Grant Writing & Funding · 108: Freelance Grant Writing Wisdom with Dr. Bev

Freelance Grant Writing Wisdom with Dr.Beverly A. Browning

In 2007 I took an online Advanced Grant Writing Course. I loved that course and applied all my training and started winning more grants.

Little did I know that 12 years later I would get a LinkedIn request from the designer of that course. Okay, I wasn’t even on LinkedIn back then, but the point is the internet was big, disconnected, and clunky back in the day. But more than a decade later to get a request from someone who is the writer for the Grant Writing for Dummies is pretty cool.

So right away I responded and sent Dr. Bev Browning a message letting her know of this serendipity and asked her to be on the podcast. She was the cutest, replying that it was her birthday that day and that being featured on a podcast was a great birthday present!

I am SO honored that we connected over LinkedIn and that we got to meet up via video and have an amazing chat.

Dr. Bev Browning is the person everyone knows in the grant writing world. Heck, she shared with me that she first started writing grants back in the 1970s. She’s been doing this for half a century and tells all on how grant writing has changed and how you as a freelance consultant can keep up with all those changes and trends.

She even teared up a bit in the podcast talking about all of her experiences. If you want to check out the YouTube video to get the full experience, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel Grant Writing & Funding.

Beverly and I discuss:

Beverly’s background and grant writing career
Her first experience writing, and charging, for a grant
The top reason she decided to become an author
Using testimonials to build your business
Opportunities in grant reviewing
How competition for grants has changed
Developing an endowment for nonprofits
Grant Writing for Dummies! and Beverly’s dozens of other books
Finding joy in life and in work
Advice for beginner grant writers

Beverly’s Top Quotes:

“You have to have the emotion for what you’re writing in order to write it well.”

“I learned to be a better grant writer because of being a peer-reviewer.”

“Some funders actually ask — ‘What percent of your board donates annually to your organization?’ If it’s anything less than 100%, you’re not getting a grant award.”

“I am a big believer in random acts of kindness.”

“The fees will be less, but if I have enough of less, I’ll have more.”

“Writing and consulting and helping others gives me life.”

Beverly’s Bio:

Dr. Beverly A. Browning has been consulting in the areas of grant writing, RFP responses, technical writing, and organizational development for over four decades. She has assisted clients and workshop participants throughout the United States in receiving awards of more than $500 million. Dr. Browning is the author of 43 grant-related publications, including six editions (over 1 million books sold) of Grant Writing For Dummies™ (Wiley.com). She is also an international trainer and keynote speaker. In 2015, she was selected by the Centers for Disease Control NICRD division to conduct a five-day Grant Writing Boot Camp in South Africa for ministers of health and other top-level health directors from 23 African countries.

Dr. Browning holds graduate and post-graduate degrees in Organizational Development, Public Administration, and Business Administration. She has been a grant writing course developer and online facilitator for Cengage Learning (www.ed2go.com) for 17 years. Her online courses (taught to thousands of students annually) are Advanced Proposal Writing, Becoming a Grant Writing Consultant, and A to Z Grant Writing: Part 2 – Beyond the Basics.

Dr. Browning is Founder and Director of the Grant Writing Training Foundation and CEO for Bev Browning, LLC. She was a 17-year member of the Grant Professionals Association (GPA) and has presented training workshops and keynote presentations for multiple GPA chapters U.S.-wide. In 2017, Dr. Browning joined the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and was a workshop presenter at their 2018 International conference in New Orleans. She is an approved trainer for GPA and CFRE International.

Dr. Browning has been married 53 years to John and has one daughter, Lara, a licensed therapist, and a special needs granddaughter, Aaliyah.