If your plan for 2024 includes hiring a grant professional, considering the credentials held by applicants will help you identify and hire a highly qualified employee. The Grant Professional Certified (GPC) credential signals the expertise and ethical rigor your future employees need when managing grant funding.
The GPC is based on competencies and skills that directly reflect the real-world requirements of grant writing and management. To become GPC-certified, individuals must pass an exam testing their knowledge across the entire grant life cycle. Grant professionals who earn their GPC not only demonstrate deep expertise, but also an increased sense of accountability and a commitment to stay current through continuing education and recertification.
According to Egondu Onuoh, vice president of real estate and special programs at the Brooklyn Hospital Center In Brooklyn, New York, and president of the board at the Grant Professional Certification Institute, the GPC credential allows you to quickly identify candidates with verified grantsmanship mastery. It provides confidence that certified staff can handle all aspects of identifying, securing and managing grants effectively and ethically. This saves you time and money in the hiring process while ensuring high-performing grant teams.
Here are key reasons you should hire GPC credentialed grant professionals or support employees in obtaining their GPC credential:
- Credentials verify critical job skills and expertise which are aligned to industry standards and best practices. This helps you better evaluate potential new hires, evaluate employee’s job performance, select contractors, market services and motivate employees to enhance their skills and knowledge in the grant profession.
- Requiring credentials for your employees and contractors boosts quality and consistency in grant processes and outcomes. This produces higher quality grant applications and ensures funded projects are more effectively managed while reducing risk and fraud.
- The GPC competencies span across the full grant lifecycle, ensuring credentialed individuals are qualified and prepared to deal with challenges throughout the life of the grant. And renewal requirements ensure credentialed grant professionals stay current through ongoing professional development.
- Credentialing promotes continuing competence and identification of future career pathways which are critical for growth, improvement, and can open doors to leadership and other growth opportunities for your employees.
- Ethical standards and competencies required for certifications protect the public, increase regulatory compliance and minimize fraud risks in handling grant monies. You can minimize your company’s exposure to fraud and abuse by hiring credentialed staff who uphold practices of integrity.
- Credentials like the GPC are hallmarks of excellence and mastery. They signal to your funders and stakeholders an elite level of grantsmanship capability and commitment within an organization.
As securing grants becomes increasingly critical and competitive for organizations, you can prioritize credentials like the GPC to build teams that consistently deliver results, trustworthiness, and credibility to funding agencies.
