Capturing Opportunities

Until you reach a level of achievement and notoriety at which opportunities are flung at your feet, chasing after grants, residencies, fellowships, scholarships, and shows is part of the job of being an artist (writer, creative person, etc). The sooner you establish a system for spotting, capturing, and cataloging those opportunities, the better your chances of making them your own.

I’ve been using a spreadsheet and the strategies below for more than 20 years. My sheet now includes hundreds of items; I won’t apply for allof them, and I for darn sure won’t win most of them, but I can tell you in seconds which ones I should focus on next, what the application entails, and when I should send it out. It’s not a magic wand, but it is really helpful. 

Get to know your quarry

Schedule time specifically for researching possible opportunities (in addition to the time you set aside for working on applications). There are so many print and online databases for this type of information! Use the “sources” tab of your spreadsheet to list useful websites, newsletters, magazines, or books. In the beginning, investing a few hours every week or month might make sense; as your list grows, you can dial down the time you spend on active research. 

If you are new to this work, I would suggest going to the research section of a local or university library and getting a librarian’s help zeroing in on sources that are relevant to your goals. Many of the most established opportunities are printed in massive books; these grants and residencies don’t tend to change much, so if you take careful notes you never really have to look at these books again (note the name of the book on the “sources” tab of your spreadsheet, and that you’ve gotten all you can out of it).  Return to this list regularly and figure out a schedule for revisiting the most valuable sources. If a source dries up and stops giving you anything new, keep it on the list, but make a note that it is no longer useful.  

Ask instructors or others in your field where they find out about opportunities. While many sources are free, there are a few digests that charge for whittling an overwhelming list down into a few suggestions that fit your criteria; some offer a free  trial period. Some subscriptions may also be available through your school or library.  

For sources that are updated more frequently, make a plan for when to check them. It will take you a little while to work out how often it is worthwhile to visit a particular source, but when you figure that out, make a note on your sources sheet. 

Keep your ears on

Even when you aren’t actively doing research, you will come across possibilities. You’ll hear about a classmate getting a grant to travel, or you’ll see a call for entries on Instagram. Get this information down however you can—a note, a screenshot—but transfer it into your spreadsheet as quickly as possible. 

Cast a wide net

Use separate tabs for each different area of your interest—even if you’re just dipping a toe in a particular area. Let’s say I’m a visual artist who wants to get more serious about her business and dreams of writing a novel someday (hmmm…); I definitely want to capture information about opportunities for art exhibitions and grants on one sheet, and opportunities for business-development courses and funding on another, but as long as I’m at it I might as well also start a sheet for any writing-related opportunities I happen to stumble across. If and when I finish a novel, I’ll have a ready list of competitions and publication grants to try for!

The same goes for application criteria. For example, if you find an ongoing opportunity that requires you to be fully fluent in a language that you’ve only just started to study, record the details and note “fluency” in the “criteria” column. It might even help motivate you to continue studying.

Keep your ducks in a row

Create or modify headings as needed to keep track of relevant information—the name and type of the opportunity, the location, the selection criteria, etc. You may also want to note anything that would affect the time an application might take—say, if you need to provide 10 references, or transcripts, or a live performance video. 

Keep an eye on the clock

You’ll definitely want to note down any deadlines, but when your lists get really long, you may want to shift your strategy for tracking them so you don’t miss out. You could sort a sheet by deadline rather than keeping things in alphabetical order, or you could regularly copy upcoming applications into a separate “current” tab. And remember that some recurring opportunities can have different deadlines each year; sometimes I note a deadline as “approximate” until I can confirm it. 

Prioritize

If you have limited time for applications, track any information that will help you decide where to concentrate your efforts. Note if an opportunity is one-time or recurring; a one-time opportunity might have fewer applications, while a recurring one might give you the chance to revise and resubmit the same application more than once. If possible, look up how many applications are typically received and how many are accepted. If there are selection criteria, be very honest with yourself about how well you meet them.  

Hang onto the duds 

This might seem a bit mopey, but don’t delete any items from your lists of ongoing opportunities. If you delete something that caught your eye once, it’ll probably catch your eye again and then you’ll waste time re-researching and remembering why you weren’t eligible to apply for it in the first place. Instead, strike through the name of the opportunity and under “notes” explain why: perhaps the grant is on hiatus, or perhaps it only funds Canadians, or functional potters, or Canadian functional potters under the age of 27. 

There you have it! Happy hunting and please let me know if you come across any massive grants for sweets-obsessed Appalachian woodcarvers over the age of 50.