Ask for What You Want

Ask for what you want. My husband and I have always wanted to go on sabbatical in Sydney, Australia. Yet when my sabbatical application came up, I almost didn’t try. It seemed too hard. I didn’t know any academics in Sydney. I didn’t have the courage to connect to a stranger and ask them to sponsor me (i.e., fill out reams of paperwork). So we started brainstorming other places to go.

But when my mom passed away earlier this year, we decided life is short. We should try to do the things we want to do in life. I emailed my colleague in Melbourne and asked if they might know anyone in Sydney. They replied yes and cc’d a Sydney colleague. That colleague said they’ve been wanting to sponsor people, and they thought I’d be a great fit.

Long story short, we’re living our dream and going to Sydney next year.

I share this (admittedly privileged) story because I hope you ask for what you want out of this life. One email changed my life, but I almost didn’t send it. I talked myself out of a dream. It takes courage to make big asks, but this can pay off in grant writing too.

Get support for your big asks. Talk to people. Find out what’s appropriate and how to position yourself for success. For instance:

• Talk to a program officer. Michelle Desir did this. Her program officer let her know she was aiming too low with her grant. The program officer encouraged her to apply for a much bigger grant, which she was awarded (p. 61 - 62 of The Grant Writing Guide).

• Talk to mentors. For my first grant, my budget was $10,000. My mentor told me I was aiming too low. She said this project would take at least $300,000. She was right.

• Serve as a reviewer. Seeing what other people ask for lets you know what you can ask for.

• Talk to people who’ve been successful. Ask them out for coffee. Asked them what advice they might have. Would they be willing to share a sample? (For free, openly available grants, check out this post).

That’s all for today! If you know someone who could use a few words of encouragement, would you mind forwarding this newsletter to them? As always, thanks for reading and believing that scholars deserve support for incredible ideas.

Betty

Stay in touch: The Newsletter, Twitter, TikTok, and The Grant Writing Guide book.

P.S. Let me know if you know any academics in Sydney. I would love to connect with more people.

P.P.S. This Ghost cherry limeade hydration drink is tasty. This isn’t a sponsored post, I just really like them!