Earlier this month I read my very first Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) delivered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Mind you, I’ve been reading and responding to federal grant guidance since 2001, and I’ve decided to put IMLS in charge of...
My senior year of high school I served as a senior class officer, because of course I did, and one of our jobs was to pick our senior class quote. Not really sure why we needed one. It was printed in our graduation announcements, but other than that, we never really...
In part 2 of the state of federal grants, we’re focusing on the implications of 2025 and how we can move forward. Tremendous cuts to federal research, disruption of essential human services, and a halt to services for at-risk individuals hit communities hard. It’s not...
I don’t have it in me to write something uplifting or informative, light or funny. But I do want to recognize the incredible abilities and skills we have as grant professionals including the often dismissed or diminished skill of documenting. Just as important is the...
Happy New Year, readers! We're kicking off 2026 by facing an uncomfortable truth: the upheavals, challenges, confusion, and stress over the last 12 months in federal grantmaking wasn't random—it was planned. I would now like to virtually (because this is a newsletter...
When it comes to federal grant funding, a lot went wrong in 2025. We’re kicking off a two-part series, with this episode focusing on how we got here. Policy shifts and administrative changes transformed federal grant making seemingly overnight, but many of these...
Happy New Year HayDay Community! Each year, I pick a word of the year. One for me to ruminate on, put into action, and simply help set the tone for the kind of year I want to have. I’ve been having a very hard time finding the right word for 2026, but as I was gearing...
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