News from Grant Writing HQ & Bookings for September now open!

My online presence has been low key over the preceding months, but I’m thrilled to share a number of personal and business updates as the end of my maternity leave period approaches (how time flies!). I’ll be officially “back at the desk” from Tuesday 5 September, but in the meantime, enjoy this update on all that’s happened during my family downtime.

I welcome all workshop bookings and client inquiries for September and beyond now, please reach out and I endeavor to contact you within 5-7 business days so that we can discuss your needs and get this into my schedule. Remember, it’s never too early to plan ahead for 2024, particularly if you are seeking grant funding to make the magic happen!

Celebrating Personal News

10 fingers, 10 toes and 6 pound 3 ounces of baby Everitt perfection! Our fourth beautiful bundle arrived at the end of April and she’s already ruling the roost and learning the ropes at business HQ. A special shout out to Kara Santon Photography (Gympie and Sunshine Coast region photographer) for capturing these fleeting early days.

Celebrating Client Success Stories

Grant writing projects at the end of 2022 and start of 2023 came in thick and fast, and I thank those organisations and businesses who chose to work with me. It was fantastic to receive many phone calls during March and April from clients who had secured funding for events, facility improvements, disaster relief programs and business growth plans. My clients during this period secured $907,899.76 in grant funding to support numerous projects - congratulations to you all! It was a pleasure to provide specialist grant writing support to you and I love celebrating these successful grant outcomes with you!

Celebrating Hard Yakka

I was surprised and grateful to receive notification from Deakin University this week that my study achievements are being recognised in this year’s Deakin Business School Prizes. These prizes are awarded each year to students who have achieved the highest academic standard in their work, and I am this year’s recipient of the Best Graduate in the Master of Business (Arts and Cultural Management). Thank you, Deakin!

Celebrating New Beginnings

In March I was pleased to be appointed to the Board of Creative Arts Gympie Region. This is a volunteer-run, not-for profit organisation that provides a flexible forum for discussion, development, advocacy and action supporting the arts and artists of the Gympie region. I look forward to taking a much more active role in this organisation on my return from maternity leave!

Celebrating Year 1 of the Blackbutt Arts Strategy

My term as Arts Officer for Blackbutt Avocado Festival wrapped up earlier this year, and it was a privilege to prepare this snapshot (alongside the fabulous team at Push Pull Marketing & PR) of our collective achievements in the first year of activities delivered under the Blackbutt Arts Strategy. You can read more about the Blackbutt Arts Strategy here, and follow the Blackbutt Avocado Festival Facebook page for all things AvoFest, coming up again in September 2023. I wish the organising committee for this year’s festival all the best for a fantastic spring festival!

Grant Writing for the Arts Workshop Series: February Program Recap!

“Olivia is a highly knowledgeable and generous presenter. I found her tips to be most helpful and have so many ideas to apply to for that next grant. This was a really valuable lesson to not take grant rejection as a negative, but as a way to learn and to improve your grant and apply again. Thank you.”
— Workshop Participant, Grant Writing for the Arts

Pictured: Grant Writing for the Arts Workshop underway in Murgon (South Burnett) on 15 February 2023. Image by Nancy Jayde Photography.

Last month I hit the road and visited four communities across the South Burnett and Gympie regions delivering a half-day Grant Writing for the Arts workshop - what a blast! Thank you to the 54 participants who joined me in Goomeri (1 February), Kingaroy (3 February), Gympie (14 February) and Murgon (15 February), it was a pleasure to meet you all and hear your project ideas. Workshop participants ranged from authors to musicians, visual artists to arts therapists, graphic designers, museum managers, festival volunteers and everything in between. Workshops are a fantastic way to learn new skills (or as a refresher) but also to network with other creative practitioners in and around your region. I hope you all got as much out of the workshop as I did!

It’s no secret that I live and breathe data, so I’m pleased to provide the following insights collected from the post-workshop survey:

Workshop attendees also received a two-page resource following the workshop, and development is currently underway to utilise some of this information to create a free downloadable resource that will be available to everyone once the Resources section of my website launches later in the year (watch this space!).

Pictured: Grant Writing for the Arts workshop underway at Gympie Regional Art Gallery on Tuesday 14 February 2023. With thanks to Councillor Bruce Devereaux (Gympie Regional Council) for taking this snap during the session!

“This workshop provided great information and tips to help our organisation to apply for grants for both infrastructure, workshops and special events. Well done.”
— Workshop Participant, Grant Writing for the Arts
“Olivia provided a friendly, supportive environment and her depth of knowledge gave me confidence that this information would valuable and useful. Thank you so much.”
— Workshop Participant, Grant Writing for the Arts

Although this iteration of the workshop series is now complete and the upcoming The Art of Grant Writing workshop session on the Fraser Coast is fully booked, please keep an eye on the Workshops section of my website as new workshops are announced in 2023 and into 2024!

The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Gympie Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.

The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and South Burnett Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.

May Business Announcements!

As we creep closer towards the end of another financial year, the month of May - which is Queensland Small Business Month - seems like a perfect time to share a number of exciting project updates and announcements in relation to my business!

The BIG news:

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve commenced a new contract with the good folk at Blackbutt Avocado Festival, where you’ll find me riding the avo-bus as Arts Project Officer two days a week until mid-2022. This new position has been made possible with thanks to funding from FRRR’s Tackling Tough Times Together program. You’ll still catch me in my role at BIEDO (Burnett Inland Economic Development Organisation) for the next six weeks, before I’ll be hanging up my Economic Development hat to focus on my new Festival role and the completion of my Master of Business (Arts and Cultural Management). It has been a joy and a privilege to work with the BIEDO team over the last 3.5 years, including my most recent contract as Economic Development Officer.

More EXCITING stuff:

I’ll be delivering two free grant writing workshops in the month of May in my role with BIEDO, which have been kindly sponsored by the Burnett Mary Regional Group. Both workshops are suitable for small business operators, community groups, not-for-profit organisations and individuals seeking funding. Here’s everything you need to know:

  • Tuesday 18 May 10am - 12:30pm @ Blackbutt Memorial Hall: Grant Writing & Project Planning Fundamentals, register here.

  • Tuesday 25 May 10am - 12:30pm @ Wondai Regional Art Gallery (Studio): Unpacking Budgets for Grant Writing & Project Planning, register here.

Progress also continues on Stage 2 of my Cultural Resource Mapping project, ‘South Burnett Arts & Cultural Ecosystem Mapping Mentorship’ - there is much to unpack here and I will share a dedicated blog article in regards to this project shortly, with the online map anticipated to be ‘live’ in June. Watch this space!

This project was made possible by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia.

The CHERRY on top:

This month I was also pleased to be appointed to the Pool of Peers for a three-year term by the Australia Council for the Arts. I am honoured to have this opportunity to contribute as a Peer Assessor from 2021-24.

Please note that my books are currently closed to new clients, and I look forward to sharing further announcements in regards to this at the end of the financial year. I look forward to sharing more project updates in the near future!