Joy Graham ⋅ Houston, TX ⋅ 17 years experience

Hi Rich,

You have a great resource right there in Austin - the Austin Community College's CCBNO (Center for Community Based and Nonprofit Organizations - nonprofitaustin.org). They have both certificate and one-off classes which provide a solid foundation for getting started. Also, Texas Non Profits (txnp.org) offers plenty of information, articles, and job postings related to the nonprofit sector throughout the state.

Wishing you all the best!

Diane Saraceni ⋅ Ridgefield, CT General Electric ⋅ 14 years experience

Hi Rich, thankyou for your service :)
I am on both sides of the grant writing-I write grants to request funding and also receive grant requests from local non-profits. There are a lot of online grant writing courses available and some community colleges or adult continuing education places offer grant writing workshops/classes.
Most of what I have learned regarding grant writing, I learned as I went. I never took a formal class. Just ensure you are providing all required information before you submit the grant request or typically the receiver will just delete or disregard the application. Some places receive literally hundreds of requests so they don't have time to follow up with anyone that is missing information.
Good luck!

Jason Carrier ⋅ Bedford, NH Liberty Mutual ⋅ 12 years experience

Thank you for your service Rich !!! Another avenue may be to simply reach out to the State's Small Business Bureau (SBB) and ask for materials and see if there are local mentors that may be able to assist. Grant writing requires a lot of research, thus recommend picking-up a Grant Writing book to get some ideas and additionally ask for resources (including Grant Writers that may be willing to talk) via the SBB for thoughts and feedback. There are also various on-line and text based resources to assist with where specific grants can be located. Some grantors provide funding during specific times of the year or require significant detail regarding where the money is going. That being said, you will need to do some research and come-up with a clear plan in advance to ensure most of the learning process regarding writing grants is prior to submitting applications, not during the process itself.

Michael Del Vecchio ⋅ Killingworth, CT U.S. Army, Staff Sergeant ⋅ 3 years served

Hi Rich,
I was a staff sergeant, US Army, welcome home. I volunteer for an organization called SCORE - check out the website at www.score.org. They do have experts - people who have experience and possibly academic credentials that can help. Click on "mentoring" and enter the skills you want in a mentor about mid-page. someone's name will pop up and you can talk to him/her. Regarding training, some states have free college level training for veterans - in Connecticut as an example, an undergrad degree in business is tuition free, you can also use your BAH and tuition assistance, Also, feel free to contact me directly, I have a lot of board-level experience in non-profits. I am at michael.delvecchio@scorevolunteer.org. Best of luck.

Tom Yuhas ⋅ Bedford, OH Sparkle Wash International ⋅ 14 years experience

Rich Haering, go volunteer in the Public Relations department of a non-profit organization or two. Doing so will teach you everything you need to know - plus provide a service to the community and beef up your resume.

Hugh Glazer, CPA ⋅ Marblehead, MA WinterView Group ⋅ 35 years experience

There are a number ways to get training on N-F-P skills. Often regional foundations run classes to help train volunteers. Check with your local chamber of commerce and the person at local banks who handles the bank's charitable giving. They should be able to refer you to a resource.

Linda Gray ⋅ Sachse, TX DBA Corporate Connections ⋅ 25 years experience

Rich please contact the One Star Foundation in Austin. They are the organization that Governor Rick Perry authorized to serve as the Faith Based and Community based initiative for the state of Texas. There are opportunities for you to learn and serve through AmeriCorps.

Jennifer Tiller ⋅ Washington, DC America Works of Washington, D.C. ⋅ 10 years experience

I recently took a free 90 minute workshop through The Foundation Center. I see that they partner with The University of Texas at Austin:

http://ddce.utexas.edu/foundationlibrary/

The Regional Foundation Library is open to everyone, free of charge.

I hope this helps, and I wish you the best.

David Rogers ⋅ Morrisville, PA Rogers Health Care Consulting, LTD ⋅ 40 years experience

Rich,
I would suggest that you approach a local successful non-profit and ask them if you could do some volunteer work with them. That way you would get some first hand knowledge of what happens inside a non-profit. The other free resource that you have is your local SCORE chapter. This organization is comprised of individuals from all walks of life who give of their time to help you start a business - yes a non-profit. I am sure that they have someone locally who has that experience and if not they can reach out to more than 13,000 other volunteers across the USA to assist you. Thank you for your service!