too that just popped in my head as we're
talking about this because we're, again, I'm focusing so much on our nonprofits and
I think understandably so with everything we talked about beforehand.
But there are students out there.
They're going to be applying for grants for school and other programs possibly.
They could probably be benefited by this too.
Right.
Very true.
So this workshop specifically is more focused on the nonprofits like you said, but I think
the skills are transferable.
So if they're applying for, you know, for tuition assistance, those types of things, there
are some skills that would, would transfer over and certainly could be beneficial to them.
And I love, I'm, I'm, I'm just a, I'm a huge sucker and I love learning just in general
period.
I don't care what the subject is.
I just love to enjoy learning very much.
And I, I think to those fellow knowledge lovers out there, this is something that you
take in a class that you take and you, again, you don't know where this skill set could
really truly be applied to.
And you don't know when this might come in handy.
Maybe you don't need a grant right now and that's great to, if you don't.
But you may need it down the line.
Somebody you know may need it.
And this course is going to become, come really handy then, especially maybe the course
isn't around when it's needed.
So it's a great opportunity to get that knowledge.
Absolutely.
So we've shared, we've shared a bunch about what to expect in the class, but we haven't
shared the date yet.
Yeah.
So I think maybe we should dive into that.
All right.
All right.
You know what?
You've been a good audience.
Right.
I just wanted to give them a little disconnect of what to expect.
So I have an easy website for one, for, for listeners.
I know that that's typically a rarity for these.
But if the listeners go to go, go WISC, so go whisk.edu slash grant writing, they will
be able to find all of these resources on our website.
We have two workshops coming up in March.
They are Tuesday, March 11th, from 6 to 8 p.m., so an evening offering there.
And then Wednesday, March 12th from noon to 2.
So these are two separate workshops.
It's not a series.
You don't have to attend both.
The same content will be covered at each.
And again, that two hour workshop is free.
It's really a great crash course on grant writing and understanding what are grants and
how to find them.
And we offer it to anyone across the state.
We also have some fall offerings already scheduled.
So we'll be offering it on Monday, September 22nd, from 6 to 8, and on Tuesday, September
23rd from noon to 2.
And more information on that can be found at the website.
Some great opportunities.
And I will probably have you give that website one more time before we wrap up, Kayla.
But before we do, I did have one last question for you in doing all this work and everything.
And I guess I don't know how much you came into this subject knowledge wise.
But did you learn a lot from doing this and learning more about grants?
Did you have your mind open to some things too?
Absolutely.
So I have a nonprofit background.
I came at my role with extension through the chamber and through United Way.
So at United Way, we were responsible for grant writing.
I was an employee of United Way, but I actually led the volunteer center at United Way.
And so I had to apply for funds the same way that many other nonprofits that are funded
through United Way do.
So I learned a little bit about grant writing through that.
And then obviously at the chamber from an economic development standpoint, we were looking
at funding to fund some of our chamber programs and activities.
And so learned a little bit about grant writing through that experience.
And it just continues to hone, right?
So like you said, you're a lifelong learner.
I believe in lifelong learning.
I think you would be hard-pressed to find an extension educator like myself and like
my colleagues over at the extension office that are not lifelong learners or do not believe
in lifelong learning.
It's a big part of what we do at extension.
And so with that, I believe that even if you're a professional grant writer, there are people
that do this for a living, they're still going to pick up skills and tips and tricks along
the way things that they may not have known before and now have picked up from another
participant in the workshop or have picked up from sitting in on the workshop.
So it's always a great opportunity to continue to learn and grow.
That's very cool.
Thank you for sharing that and a great encouragement to the audience out there.
To sign up, Kayla, one more time, give them the website of how they can sign up.
Sure.
The website is HTTP, HTTP, let me do this again, HTTP and colon slash, slash, go, vo.wisc.edu.
slash, grants writing, all one word, all over case, and that'll bring you to the website
where you can learn more.
Yeah.
And you can find out more about extension at their website, extension.wisca.edu.
Be sure to follow them on social media as well and share the post that you see on there
on your page.
You just never know who might see these things.
Otherwise, Kayla, it is always good hanging out and talking with you.
If people have follow up questions, I would like to know more from you as their way to reach
you.
Of course, you can reach me in a variety of mean.
I think I've joked on this show before that like, if you want to sign me a carrier
pigeon, I'm sure I can figure out how that works.
Morse code, smoke signals.
Morse code, all of those, all of those things.
Email might be the most conventional and probably the immediate way.
So my email is the first letter of my first name and then my last name at wisc.edu.
So that is k-rumble ski, r-o-m-b-a-l-s-k-i, at wisc.edu.
My phone number at the office is 715-421-8445, so people can reach me that way as well.
I'd be happy to answer follow up questions or talk to folks with whatever they want
to discuss.
Great job today.
Always fun hanging out with you, Kayla.
Thank you so much for the time.
You have a great one.
Yeah.
You as well.
Thanks so much, James.
Thank you.
And a big thank you to all of you out there for listening.
We appreciate you.
We'll have more Midday Magazine coming up right here at 97-5 FM, 13-20 AM, WFHR, locally
grown radio.
