Victoria M. Johnson - Grant Writing 101: Everything You Need to Start Raising Funds Today

GRANT WRITING 101

Everything You Need to Start Raising Funds Today

VICTORIA M. JOHNSON

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This book would not have come to fruition without the support and love of my husband, Michael. I am happy (and lucky) to have you in my life.

As an experienced grant writer, friends ask me for advice for their organizations. I happily give it, but they need more. They need to learn how to write a grant themselves, they need to know the bare minimum to include in a proposal, they need to be shown what to do if their proposal is rejected, and they need tips for long-term success. But Im only one person. How can I help so many? This book is for those friends and for all of you doing extraordinary work in the community with minimal staff and budgets and no time to take grant writing classes. This book is for the tens of thousands of nonprofit organizations and individuals who need a simple, straight-for-the-jugular but down-to-earth guide to grant writing.

Grant Writing 101: Everything You Need to Start Raising Funds Today gives frank advice and strategies for people who need to write a grant right now. Theres no history of grant writing, no theories, no long-winded passages to discourage a stressed grant seeker. The book contains only kickbutt guerilla tactics that you can use immediately. In effect, only the essentials will be presented to you. The guerilla mind-set is the best line of attack for someone writing a grant for the first time. Its clear-cut, without the fluff or the tedious lectures.

offers a variety of samples of grant proposals and other ammo to fortify your grant writing efforts.

Your organization changes lives, right? And you agree one person can change the world. As a grant writer, youll find funds for your organization to do its work. In essence, this means that you can change the worldone grant at a time.

My goal is to empower you to write successful grants and to show you how grant writing will help you to grow your organization. Grant writing isnt hard. It is a basic process, and you are the best person in your organization to do it. You have this book as a guide, and it includes sample grant proposals and expert advice from industry professionals. Congratulations on taking this first step. Youll be writing kick-butt grant proposals in no time.

My gratitude goes to my brilliant agent, Paul S. Levine; to Michele R. Wells, the astute senior editor at McGraw-Hill who discovered this project; to Brian J. Foster, the awesome associate editor at McGraw-Hill Professional for his outstanding guidance, patience, and sharp eye; and to all the other amazing folks at McGraw-Hill whom Ive never met but whove had a hand in making this book a reality.

Id also like to thank Lita A. Kurth, a friend who happens to be a professional editor, for reading the draft of this book with her editors pencil in hand.

A heart-felt thank you and deep appreciation goes to all the experts, colleagues, and friends for their contributions to this book. They generously provided their words of wisdom and advice to help you, the grant writer, make the world a better place.

Richard B. Ajluni, Director of Major Gifts, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County

Robert T. Borawski, President, The Robert Brownlee Foundation

Elisa Callow, Planning Consultant and Former Arts Program Director, Foundation Program Officer, and board member

Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., CEO and President, Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Mario P. Diaz, Community Affairs Manager, Wells Fargo Foundation, San Francisco Bay Region

Sandra W. Gresham, CFRE, Director of Philanthropy, Island Conservation

Meredith Dykstra Hilt, Executive Director, Tellabs Foundation

Diem Jones, Deputy Director, Arts Council Silicon Valley

Barb Larson, CEO, American Red Cross Silicon Valley

Honey Meir-Levi, Executive Director, Ronald McDonald House at Stanford

Veronica Patlan Murphy, Stewardship Director, San Jos State University

Marsha L. Semmel, Acting Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services