Grants are a key source of support for most nonprofit organizations, particularly new organizations or those starting new programs. This guide, developed out of a series of seminars, helps grantseekers develop a strategic plan for finding funds for their programs.
Crack the Funding Code demystifies the world of angel investing, venture capital, and corporate funding and lays out a strategic pathway for any entrepreneur to secure funding fast. Lack of funding is one of the biggest reasons small businesses fail. In 2016 in the United States alone, more than 31 percent of small business owners reported that they could not access adequate capital, and the lack of capital prevented them from growing the business/expanding operations, increasing inventory, or financing increased sales. This book will show you how to find the money, create pitches that attract investors, and then structure fair, ethical deals that will bring them new sources of outside capital and invaluable professional advice. Crack the Funding Code gives you the broader perspective on: how funding works, how investors think, and what they need to hear to put their money where your mouth is. Every entrepreneur who reads this book will get easy-to-follow deal checklists, a roadmap of where and how to locate the best funding resources and top business mentors for their industry or geographical location, and a step-by-step process to create pitches that make their idea or business irresistible.
Previous Praise for Winning Grants Step by Step "Warning: this book works. It provokes you to ask the right questions, hand-holds you through practical exercises, and offers a map that includes paths to develop strategic relationships with funders." E. Eduardo Romero, Nonprofit Roundtable "Winning Grants Step by Step is a very practical A-to-Z resource that speaks to the importance of staying focused on your mission every step of the way. The third edition is artfully updated with words of wisdom from grantmakers themselves, as well as updates on the latest processes and buzzwords all grantseekers need to know." Heather Iliff, Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations "With solid advice and clear examples, nonprofit leaders will find it a page turner!" Clarence Hauer, senior director, strategy and organizational development, St. Louis Nonprofit Services Consortium "Winning Grants Step by Step is a gift to nonprofit organizations. The valuable insights and hands-on tools will instantly make any proposal more competitive." Alex Carter, Your Nonprofit Coach "Developing great grant proposals is essential for nonprofit leaders. Winning Grants Step by Step provides important guidance to those who are new to fundraising as well as to anyone who needs a refresher. This new edition of Winning Grants brings updated tips and vivid examples. As an experienced fundraising consultant, I believe it will help my clients and colleagues alike." Maria Gitin, CFRE, Maria Gitin & Associates "As an executive director, fundraising is on my mind every day. It's great to have a resource like Winning Grants Step by Step to use and share with my board, staff, and peers." Deborah Menkart, executive director, Teaching for Change
"An in-depth resource with an easy-to-understand format, Finding Funding brings the reader up-to-date with 120 newly researched Web sites to help grant seekers be more efficient and effective at writing successful government, foundation, and private grants. The authors focus on four main phases of grantwriting and administration: exploring grants, writing proposals, implementing programs and managing acquired funds, and closing out funded projects"--Publisher website (May 2008).
A pragmatic framework for nonprofit digital transformation that embraces the human-centered nature of your organization The Smart Nonprofit turns the page on an era of frantic busyness and scarcity mindsets to one in which nonprofit organizations have the time to think and plan — and even dream. The Smart Nonprofit offers a roadmap for the once-in-a-generation opportunity to remake work and accelerate positive social change. It comes from understanding how to use smart tech strategically, ethically and well. Smart tech does rote tasks like filling out expense reports and identifying prospective donors. However, it is also beginning to do very human things like screening applicants for jobs and social services, while paying forward historic biases. Beth Kanter and Allison Fine elegantly outline the ways smart nonprofits must stay human-centered and root out embedded bias in order to success at the compassionate and creative work that only humans can and should do.
In the fifth edition of our essential Guide, author Jane C. Geever provides detailed instructions on preparing successful grant proposals. Incorporating the results of 40 interviews with grantmakers across the nation, the Guide reveals their priorities in reviewing submissions and provides insight into what makes a winning proposal. The Guide outlines the entire proposal-writing process: Pre-Proposal Planning Tips - This helps you decide when your nonprofit is ready to raise funds and determine how to best define your project. Components of the Proposal - Review actual cover letters, project descriptions, budgets, and examples of important follow-up communications with prospective donors. Guidance from Grantmakers - Interviews highlight new trends in grantmaking: preferred proposal formats, funder cultivation strategies, tips on re-submitting a rejected request, and on how to capture and sustain a grantmaker's interest. To illustrate key points, excerpts from successful grant proposals are inserted throughout the Guide. And a complete model proposal is included in the appendix. An updated bibliography features selected resources on proposal development, including web and print sources. A new chapter focuses on crafting an effective evaluation component, addressing the heightened interest in outcome-based assessment of funded projects. Book jacket.
What goes on inside your grant reviewer's head? Understanding this is the key to avoiding rejection and getting your next grant funded. You may wonder...What is my reviewer really looking for? Did they reject my grant just because of politics? Why did one reviewer love my grant and another one hate it? How can I revise my grant to make it more fund-able? The answers lie within a four step process reviewers go through when they read your grant proposal - a process most reviewers aren't even aware they're doing. If you gloss over one of these steps - or worse, leave it out all together - your grant will be rejected, and you may get cryptic reviews back that don't explain why it was rejected or help you avoid another rejection. Four Steps to Funding gives you the simple process that will clarify your thinking, organize your proposal, and address reviewer objections before you submit your grant. Going far beyond the typical "word-smithing" and fill-in-the-blank examples of other grant writing books, 4 steps to funding gets into the mind of your reviewer and provides techniques for persuading him/her of the value of your work, your own credibility, and your approach. Written in an easy to read, engaging style, the concepts in this book are critical, for writing NIH or NSF grants. However, the concepts are easily applicable to Foundation, SBIR, or even business or non-profit proposals. It is your turn to crack the code, by learning the four steps that your next grant proposal must have in order to succeed. Your proposal will go beyond providing the facts and will get your reviewer excited about your work, and ready to fund it!
This book reveals: * Where to to find investors and the best approaches to win their support * What investors are really looking for but won't tell you * How to persuade banks, business angels, VCs and public funders * Insider tips for compiling material that satisfies investors * Little-known strategies that will boost your success
Grant Writing For Dummies, 3rd Edition serves as a one-stop reference for readers who are new to the grant writing process or who have applied for grants in the past but had difficulties. It offers 25 percent new and revised material covering the latest changes to the grant writing process as well as a listing of where to apply for grants. Grant writers will find: The latest language, terms, and phrases to use on the job or in proposals. Ways to target the best websites to upload and download the latest and user-friendly application forms and writing guidelines. Major expansion on the peer review process and how it helps improve one's grant writing skills and successes. One-stop funding websites, and state agencies that publish grant funding opportunity announcements for seekers who struggle to find opportunities. New to third edition.