Arte Americas Cultural Art Center – July 2012

“Funding Your Passion” 6-Hour Workshop

 For fifteen non-profit professionals and educators representing:

• Aspire Port City Academy Community Center of the Arts and Technology
• Arte Americas
• Encourage America
• Sullivan Learning Systems / Levante Foundation
• Evangelist Temple Church
• Angels of Grace Foster Family Agency
• Community Food Bank
• Tower Theatre

Participants Evaluated Their Grantwriting Knowledge Before AND After the Workshop (1 lowest, 10 highest)

What Our Students Said About This Workshop!

• “Linda Vallejo is very knowledgeable and commpleley immerses along with engages her students. She truly hit the ground running! I enjoyed my time there all while being provoked to have the self-confidence and application of grantwriting.”
• “Before I went to the class I was very confused about the grantwriting process and so on. After the workshop everything actually started to make more sense. The step-by-step methodology process if just perfect for people who have no clue of what they are doing. It’s also necessary for people who know what they are doing but need guidance. I enjoyed the workshop very much.”
• “This was a wonderful workshop! I had limited grantwriting experience going into this but after the workshop I feel like I have a handle on the process and can take the next step to bigger and better grants. Just knowing how to tackle the issue of grants as a whole and seeing them as a long- term project instead of an overwhelming, isolated event is very empowering. I really look forward to using what I have learned. I love the idea of linking it all together as a workable, manageable system!”
• “I have often heard people comment on how boring and uneventful grantwriting workshops are. However, the A to Z Grantwriting Workshop was fun, insightful, and incredibly informative. It was easy to understand and Linda gave us all a useful strategy from start to finish that can be done by anyone. As she taught us, ‘Once you know this you can write anything!’ I appreciated Linda’s knowledge, humor, and down-to-earth language and appeal. The Rolls Royce concept was incredibly innovative and will be used by my organization. I feel very motivated to put everything I have learned into practice immediately! Any organization needs a strategy such as the one that Linda teaches in her workshops.”
• “I was very pleased with the A to Z Grantwriting Workshop. I feel like it was one of the best professional development seminars I have ever attended. I would highly recommend A to Z to anyone interested in the grantwriting / non-profit field. I was especially impressed by the manual and all of the tools provided. The ‘system’ is really provided in detail for you with examples and resources… I was very impressed.”
• “I am truly grateful to you for taking the time to share your gifts, talents, knowledge, skills, and secrets with us. We are so privileged to have had this opportunity. When I started grantwriting, I was thrown into it with my job, Angeles of Grace Foster Family Agency; the first was a Federal grant. Now, I have been thrown into it with my church, Evangelist Temple Church, but I am starting with more gained knowledge. Through taking your workshop I am more confident in being able to write grants. I can do this! Thank you!”
• “Overall the workshop was very good and offered great organizational tools. I would have liked more in-depth examples on effective grantwriting (e.g. what makes one grant proposal more successful than another) because I am already familiar with the basic components of a grant proposal. The presentation was great and kept us interested.”
• “I have attended many grantwriting workshops in the past. However, this workshop was very practical. The information was presented in a clear, concise manner. The grantwriting process was explained very well and the forms were great. I have been looking for a fund development process for a while and I found it! I am able to train my staff and interns on how to set up the process and to research grants. We have already started out Red Hot Resource Book!”
• “The grantwriting process is completely foreign to me and the way that the manual has been created is an excellent foundation for all that I need to know and understand. The ‘conversational’ approach to teaching the materials is both clever and effective. The manual gave the participants a chance to LISTEN as opposed to scratching down notes for the entire workshop. I also like Linda’s explanation style. Explain. Re-explain. Move on. I loved it! Ever since I attended this workshop I have been reflecting with other people about the simplicity of the A to Z process and system which comes from years of trial-and-error. I realize that I need to re-evaluated my own sense of organization in order to make this system work, and I ‘m actively looking to work on this effort for the sake of ‘funding my passion.’ Thank you.”
• “I thought the experience was very informative and gave me a lot to build on. II didn’t realize the extent of the ‘team’ effort that is needed and now have to work with my fellow workers to get the ball rolling. The instructor was helpful and knowledgeable and makes the day go by quickly without confusing us with details. I came away fired up and red to go!”
• “I enjoyed the process of learning about grantwriting. I was able to understand the grantwriting process in an easy to understand manner which took all of the fear out of the process. Thank you for providing the manual. Great workshop!”
• “Thank you so much for a great workshop. I have gone to others but I came out the same way I went in…empty. I learned a lot in the three hours we spent together. You make it so simple to understand and it opened up a whole new world to see how funding works. The manual you provided us is a terrific tool full of information. It is like a bible for novices in the grantwriting world. Muchas gracias!”
• “The thing I found most valuable is I do well learning and understanding systems and this is a total and most complete system I have seen concerning grantwriting. What grantwriting is to me is putting together a reason and a way of asking for funds for a specific project. I know there is a system. The workshop made me feel empowered to obtain a goal.”