Tracks to Success Archives

This is a GrantStation feature article that focuses on a particular grantmaker or philanthropic trend in order to keep you apprised of the latest “top of topic” subjects within the world of grantseeking, management, and philanthropy.


Nonprofits in an Era of Growing Challenges

GrantStation has formed a 2021 partnership with the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) to publish six papers written by respected researchers in…

Maintaining the Self in the Digital Era

Humanity's relationship to technology has been a burning existential issue ever since the invention of machinery. The typewriter was once excoriated by social observers for replacing the human…

Madam C. J. Walker’s Generous Philanthropy

Coming from humble beginnings often prefaces the stories of highly successful people, but few rags to riches tales begin in more meager circumstances than those of Sarah Breedlove.

Grantwriting is a Contact Sport

In our ongoing quest for insights to share with our community, we interview current Members of GrantStation. Venetia Weeks has been a Member since 2005 and she talked with me about her practices…

What Is a Qualified Charitable Distribution?

Right now, Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from IRA accounts are the fastest growing area of philanthropy. From 2017 to 2019, nonprofits saw an almost 3X growth in the number of QCD…

Ten Ways to Think Bigger

A systems lens helps us learn essential lessons. Covid-19 has provided many clear examples of effective systemic action, and stark lessons in the consequences of non-systemic thinking. Leaders…

Finding Positives in the Negative During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has in a short span of time sent our world into flux. Nobody knows what its final shape will be, but with social contact limited, events have been cancelled, spending…

Feeling Unprepared for Your Capital Campaign?

I attended a fundraising conference where a friend and fellow fundraising consultant presented a session on the 15 essentials to launch a capital campaign.

The Key to a Compelling Proposal?

One way GrantStation aims to help grantseekers is by gathering their insights on grantseeking. Martha Carlson-Bradley is from Strawbery Banke Museum, which has been a Member since 2012...

Philanthropic Predictions for 2020

Last year when I wrote Grantmaking Predictions for 2019 I drew on the knowledge and input from our staff researchers. It was a heavily read blog post and fun to write.

Don’t Psych Yourself Out! You Can Win That Award.

In 2018, Kristi Albertson, the grantwriter and coordinator for Lake Health District in Lake County, Oregon, was awarded a planning grant for $200,000 from the Health Resources and Services…

Collaboration is Key

Kristin Olson of Grants Galore has been a Member since 2017.