Hello, and welcome to the first installment of the Grantology Blog! Here we will seek to dig into all things grants, what grants are and are not, how a grant is crafted, how it is implemented, and how it can be celebrated. Thus the name “Grant” “ology”, a subject of study; a branch of knowledge. The grant world can be complex and ever changing, so fasten your seatbelts and let’s kick off this fun and rewarding journey.
While different than a donation, a grant is a component of the fundraising world and Institutional Advancement. In essence, a grant is an investment in a proposed project, an agreement with a donor, or funder in this case. As such, there are moments of excitement when you get the award and moments of focus when you seek to honor the investment of the funder. The best of these projects are well planned in the beginning, so the funder understands if they provide the resources, you can accomplish the overall goal. When all the details fall into place, it is a true win win relationship, where the funder is pleased with the investment and the College can meet the identified need.
How does that win win product come about? Unfortunately, there is no magic grant wand 
. The grant development process is nothing short of a team sport! I grew up as a basketball fan, college basketball to be specific (Go HOOS!), so I like to think of our VWCC team hitting the court. This visual is important, as there is no one person huddled over a computer creating a wildly successful proposal. In fact, according to Kim Gorgens and Sophia Barnes1 , here are some of the key players on a grant development team: The Hot Seat, The Detail-Obsessed, Style and Substance, The Frontal Lobe, The Crafty Colleague, and the Money Manager. To read more about their thoughts and fun descriptions, and to see what role you might fit in the grant development process…..see the notation and link below.
The Grant team at Virginia Western is stocked with some of these key players including: Faculty and Staff (who know the content of the College best), Human Resources (who know what it takes to support our best resources – people), Deans and Vice Presidents (who know what is current and coming down the road), Institutional Effectiveness (who know the data and can help us prove need as well as success), Finance and Administrative Services (who get the big picture, the financial details and help us know what is possible) and the Marketing Team (who help get the word out about the project). I am thankful to be a part of this team and look forward to new opportunities to collaborate and secure resources for the benefit of the College and its student’s success.
The Grantology Blog will come to you monthly, with updates, grant news from around campus, as well as, ideas and topics to considered related to grants and new College opportunities. It is the hope that the blog can help us connect and the next grant opportunity can plant the seeds for new and innovative opportunities at Virginia Western! Know that the Grants Office door is always open. Come see me, or invite me to your spot on campus. The more we connect, the more effective we can be at innovating together!
Shelley Lyons
Administrative Officer for Grants Administration
Fishburn Hall, F204
540-857-6084
slyons@virigniawestern.edu
Don’t Forget: Innovation Grant LOI’s are due by 2/10/23! Find all the information you need at Bright Ideas Innovation Grants – Educational Foundation – Virginia Western Community College
1Gorgens, K., Barnes, S. (2020, March). The perfect grant writing team roster. [Web article]. Retrieved from https://societyforpsychotherapy.org/perfect-grant-writing-team/
Shelley Lyons is glad to be back on campus as she is a Virginia Western alum, and has served as the Administrative Officer for Grants Administration at Virginia Western since early 2022. Prior to VWCC, her career focus was within the Human Services and Arts fields. She wrote her first grant in 1996 on a whim and has continued to plan and learn since that time. She most enjoys seeing a well-planned project come to fruition, where funder, project manager and beneficiaries can all feel success and see impact.