Want to Up Your Game? Volunteer!

For many grant professionals, we are the only one with “grant” in our title at our organization. That means there are often few (or maybe zero) positions for advancement, unless we want to move into a different line of work. I know grant professionals who have been promoted to Directors of Development, City Managers, and Executive Directors.

I applaud their growth, but that wasn’t the trajectory I desired. I wanted to stay in this field, which meant I had to earn my leadership chops through a different method. For me, that meant volunteering with the Grant Professionals Association (GPA).

And man, there are a ton of ways to volunteer with this organization. (And the same can be said for groups like the Association of Fundraising Professionals, National Grant Management Association, or whatever group you may have found to help with your professional development.)

Kimberly and I spoke with a variety of volunteers during GPA’s 2024 GrantSummit who shared information about board service, the Ethics Committee, the Publications Committee, and more. You can listen to it all HERE.

Over the years, my growth trajectory in volunteerism looked like this (often with overlap between one commitment and the next):
• President of the Georgia Grant Professionals Association chapter
• Member of the GPA Marketing Committee
• Board Member of the Grant Professionals Certification Institute (GPCI) – and then Treasurer, Vice President, and President
• Author of a GPA Grant News Blog Post
• Volunteer Chair of the GPCI Job Analysis Committee
• Chair of the Southern Regional Grants Conference
• Author of a GPA Journal Article (3 times thus far…)
• Mentor through GPA Mentoring Program
• Board Member of GPA – then Vice President and President

By no means am I saying you have to volunteer, or that you have to volunteer over and over again. When my final term on the GPA Board of Directors ended, I decided to enjoy a year of NO. I didn’t join another committee, I didn’t take another volunteer position, and I didn’t regret taking a breather.

But I will say that these stints as volunteers taught me so much, specifically how to:
• Run a meeting (both sticking to an agenda and letting others make their voices heard)
• Plan and coordinate an event
• Keep an eye on the bottom line
• Ensure an exam is reliable, valid, and psychometrically sound
• Collaborate with others
• Have hard conversations with peers
• Teach another person that they have the skills to thrive in this profession
• Parlay those volunteer experiences into leadership in my work

Best of all, all this volunteer experience led me to meet so many people. People who I have since worked for or with. People I’ve gone into business with. People who support my work today. People who answer questions and help me excel. People who have become the dearest of friends.

Volunteering is so much more than giving of your time and talent. You get so much out of it – recognition, appreciation, experience, knowledge, and more.

What’s your favorite way to volunteer? And how did it lead to growth in your career? We’d love to hear all about it, so email us at hello@haydayservices.com.

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Amanda Day

Amanda Day, GPC, is a national trainer and speaker. With 20 years of grant prospect research, writing, and management experience, she has the knowledge, know-how, and stories to keep every workshop participant and conference attendee engaged and better prepared to succeed in the grant profession. She is well versed in federal and private grant funding, as well as educating up and using your professional network to best build career path. Her passion lies in preparing grant professionals to successfully fund their organizational and community needs, along with meeting their personal career and leadership goals.

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