August 2025 Recap
August was a balancing act between getting Great Waves Work in, increasing demands at my day job, and fun summer activities that leave me completely drained. On the Great Waves Side of things, I did have a few interviews with a non-profit for volunteer positions.
The first organization focuses on amplifying indigenous voices through a music hall of fame in the metaverse as well as a STEM summit to connect marginalized communities directly to executives and help them find jobs. During the interview I learned that the non-profit only started last year, in 2024, and that they were still working on getting organized. They had applies to almost 100 grants with no wins in sight and were looking for volunteers to help organize the existing data.
All this left a bit of a weight in my gut about whether or not to continue with the volunteer position now - something that I will need to hone in the future. I did say that it sounded like they had a lot of leg work to do before they were grant ready. The person who interviewed me said that she had tried to communicate that to the president of the organization, but, due to misunderstanding about the grant process, wanted to prioritize grant applications. I think my being blunt with the interviewer helped them feel more confident about their next steps. They offered to follow up with me in November in order to have time to get the data together.
The second non-profit is a wild life sanctuary in the midwest United States. We initially talked for an hour to discuess their current situation and goals. They had a volunteer grant writer previously who did a good job of creating a grant calendar for the end of 2025, but had moved on to other life-goals. Additionally, they had been awarded one grant to build a new habitat for the 4 foxes on their property (known as the "Fab 4"), and were looking for help securing additional funds. We agreed to work together, and I will be writing about my journey with them as time goes on.
Looking forward to the future, I know that I will need to learn to trust my gut when it comes to contracts so I do not get myself into trouble trying to write grants for an organization that is not ready.