The Grant Professional Certification is the true measure of a great grant pro. Earning one’s GPC is no small feat and not enough development professionals are aware of its import, even though it is a nationally recognized credential.
In 2019, the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) granted accreditation to the Grant Professionals Certification Institute (GPCI) and the GPC credential for demonstrating compliance with the NCCA Standards for the Accreditation of Certification Programs.
So, it’s for real and it’s no joke! The hurdles you have to vault, the bars you have to jump, the standards you have to meet — they are all a testament to the rigors of demonstrating your mastery of grantsmanship and attaining this stringent professional credential.
Let me take you on a journey to attaining your GPC and see if you don’t agree with me.
First, the prospective GPC candidate has to earn enough points (within a certain time period) to be eligible to take the GPC exam. Four professional areas are tested:
- Education (there are two Pathways, depending on whether the candidate has a college degree)
- Professional Experience (to include documentation of grants experience and three signed and dated reference letters)
- Continuing Education/Professional Practice (clocked hours of grant-related continuing education)
- The Unlock-Grants course has been accepted under the GPCI Accepted Education Program and will earn you five GPCI Education credits.
- Community Involvement (hours of community-based volunteer service)
Once you build up 120 of the 170 possible eligibility points, you bundle all that info and provide it to the GPCI for review. Within a month, they let you know if you are now eligible to take the exam.
Then the clock is ticking; you have 90 days to sit for the exam.
Not only does the candidate have to prove their eligibility just to take the exam, but they then have to sit for the two-part exam that consists of:
PART ONE: A 150-question multiple choice portion that tests eight of the nine
Validated Competencies and Skills:
- Competency #1: Knowledge of how to research, identify, and match funding resources to meet specific needs
- Competency #2: Knowledge of organizational development as it pertains to grant seeking
- Competency #3: Knowledge of strategies for effective program and project design and development
- Competency #4: Knowledge of how to craft, construct, and submit an effective grant application
- Competency #5: Knowledge of post-award grant management practices sufficient to inform effective grant design and development
- Competency #6: Knowledge of nationally recognized standards of ethical practice by grant developers
- Competency #7: Knowledge of practices and services that raise the level of professionalism of grant developers
- Competency #8: Knowledge of methods and strategies that cultivate and maintain relationships between fund-seeking and recipient organizations and funders
PART TWO: A writing exercise that is analyzed according to six analytic rubrics that indicate skills important in grant development, testing Competency #9: Ability to write a convincing case for funding:
- Make a persuasive argument
- Organize ideas appropriately
- Convey ideas clearly
- Use information provided
- Use conventional standard English
- Follow formatting requirements
Your exam is scored and you are notified within approximately 90 days.
It’s a nail-biting 90 days; you’ve worked so hard for this and you laid it all on the line. Did I pass? What will I do if I didn’t pass? What will I do if I DO pass?
If you decide to put yourself through all the applying, studying, test-taking, and anxiety while you wait to hear, you probably have some questions about the exam. Let me try and address some that are most top-of-mind.
How do you prepare? While GPCI does not promote or endorse any exam study guide, there are several vehicles available to help you prepare for the exam. Literature review, study group materials, and GPCI’s Accepted Education Providers prepare (the Unlock-Grants course is one) are available options to help you. Your local GPA chapter may offer a Q&A session on the GPC, your chapter may have a GPC Ambassador who can field your questions, or you can attend a GPC Fireside Chat. (I attended a session on the GPC at GPA’s national conference, and used a few of the study guides.) You cannot ask about the exam questions! It’s considered unethical and it would damage the exam’s validity.
What can you expect? Exams are held at testing centers around the country, on laptops that they provide. You have to leave (most) all personal items outside the testing room. You will be watched! There are cameras, or monitors, or proctors, depending on the site. For the writing sample, you will have 90 minutes to respond to a specific prompt (not an entire proposal!) presented on a split screen. You will have four hours to complete the multiple-choice portion. You can choose to take both sections on the same day, or not. (I took both sections on the same day, and afterward, I was toast! But I wanted to get through it and have the exam behind me.)
Is there a cost? Yes. Several hundred dollars, depending on whether you’re a Grant Professionals Association (GPA) member, and if you are going out for the certification for the first time, or you’re having to retake the test. More detail on expense here. Some local GPA chapters offer GPC scholarships, but you don’t have to have a local chapter; the Grant Professionals Foundation (GPF) also offers scholarships. More on scholarships here. (I was fortunate to have received a scholarship from GPF.)
So you see, the letters G-P-C after someone’s name really means something. The title says that individual is trustworthy and competent. It says that person is ethical and cares about maintaining high standards.
You may want to think about requiring the GPC designation in your next hire, either for a consultant or a staffer handling your grants work. It’s an assurance you will have a quality grant professional.
