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Guide to Proposal Writing

The fourth edition of The Foundation Center's Guide to Proposal Writing has been on my shelf since shortly after it came out. Based on interviews with grantmakers, it offers reliable, realistic, and respectful advice on all the key aspects of writing grant proposals, including the steps that come before and after. Most of the mistakes in proposal writing seem to come from either sloppy thinking or a lack of understanding of the day to day realities of the program officer receiving the grant. Because proposal writing is a form of thinking out loud, it can help solidify ideas and logic models. And this book can fill in many of the gaps in knowledge about the folks who will be reading your proposals. Posted: 2/15/06; 7:15:57 PM #

Guide to Winning Proposals

The Foundation Center's Guide to Winning Proposals has twenty four proposals and query letters organized into ten categories. It's full of gems, including one of the strongest and clearest opening paragraphs of any proposal I've read, from a proposal by Compumentor: "We respectfully submit a request for $50,000 to help fund our Bay Area Services Initiative, which will assist 20 small nonprofits in San Mateo and Northern Santa Clara Counties in planning and implementing information technology systems that will enhance their capacity to serve their clients and to report on outcomes." Like all the other proposals in this book, the request was successful. Posted: 2/15/06; 7:15:52 PM #