Beyond the application.
Articles on the questions I hear most often about designing, funding, and measuring programs, with practical steps your team can put to use.
I group the articles into series by theme, starting with Series 1: Program fundamentals.
Series 1: Program fundamentals.
Most funding outcomes are decided by the strength of the program long before anyone writes the proposal. This two-part series lays that groundwork.
The first article walks through the full grant lifecycle and where programs tend to stall, and the second explains what makes a program fundable to reviewers and workable after the award.
Rethinking the 3-phase grant lifecycle.
The familiar 3-phase grant lifecycle was built to track federal compliance, not to guide how a program runs. When this 3-phase model is used as a team's working plan, it leaves the hardest questions about delivery and measurement until after the award, when staff are already busy delivering services.
This article shows how a 5-phase model adds groundwork before the application and a review after closeout, so your organization goes into every new proposal better prepared.
What makes a program truly "fundable"?
Funders want to know their investment will produce results. A compelling narrative helps, but what convinces them is a program with a clear plan for delivery and a credible way to measure outcomes.
This article shows how to turn a well-intentioned request into a case funders can approve with confidence: a program that's clearly needed, carefully planned, and ready to measure.
Start with a conversation.
If one of these articles describes where your program is now, I'm happy to look at it with you.
A free 30-minute video call. No pitch.
For primes and agencies. I'll reply within one business day.