How to Apply for Anything (Step 3 of 3)

29 Mar How to Apply for Anything (Step 3 of 3)

How to apply to anything: step 3 of 3, the last step. This is something called the “Magic Lamp” minimization effect using beryl and it also illustrates step 3 out of 3, the last step.  Image: Nicofo.

This is our last post in a three-post series about applying for a grant, job, fellowship, etc.  For Step One, click here.  For Step Two, click here.

Step Three

• • decide whether you really want the opportunity and whether it is really right for you at this time (what would your guardian angel say? heck, what is your guardian angel saying? organizations have them too; listen up)
  • write down why this is the right opportunity for you at this time 
  • commit
  • write your proposal, gathering all the lists you’ve made so far and using them to create a super-strong powerful case you’re the one
  • send it in as perfectly proofread and edited and on time and brief and documented/supported as you can. this takes its own planning and calendaring so give yourself enough time.
  • surrender
  • live as-if: how would your life be different if you had this opportunity? how would your organization’s work improve?  make those changes now.  be this change now.

Here’s the list we promised at the end of the first post in this series of reasons I felt RAISING CLARITY was perfect for this consultancy we were invited to apply for (that inspired this series of posts). Note that I drafted this list before interviewing–not so I could talk it but so I could remember to walk it during the interview.

Why RAISING CLARITY Is Perfect for this Consultancy: I am

• super-small and low-overhead, giving you the most for your money
• diverse, a “does it all”one-stop-shop that is super-collaborative
• never reinvents the wheel
• creative: “limited resources are the very source of sustainable innovation”*
• takes all your needs as opportunities and integrates them to meet them all–together
• totally willing to work with the other talented consultants who received the RFP
• a strategic listener who
  • hears your solutions when you haven’t yet
  • brings her own ideas from 25+ years nonprofit organizational development expertise helping you cultivate loyalty.
    • Why is loyalty important?
      • Loyalty is the wisest long-term investment of your time and money, and others’. It is always easier to keep satisfied people engaged than to cultivate new people–and you must do both, whether it is their time, talents or “treasure” you want them to share.  Loyalty = the most cost-effective strategy over the long-term + always the most organization-building and buzz-builidng.

*Isn’t that a great quote? It’s from Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing, by Matthew E. May, page vi.  It’s his Design Lesson #5.  When you write, also remember his Design Lesson #3: “Limiting information creates intrigue.”