Grant writers are storytellers too; as with donor cultivation, we need the data and results to make our words compelling. If you don't have this, the competition will. Don't give up on storytelling, just work to enhance it. Stronger language=results. Dedicate the new year to getting stronger language in place.

Not everyone has the skills to tell a story the way most funders will approve it. It's not easy; grant writers, besides crafting compelling narrative, have to navigate word choice, placement, funder instructions, and reviewers' scoring matrix in the process. It's a matter of creative storytelling blended with a masterful strategy that, more often than not, gets the higher score. Good storytellers can save an agency countless hours (and money) by having concise, accurate, and convincing language on file at all times. It's not that modifications won't be necessary for each funder with complete rewrites for some; it just builds efficiencies and desired results.

Even if agency "boilerplate" language is on file, consider a litmus test: is it working? Has it worked enough? Can it be strengthened or replaced with language that does cause a funder to respond favorably. Even if the funder has questions, you've started a relationship. Your foot is in the door. If you never hear back, if you are always calling them, you haven't met the burden of quality to get funded and may never, definitely not as often.

It's critical to get a strong message in front of the funder. It's often a first impression that becomes your last. Someone shared a quote recently, "If you think it's expensive to hire an expert, try hiring an amateur." Experts have their place and often work faster and smarter with far better results. Consider starting 2014 with boilerplate language written for your agency by a professional grant consultant.