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| providing materials/samples
Posted by Julie Rodda   on 5/1/2009, 10:08 am
VIP Poster
Hello all,
I thought I'd stir up some commentary as a way of gathering opinions and insight regarding providing samples of grants.
These requests for sharing come in two forms:
1. Copies of grants that others wish to utilize for their own grant seeking purposes, and
2. Copies of grants which others wish to use as a base for judging core writing competencies (when applying for grant work as a contracted writer).
I have some very strong opinions regarding these practices.
In case number one, copies of other's work may prove helpful or may prove more harmful. My greatest fear of sharing work in this manner is that someone would try to utilize it for their own purposes by inserting new names and new data and feel it somehow made a compelling case for their cause. Not only does this constitute plagiarism, it is completely bad practice on numerous other levels as well. Books are full of sample grants for basic structure and readily available for those who need it.
On case number 2: When recently submitting a bid/estimate on an RFP for a local organization, I was asked to supply names of funders I have worked with (not a problem) as well as copies of at least one grant proposal I had written. I provided a lengthy list of funder names. However, I did not provide a copy of the grant proposal. Judging by some comments I received, I suspect I may be the only one who was unwilling to do so.
My withholding is directly linked to confidentiality agreements I sign with each client which clearly states that it remains their sole discretion who receives and reviews materials I was contracted to write. I gladly provided the names of Executive Directors at each organization so that they might openly contact them regarding said proposals, or better yet, my writing abilities.
Don't get me wrong--I am quite happy to provide a generalized 'writing sample', but not a 'grant proposal' written for another organization. It appears on the surface that I am in the minority--hence this post.
So, colleagues, am I off the mark, out of the loop and otherwise out of touch with current practices or am I one of the last hold-outs for professionalism when it comes to upholding confidentiality agreements?
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Julie Rodda
http://www.roddaconsulting.com/
Funding Consulting, Grant Research
& Proposal Writing Services
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