How to Use Grant Writing as A Tool for Change with Catherine Ashton

Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell

The words we use matter. The stories we tell have an impact. Yet, our grants are often full of old, recycled language and buzzword descriptors that are more than just boring — they’re harmful. Grant writers play a critical role in branding the organization and crafting the ways in which it is presented to funders, and thus they are critical in integrating social justice into fundraising programs - and the overall culture and work of their organization.

This podcast episode explores how grant writers at all stages of their career can ground their grant writing practices in race, equity, and social justice. Catherine Ashton discusses how the ways in which we talk, teach, and practice nonprofit work can uphold harmful systems of oppression - or we can use our writing to further anti-racist, community-centric principles.

Catherine Ashton (she/her) is on a mission to change the way nonprofits raise money. As the founder of Giant Squid Group LLC, Catherine works with nonprofits to land donors, win grants, and fund their works. She is a sought-after coach, speaker, and strategist locally and nationally, and specializes in helping organizations marry best practices and mission-aligned innovation to drive systems-level change.

Connect with Catherine

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giantsquidgroup/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GiantSquidGroup
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giantsquidgroup/

To know more about Catherine's advocacies, visit these websites:

• 7 Ways to Tell Stories Ethically from CCF
• Ethical Storytelling
• D.C. Style Guide for Inclusive Language
• Racial Equity Resource Guide

About Julia Campbell, the host of the Nonprofit Nation podcast:
Named as a top thought leader by Forbes and BizTech Magazine, Julia Campbell (she/hers) is an author, coach, and speaker on a mission to make the digital world a better place.
She wrote her book, Storytelling in the Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits, as a roadmap for social change agents who want to build movements using engaging digital storytelling techniques. Her second book, How to Build and Mobilize a Social Media Community for Your Nonprofit, was published in 2020 as a call-to-arms for mission-driven organizations to use the power of social media to build movements.
Take Julia’s free nonprofit masterclass, ​3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media That Converts

Take my free masterclass: 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media Content that Converts