I’ve had a busy fifth week at LifeCare Alliance, and it’s hard to believe that today marks the halfway point of my summer fellowship.

This week, I’ve been drafting letters to send out to pet stores and veterinary offices in the Greater Columbus Area. It’s always helpful to make connections within the community, and we’re hoping that these letters will help yield volunteers, donations, and/or partnerships. I’ve also gained experience putting together descriptions of the three volunteer positions associated with the Pet Care program – Senior Pet Care Volunteer Coordinator, Pet Food Delivery Volunteer, and Pet Food Processing Volunteer.

On Tuesday of this week, I was given the opportunity to attend a lunch session hosted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Grant Professionals Association. The theme of this lunch session was “Storytelling for Fundraisers: Telling an Engaging Story about Your Organization’s Work.”

My very official name tag from the lunch session!

After just graduating with an undergraduate degree in English, I was extremely excited to see what this session was all about. We heard four mini-lectures about storytelling as it applies to grant writing, my favorite being “Telling Your Story in a Grant Proposal.” This breakout session suggested writing a grant using the same literary techniques that you would employ when writing a piece of fiction; your proposal should have a hook, main characters (your clients), a “villain” (the problem), and a hero (your non-profit). It was an informative way to tie together my passion for English with my passion for non-profit work. This was also a great opportunity to network with other professionals in Columbus, and I ran into several other summer fellows while I was there!