Proposal Writing and Grantseeking

We get enquiries almost every day asking when the updated version of Program Planning & Proposal Writing will be available. Even though this classic guide for the nonprofit field was written in 1972, it's still in demand. With more than a million copies used and treasured by organizations all over the globe, we are delighted to tell you that the updated version will be ready this October!

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek, just a small slice—the first part of a 2-part excerpt from the addendum of Grantsmanship: Program Planning & Proposal Writing. The topic is the difference between a planning and an implementation (or program) grant proposal. Enjoy!

Here’s a story from the early days of The Grantsmanship Center—a valuable lesson learned in 1972, still relevant today. Norton Kiritz, founder of The Grantsmanship Center, shared this experience with his classes.  Hope you enjoy this brief tale from a class transcript.

Several times each year, people ask The Grantsmanship Center how to evaluate the performance of grant development professionals. Here's what we tell them:

One of our alumni recently asked about submitting a grant proposal to a specific funder. She wanted to know what percentage of the organization’s annual budget she should request in her proposal for general operating funds. And if the organization decided to seek program funds instead, she wondered what percentage of the program budget she should request. Here's what I told her:

When it comes to statutes and regulations, the definition of terms really does matter. The definitional content of a term can have a huge impact on what you can or cannot do in a given situation.

The energetic and imaginative changemakers who staff nonprofits are full of great ideas. They’re constantly coming up with ways to make things better and looking for grants to support their vision.

Since reading a 2010 paper by Howard Husock published by the Philanthropy Roundtable, I’ve had this question on my mind. Ruth McCambridge of the Nonprofit Quarterly raised it again not too long ago in a LinkedIn group (Readers of the Nonprofit Quarterly), and I was compelled to peck out a quick reply on my iPhone while waiting for a 6 am flight home from McAllen, TX, where I’d been teaching (yes, there were typos).

In the field of fund development, grants aren’t all that well respected. Once, after I was well known for bringing in millions of grant dollars, a local fund development director recognized me as “the woman who raises all the junk money.” Junk money?

Fund development professionals focus on individual giving because it’s the largest piece of the philanthropic pie. Individual giving represented about 73% of all giving in 2011, and 81% if you throw in bequests–the dollars total about $242.20 billion. Fund development professionals also focus here because the dollars are generally flexible, renewable, and growable. Individual giving done right can be the beanstalk to the golden eggs that just keep coming. I get that.

Our vision for this blog is simple—to present the best thinking in the field of grant development—what we call grantsmanship.

First I want to establish The Grantsmanship Center’s footing because, historically, we’ve got a lot to live up to. Norton Kiritz established The Grantsmanship Center because he was deeply concerned that nonprofits making valuable social contributions had trouble getting grants. Norton began teaching proposal writing when no one else was doing it. In 1972, he founded The Grantsmanship Center because it needed to be done and no one else was leading the way.