History shows that grants have been one big experiment in the US. Grants were first given for education (pretty neat). But how did we get to the level of grants we see today, and what does a grant writer do? To answer that, let’s explore the history of grant writing.

Curious about what it takes to write a grant? You can take our minicourse to learn the seven steps of writing a grant here: https://www.learngrantwriting.org/fre...

HISTORY BREAKDOWN
We’re talking about US History, but you can explore the history of philanthropy all over the globe with the link below. ⬇

The ancient Romans provided funding for educational and cultural projects.

In the 1800s, the US federal government began to “cede land” for public schools.

In 1862, Congress passed the Morrill Act to give land and money to establish colleges in every state.

In 1887, the Hatch Act gave each state funding to establish agricultural experiment stations, marking the beginning of financial reporting.

After WWI, grants marked the feeble beginnings of welfare programs (fighting STIs, vocational rehab, and maternal/child health).

During the Great Depression, grants were for highways, and by the end of the Depression, funding went for emergency employment.

After WWII, grant funding went to educate and train defense workers returning home and programs for housing community veterans.

In 1968, President Johnson launched The Great Society with many programs we still have today (Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, National Endowment for Humanities).

In the 1980s, corporations joined in philanthropy as the beginning of causerelated marketing.

In 2010, Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett started the Giving Pledge to give 99% of their earnings to philanthropy (240 signatures have joined the pledge).

GRANT WRITING TODAY

Looking at...
Who’s eligible for grant funding?
How are grants typically awarded?
What skills are required for grant writing?

Wondering if grant writing is a good career for you? Take our personality quiz to find out! https://www.learngrantwriting.org/suc...

A question we get a lot!
Do you have to go back to college for grant writing training?

✨ No way! But you should absolutely get training. You don't have to ride the struggle bus alone. Growing your confidence in this field is gaining experience, which is what we teach in the Global Grant Writers Collective. You earn while you learn!

But for real
What are the career opportunities available?

✨One, you are a grant writer inhouse. You have a job writing grants for an organization.
✨Two, you start side hustling to test out and see if you like grant writing. If you do, then you scale your side hustle into path number three.
✨Three, a fulltime consulting business where you quit your job. You freelance. You can work remotely, and you have a highly flexible schedule.

You don’t have to have all the answers right now. You can earn to learn and decide if grant writing is for you.

What’s the earning potential?

✨Owners of consulting firms have an average takehome salary of $100k.
✨ Inhouse grant writers are making up to $150k+. At minimum, with inflation, you should be looking at a salary of $75k.

What’s next?

Explore the Organic Networking Framework video, which is how you land paid gigs with no prior experience, then drop into our free training on how to get into the field: https://www.learngrantwriting.org/web...

Ping us below! What did you learn about the history of grant writing today?

Resources and links:
A sidebyside comparison of grant writing programs: https://tinyurl.com/4fpntwt5
https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/...
https://www.nber.org/system/files/cha...
https://www.historyofgiving.org/
Jessica Stacks    • Jess Secured $1.35M In Grant Funding ...  
Jackie White    • Former Personal Fitness Trainer To Gr...  

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:00 History of grants in the US
06:17 Who is eligible for grant funding?
07:07 How are grants awarded?
08:16 What skills do you need to be a grant writer?
09:29 What education do you need to be a grant writer?
10:41 What career opportunities are available in grant writing?
11:29 What is the earning potential as a grant writer?
12:41 How retired teacher Jessica made $100k freelance consulting
13:53 Inhouse grant writer Suzanne of the YMCA won $300K in funding
14:14 Jackie, as an exOlympic athlete, side hustles for schedule flexibility to travel
14:44 How do you land a gig without prior experience as a grant writer?