How to Write a Grant Proposal » (1st Edition)

CHERYL CARTER NEW and JAMES AARON QUICK are the sole owners and directors of Polaris Corporation. Polaris teaches grantsmanship to nonprofit organizations (The United Way National Training Center, the Non-Profit Center, and the Kellogg Foundation), primary and secondary schools, and for-profit and nonprofit healthcare facilities using three primary mediums: workshops, consulting services, and resource publishing. They lead over 100 workshops that have taught more than 4,000 people per year how to develop and plan projects, research funders, and write grants.

Effective grant proposals are not so much written as they are extensively researched, developed, and positioned. The actual writing, obviously an essential component, is nevertheless only the tip of the iceberg. Grant seekers must possess the necessary skills to correctly identify potential funders, craft a proposal that meets a specific funder’s needs, and follow that funder’s directions to the letter. Cheryl New and James Quick take grant seekers step-by-step through the entire development and drafting process in How to Write a Grant Proposal.

The authors concentrate on all the behind-the-scenes, pre-writing work that makes the difference between successful grant proposals and those that potential funders discard as "nonresponsive." New and Quick concentrate on crafting specific proposals that prove a perfect match between a funder and a solicitor’s needs. Funders and the nonprofit organizations they support are both in the business of solving problems; the key is creating a project that addresses a problem that both parties are interested in solving. How to Write a Grant Proposal provides targeted guidance for a variety of kinds of organizations, including:

K—12 private and public educational organizations

Government agencies

For-profit businesses

Health care organizations

Traditional nonprofits

Higher education universities and centers

A companion CD-ROM contains guidesheets and templates that can be easily downloaded, customized, and printed. The authors provide examples of completed proposals and numerous case studies to demonstrate how the grant-seeking process typically works.

How to Write a Grant Proposal proves a one-stop resource on how to interpret a funder’s guidelines to create a successful grant proposal.