Faculty of ArtI was chatting with a friend in a PhD program about encouraging more graduate students to apply for non-research grants. She had a couple successful ones under her belt, all won while completing her degree, so she understood the particular challenges students face when breaking into the world of non-research grants while also navigating their academic programs. Eligibility criteria don’t have to look so impossible to students, I was telling her, “Non-academic projects always seem like something ‘out there,’ after grad school, for tenured or established faculty, but what if more students started using these grants now to help them in grad school?”
“This reminds me of backcasting,” she said, “You’ve heard of that term, right?” I hadn’t.
Backcasting
“Backcasting” is a term in decision-making and planning to identify concrete steps towards multiple possible futures. Whereas “forecasting” predicts a future based on trends in the present, backcasting begins with an imagined future, irrespective of current trends. It begins with a goal—“I want an BC Arts Council fellowship,” say—and then works backwards to identify concrete steps to get there within a reasonable timeline. So, when a BC Arts Council fellowship asks for a few publications and strong references, it might involve some of these following actions: attending workshops to develop a project, reaching out to potential mentors, reading craft books or taking courses, investing in art supplies… the more specific one gets in the process of backcasting, the easier it is to envision and assess the likelihood of this future.
Backcasting is one example of the many ways you can approach grants–or other opportunities–in grad school. When you look at a grant application and see eligibility requirements you don’t 100% meet, don’t be too quick to close or click away from that tab. Instead, pull out a piece of paper or a Word document and trace backwards the steps it would take you to get there.
Other strategies
There are other similar strategies you might take when looking at grants. Let’s take a student named Sam, for instance. Sam wants to create a digital storytelling exhibit that features oral stories from neighbourhood. They see a City of Vancouver grant that seems perfect for this project, but the grant is for applications from organizations or institutions, not individual applicants.
This is what Sam might do:
- Use the criteria to figure out gaps: If Sam has vague ideas about a digital storytelling exhibit but doesn’t know how to execute the plan, a grant is a great way to start brainstorming next steps. They will need: a community partner, neighbourhood participants, proven digital skills (or a capable team member), permission to collect and catalogue stories, plans for sharing and storing the project, etc. So, this might require creating a plan to network with community members, explore skills-training options, research ethics reviews and other kinds of policies and methodologies for this work.
- Break up the project into smaller funding parts: Maybe Sam can put on a small event to celebrate and collect neighbourhood stories. Maybe they can apply to a work-learn position that lets them build a relationship with a relevant community partner while developing skills in digital content creation. Rather than going for the One Big Grant, they can fund their project through multiple small grants to start making themselves more eligible.
- Keep an updated project proposal document: Having a project proposal on hand means that Sam can easily respond to upcoming grants or other opportunities. Writing a project proposal involves a necessary process of thinking through abstract ideas and making them more concrete. This is necessary for a grant application, yes, but it can also help clarify the project, which may in turn lead to new ideas or approaches to the work.
- Be flexible: Backcasting with a grant can help in figuring out next steps, but that doesn’t mean Sam is committed to any specific grant. The point of backcasting is about initiating action towards an imagined goal. Chances are that once Sam starts taking concrete steps, they’ll also begin to get a clearer, and stronger, sense of one possible iteration of their project.
Even if your idea seems vague and grandiose (“I’d like to publish a book one day,” or “I’d like to make a documentary”), you can start taking steps now while in graduate school. Applying for a grants can be a great exercise in imagining future projects and charting your graduate school pathway.
Need a brainstorming partner? Sign up for a drop-in consultation with our Arts Amplifier team!