"New Voices in Philanthropy" Blog Posts Writing Samples_2009

1. Piles of Files
I pride myself on my organizational skills and ability to bring order to chaos. Those traits saw me
through undergrad while working full-time and now grad school with a similar schedule— all
while trying to maintain some semblance of work-life balance. When confronted by an
overwhelming array of tasks I tend to fall back on that old adage: “How do you eat an
elephant? One bite at a time.” This serves as a catalyst to focus my energy in the most efficient
manner. But adding the cyclical duties of a program officer and all this entails (professional
development workshops and industry functions) as yet another line item on my to-do list was
daunting even to me. In my humble opinion, two skills are paramount to success in program
work and in life—organization and time management. True, these are qualities one can learn but
honestly, do you really want to add those to your to-do list as well?
With each grant cycle my proposals are always in various stages of completion. Now in my third
cycle, I think I have hit on a system which works well for me:
Sort: When given a proposal packet I sort through all documents to be sure the organization has
included everything we require—particularly the financials. I focus on those first because I find
they can give me a good overview of the organization’s fiscal health. Also, if the numbers raise a
red flag I can jot down any questions I may have and ask them at my site visit.
Schedule: I now move to contacting the organization to set up a visit. I try to get on their
schedule as soon as possible—spacing the visits out to maybe two to three a week— until I have
gone through my entire docket. In this time frame, I always have to allow for a game of phone
tag before I can pin them down to a date.
Prep: We use templates and worksheets which does make the write-ups easier. I attack the
financial worksheet first as this can be the most tedious. While reading through the proposal I
highlight and note anything on which I my need further clarification. Finally I found writing up a
list of questions beforehand to ask during my visit allows the meeting to run smoothly.
Regroup: When I get back to the office after the site visit, I immediately note not only facts
about the organization but also my thoughts and impressions. This is the basis of my
recommendation or decline at the next staff meeting.
Write-ups: If the proposal has met staff approval, I can begin my final write-ups. I find it much
easier to make a dent in these as soon as possible. If I still have some left after all the visits are
done I can set aside a day or two later in the cycle to devote solely to this duty.

2. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Believe me it took trial and error before I became
comfortable with this routine. Other program officers may have their own system for attacking
the mountain of files on their desk and some may actually thrive on the chaos and pressure of
waiting until the deadlines. But as I watch the piles of files that inhabit my desk slowly dwindle I
know another grant cycle is slowly coming to a close.
Paulette Pierre is a Program Officer intern at The Field Foundation of Illinois. She has a
graduate certificate in Non-Profit Management and Philanthropy from Loyola University and is
currently pursuing her MA in Interdisciplinary Studies at DePaul University