Diane Merryman

Grace Home Ministries prepares teenage girls with unplanned pregnancies to prepare for motherhood and complete their education for a more abundant life

• Plan grant strategy for best fit funders with like mission goals.
• Work with board of directors to establish efficient documentation strategy for record keeping and reporting.
• Establish professional relationships with major grant funders.
• Complete and submit grant applications on deadline
• Grant range $2,500 - $100,000

Bath High School Preservation is working to renovate an early 20th Century school into a community resource center for programs in a rural community

• Researched and summitted grants for renovation of historic Bath High School
• Worked with board to establish renovation strategy and track construction progress
• Located programs of interest as new tenants to provide improved health and wellness opportunities for rural community and establish income for building maintenance and sustainability
• Worked with directors and grant program staff to implement established grant compliance policies and procedures
• Strategized with client development team members to manage budget and synchronize volunteer efforts to boost funding initiatives
• Established and maintained electronic files for grant-funded projects for tracking and reporting
• Application range: $2,500 - $300,000

Chesterfield Food Bank Outreach Center strives to provide food and services to families and individuals facing food insecurity

• For Chesterfield Food Bank Outreach Center
• Researched grants for shared mission and focus with state and regional foundations and corporations for food insecurity with food distribution to more than 500 people weekly
• Worked with grant team for efficiency and accuracy
• Established working relationships with foundation administrators to submit applications that had best chance for approval
• Application range: $1,500 - $800,000.

Lutheran Family Services of Virginia's mission is to provide education and housing assistance for children and adults with physical, emotional and developmental disabilities

• Researched grant and funding proposal opportunities in philanthropic databases to identify potential income sources
• Obtained pertinent organizational financial reports and other data to support grant applications and funding proposals
• Located foundations in Virginia that supported funding for education and programs for individuals with disabilities (small projects)
• Application range: $1,500 to $50,000.

VA 4-H strives to build strong programs in youth development in STEM programming, character development, consumer math, rural value added programs, and more

• Developed and implemented education programs for school enrichment, after school programs, day camps, overnight camps, workshops and short courses
• Recruited and worked with volunteers, local civic organizations and business sponsors
• Attended training workshops and conferences for STEM programs, drug prevention, and Character Counts! Education
• Marketed 4-H programs through newspaper articles, brochures, social media, and special events
• Demonstrated a high level of initiative and creativity while tackling difficult tasks.
• Wrote small grants for program support
• Application range: $500 - $45,000

the Thoroughbred Times is a Thoroughbred racing magazine with a worldwide audience and subscription

• Magazine headquarters in Lexington, KY
• Covered horse racing and racing/breeding news in VA when Colonial Downs Racetrack was established as a new racing venue
• Submitted articles weekly to Thoroughbred Times and met deadlines with required word count
• Followed racing reports and interviewed jockeys, trainers, owners, and grooms regularly during racing meet and covered VA Racing Commission meetings during off season
• Became back stretch story teller before, during, and after live racing
• Also submitted articles to weekly newspapers, Tidewater Review and New Kent/Charles City Chronicle (VA-local)