More than 850,000 charities, 500,000 churches, 725,000 nonprofit organizations and 23,485 educational institutions exist in the United States today. The exchange of charitable dollars for goods/services represents a national gross product of more than $1 billion annually. Further, experts posit that more than 100,000 individuals serve as “brokers” between grant seekers and grant funders. Commonly referred to as grant writers, these “brokers” require no special training or education. They are not regulated by an authoritative body nor held to ethical standards by their peers.

To the public, grant writing is viewed as a technical skill that can be acquired with a few days training. Only to the dedicated professional is the activity that occurs between seeker and funder understood as well-defined process with accountability to the funder, the fund seeker and the consumer. Good grant professionals work between grant seeker and funder, using their skills to ensure a match between the seeker’s capacity and the funder’s mission. Good grant professionals conduct research and needs assessments, engage in strategic planning, fiscal planning, technical writing and evaluation, all within an ethical framework.

However, with no regulation, midnight infomercials espousing that anyone can “get free money,” grant training programs advertising the opportunity to find a new profession and become a “certified” grant writer in a week, and“ hired-gun” grant writers proclaiming 95% to 100% success rates, it is no wonder that unethical practices abound. With CBOs spending millions of dollars unsuccessfully seeking funds and funders receiving proposals with no merit, it is not surprising to hear, as in the words of one funder, that the relationship between funder and grant professional is “tenuous at best.” These practices have also caught the eye of government and as a result, in the past few years the field has seen a move toward government regulation as more individual state governments institute fund raising and grant writer registration and/or licensure.

The field of grantsmanship is emerging as a profession. Rapid growth within AAGP speaks to this tenet. AAGP began in 1997 with six volunteers. By 2000, membership had grown to 104. Today, more than 1,000 individuals belong to AAGP with no signs of slowing down. In 2000, 45 individuals attended AAGP’s annual conference. Today, that number has swelled to more than 400.The fact that government is seeking regulation is another litmus test to the professional direction of the field.

At the present time, there is no authoritative body to assure grant seekers and funders of performance and ethical practices, leaving nonprofits at the mercy of any individual proclaiming to be a grant writer. GPCI is dedicated to the public good and so believes that it is imperative that as the field emerges, it does so with the consumer situated front and center.

It believes that it is essential for the nonprofit community, as well as the community-at-large, to understand the role grant professionals play in the overall health of a nonprofit organization, and the power it has over the outcomes of its fund seeking.

Private and public sector administrators/board members will have the knowledge and tools to

• better assess an individual’s knowledge-base, performance abilities, integrity and ethical standards as they relate to the grant development process
• make informed decisions regarding the relevance of funding opportunities to programming and the actual needs of their constituents
• have an enhanced capacity to identify, develop, implement, accomplish, evaluate and report on its goals
• make optimum utilization of grantsmanship to further their organizations’ mission

The funding community will

• be better assured that the goals and programming put forth by grant seekers are indeed in alignment with the funders’ goals, attainable and responsive to the needs of the program beneficiaries
• see the relationship between funder, grant seeker and grant developer strengthened

Grant writers and grant developers will have a better understanding of

• the role they play within an organization or entity
• the programmatic skills and ethical standards required to be a grant professional

The field of grant development and management will

• obtain a nationally recognized credential attesting to experience and qualification, affording it with the same benefits that the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential affords the fund raising field
• be recognized as a distinct accountable profession with its own skill sets and knowledge base
• be positioned to guide the direction government takes toward regulation

Most importantly, the beneficiaries or constituents of philanthropy will have programs and services that more accurately reflect their needs.

GPCI believes that it is essential for the nonprofit community, as well as the community-at-large, to understand the role grant professionals play in the overall health of a nonprofit organization, and the power it has over the outcomes of its fund seeking.

Independently established credibility stands as one of the main benefits of a nationally-recognized certification/credential. For fields such as ours where there is no recognized academic degree, certification is the only authoritative, independent measure available by which to determine a person’s experience, skill and knowledge base as defined by our peers.

Certification impacts potential job marketability. Through certification, employers can be more secure in their hiring practices. Established standards can be used by grants professionals to educate employers. Job descriptions will better reflect the true work we do. And equitable compensation will follow. Employers and funders will be more efficiently served by qualified grant developers rather than unqualified grant writers who may waste time and money producing unrealistic programs that do not meet funder goals. Certification offers a way to make this distinction.

In addition to the myriad of benefits to us as individuals and to the beneficiaries whose lives we affect, certification is important as we track the movement by government to regulate and/or license the grants profession. With almost half of our nation’s states already requiring some form of registration, the tenor of regulation is resonating louder each day. The question becomes “should the grants profession influence government by providing them with valid information and mechanisms that we, as grants professionals have produced, or should government take the lead and define our profession?”

Certification should not be viewed as a policing agent or gatekeeper, and it should not be thought of as a noose around our necks. Certification allows us to stand out as a profession, increase our stature among other professions and influence authority.