00;00;13;18 - 00;00;46;11
Erica Machulak
Welcome or welcome back to the Hikma Collective Podcast, Season two. My name is Erica Machulak, I'm the founder of Hikma. It is January and we are thrilled to be back with you. In the season that follows, you'll hear a couple of episodes that are guest pieces that we've produced for our clients. So you'll get to hear about some pretty amazing research that academics have used to mobilize their work, connect with partners and policy makers, and tell a good research story.
00;00;47;06 - 00;01;20;10
Erica Machulak
But before we get there, in this episode I'm going to offer three tips to plan your funding strategy for the next year. If you like what you hear, if you'd like to hear more, head on over to www.hikma.studio. That's our website where you'll find blog posts, more podcast episodes and information about our upcoming masterclasses, where we'll be covering funding strategy and development as well as research communication, project design, and some other topics that may be useful to you.
00;01;21;00 - 00;02;14;03
Erica Machulak
So here are my three tips for planning an effective and manageable funding strategy for the next year. Tip one: Protect your schedule now. If you know what you want to apply for, add those deadlines to your calendar immediately. Pause this app and go do it. If you have certain competitions in mind but you're not sure of the exact deadlines, go look at what the deadlines were last year and make your best guess.
00;02;14;09 - 00;02;31;13
Erica Machulak
If you have no idea what you want to apply for, now is a good time to go poking around and see approximately when things are due. Often many deadlines for the same kind of funding will fall at the same time, so you can get an estimated guess of when you're going to need to be available to get that work done.
00;02;32;10 - 00;02;58;27
Erica Machulak
So second piece of this is block time now in the days, weeks and months before that deadline to get the work done. There are a lot of gears that you can put in motion well ahead of time even before the competition has opened up. And you want to make sure that you get into a rhythm so that you know what you want to apply for and you're prepared to get the work done on a manageable schedule and submit something that you're proud of and excited to follow through on.
00;02;59;14 - 00;03;28;10
Erica Machulak
Now, if anyone asks, you cannot meet on those days, during those times that you've set aside because you have a preexisting commitment. Say it with me now: I am not available at that time because I have a preexisting commitment. Setting that time aside for yourself and protecting it in your schedule will enable you to focus on the project and move it forward and prioritize it for yourself and for your colleagues.
00;03;28;17 - 00;03;48;17
Erica Machulak
My second piece of advice is to evaluate last year's progress. Reflect on what you've done and think about what you can learn from the past, how you can report on what you've done in the past, and what you want to do moving forward. One of the ways that you can do that is to take a few hours to update your CV or resume.
00;03;48;25 - 00;04;12;22
Erica Machulak
What did you achieve in the last year? How do you measure those achievements and how do you communicate them? What are the impact stories you can tell to show what went well? Second piece of that to reflect on is where specifically would more funding have enabled you to deepen or expand your work? Where did you simply not have the budget to do things that you would have liked to do?
00;04;13;08 - 00;04;40;28
Erica Machulak
Those pieces can be very tangible items that you can include in future budgets that you'll be able to rationalize more specifically and compellingly if you think them through in context and specifically. Another piece of that reflection that really matters and is often undervalued in the way that we think about funding proposals is to ask yourself what you are genuinely excited to work on in the next year.
00;04;41;21 - 00;05;08;25
Erica Machulak
We all find more energy and time for the things that light us up. That's just true. So reflect, think about it and use that passion to your advantage as you're planning your next steps. My third and final piece of advice for now is to stoke relationships. I say 'stoke' because one of our team members used this language that I really liked that resonated with me.
00;05;08;26 - 00;05;35;03
Erica Machulak
Toward the end of last year, there were a million holiday parties happening, as there always are, and we were both groaning about making the effort to go. And she said, you know, at this point I'm just trying to keep those relationships warm. And in truth, that is what those end of year gatherings are for. It's to bring people together, to remind each other that we exist, and just be there and be supportive and check in.
00;05;35;03 - 00;06;07;02
Erica Machulak
But January and the first few months of the year are a really a good time to strengthen those relationships by rekindling them - I'm going to keep up with these puns and mixed metaphors - So take the time, plant the seeds. A few ways to do that. One is simply to send some email check ins to folks. You might use those emails to remind people of the work that you've done together in the previous year and talk about next steps that you had discussed.
00;06;07;12 - 00;06;30;19
Erica Machulak
Coffees, in person coffees or virtual coffees are a great way to deepen strategic relationships that you really want to invest in. Make that time. Take that time and refresh those relationships and talk about where the alignment is. Maybe it's the same as it was a year ago and everyone's just as excited and just as just the same in terms of their capacity.
00;06;30;19 - 00;06;54;22
Erica Machulak
Or maybe things have shifted on your side or the other side, and either there are new opportunities for alignment or you need to recalibrate plans that you had discussed previously. These days, so many things can shift around that having those conversations early and often will help you surface opportunities and manage your time well.
00;06;54;22 - 00;07;20;10
Erica Machulak
So those are three tips. I hope you enjoyed them and I wish you a stress free or stress mitigated or an exciting year as you think about your funding proposals. And I hope that you find ways to move your work forward with with confidence and intention and genuine excitement for all the things you're going to achieve this year. And we hope to work with you.
00;07;20;10 - 00;07;47;05
Erica Machulak
So if you found these tips useful or if you want to hear more where that came from, again go ahead and visit us at wwww.hikma.studio. Check out our blog. Check out our podcast. Definitely check out our upcoming masterclasses, the first of which will cover funding strategy and grant development. I genuinely hope to see you there and look forward to sharing more content with you this year.
00;07;47;11 - 00;08;21;15
Erica Machulak
Thanks for listening. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the Hikma Collective podcast. I'm your host, Eric Machulak, writer, medievalist and founder of Hikma. The production of this episode was led by our fearless creative director, Sophia van Hees in collaboration with Nicole Markland, Dasharah Green, Eufemia Baldassarre and Matthew Tomkinson. Matthew composed the original music you hear now in his capacity as the 2022 Hikma Artist in Residence.
00;08;22;15 - 00;08;46;12
Erica Machulak
This podcast has been made possible with generous support from Innovate B.C., Tech Nation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. You can find show notes, links and transcripts at www.hikma.studio/podcast. Hikma is situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the ən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking Musqueam people.
00;08;47;12 - 00;09;07;21
Erica Machulak
We are grateful to be here and to share this space with you. Our speakers, team members and listeners are based all over the world and wherever you're listening, we encourage you to learn more about whose lands you're on.
