Nancy Burke - The Everything Grant Writing Book: Create the perfect proposal to raise the funds you need

Dear Reader,

Your individual reasons for wanting to learn more about grant writing probably vary. Whatever your motivation, were delighted that you have purchased The Everything Grant Writing Book, 2nd Edition. Youll find it full of valuable information about who and how to ask for grant funds for your nonprofit organization or social cause. Were excited to share with you what weve learned in more than four decades of writing grant proposals and other communications for businesses and nonprofit organizations in our community, and hope that you will apply these lessons to improve lives in yours.

This second edition brings you all the information contained in the first, plus an entire chapter on writing grant proposals for capital purchases and construction. Weve also expanded the appendices to include not only a sample federal grant proposal and a sample foundation proposal, but also a complete sample challenge grant for a multimillion-dollar capital campaign. Though every proposal you write must be specific to the needs in your community, the samples weve provided will help you respond, in your own words, to some of the more difficult questions you may be asked in a grant proposal.

So read the book. Apply the lessons. And sit down to your keyboard to begin what you are sure to find a challenging, rewarding, and creative endeavorthat of a grant proposal writer. We wish you every success in your new venture.

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THE

GRANT

WRITING

BOOK

2ND EDITION

Create the perfect proposal
to raise the funds you need

Nancy Burke Smith and Judy Tremore

To Tony Mazzarelli. You make me very proud.

Copyright 2008, 2003, F+W Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced
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An Everything Series Book.
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Published by Adams Media, an F+W Publications Company
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www.adamsmedia.com

ISBN 10: 1-59869-633-5
ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-633-2

Printed in the United States of America.

J I H G F E D C B A

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
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Thanks to all those wise enough to ask and all those generous enough to share what they know about fundraising and grant seeking, especially the members of the Philanthropy News Digest message board

. Those who write grants are highly valued by employers and clients.

. Grants bring money to your community and the causes you believe in.

. Grant writing helps develop your skills as a writer, a small business person, and/or an administrator.

. Whether the economy is good or bad, grant writers can easily find work. In fact, when the economy is bad, the need for services increases.

. Securing grants for important organizations and projects helps you effect positive change in society.

. Grant writing expands your network of professional and personal associations.

. You can build your knowledge base of your community: Whos who, whos doing what, whats important, what needs to be done, and how things fit together.

. Grant writing skills are transferable to private-sector work.

. Grant writers can write full time for attractive earnings or part time for additional income.

. Writing a grant exercises both your left and right brainyou can be creative and practical simultaneously.

THE TERM GRANT WRITING is a misnomer. No one actually writes grants. Those who seek funding write proposals; those who give funding write grant agreements and checks. But despite this fact, grant writing is the term everyone uses to describe the process of writing a proposal for funding a nonprofit organizations programs, operations, or construction projects. And grant writer is the term that everyone from the nonprofit sector will understand when you use it to describe your work.

Grant writer is not only inaccurateits insufficient. A grant writer does far more than write proposals for funding. A grant writer learns the philanthropic landscape of her community, enrolls to receive e-mail notices of grant funds, understands how to search for foundation and government grants, and knows how to cull through the search to select the most appropriate candidates. And all that is in addition to being a creative problem solver, a detail-oriented project supervisor, and a strong writer with a knack for brevity and clarity.