It seems that time has been always memorialized as something above and beyond the human concept. Well, that is not exactly true. When you were a youngster, and your dad or Mom said you had 10 minutes to wash up and get under the covers, you knew it was time to get a move on. If you were daydreaming in class and your teacher called on you for an answer, you knew it was time to pay more attention.
Perhaps it is in the realm of music that time has been glorified to a state that took on almost a human condition. The Rolling Stones sang about Time is on my Side as if time were human. Jim Croce memorialized the notion of time as a fleeting concept in his classic Time in a Bottle. Jimmy Jones used his falsetto voice to bang out his immortal, Good Timin’ and his classic line – Good timin’ brought me to you.
In a similar way, it is timing that has brought you face to face, or so it seems, with a grant proposal. You have reviewed the other sections of the Request for Proposals posted by the funder. You have reviewed the RFP and feel that your organization is a good match for what the funder is looking for. Now, you have entered the world of reality as a new element enters the picture. It is the element of time. Time has no consideration for your issues and concerns. Time just keeps marching along, or so it seems. You can’t stop it, or even slow it down.
So, there you are reviewing the RFP and feeling a little giddy about your chances with the application. Then, the harsh reality of time steps in. You read: “All proposals in response to this RFP are due no later than 5 PM EST March 31, 2015.” Yes, a grant has a start up date and a closing date, and there is nothing you can do about it. This is the step in which you make your commitment to the grant application, or shuffle on to the next application.
In our aforementioned example, you are given a finite date by which your application must be filed or else you have wasted a great deal of time and energy.
Next week, we will review the time parameters of other factors once the application period has ended.