June 14, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
The Foundation Center’s Guide to Proposal Writing, Fifth Edition
by Jane C. Geever
Though charities should not rely solely on foundations and corporations for their financial support, cultivating good relationships with grant makers can create lasting and mutually beneficial partnerships, writes Jane C. Geever, chairman of J.C. Geever, a development-consulting firm.
This guide, published by the Foundation Center, takes grant seekers step by step through the process of writing proposals and working with foundations.
Citing a 2006 study by the Giving USA Foundation, Ms. Geever notes that foundations and companies account for only 16.8 percent of private giving to nonprofit groups. “Their support, however, can be extremely important in augmenting other forms of income, in permitting major new initiatives, or simply in promoting the mission of your agency,” she writes.
There are six general steps charities must take when seeking a grant, Ms. Geever says: deciding what programs or areas need support, writing a basic proposal, researching potential donors, tailoring a proposal to each grant maker’s particular priorities, contacting and cultivating those grant makers, and responding to the result of the proposal — whether it’s accepted or rejected.
In a section on researching which foundations best match a charity’s needs, Ms. Geever provides detailed information on using the Foundation Center’s databases of grant makers, recent grants, corporate foundations and giving programs, and 990 tax forms.
Appendices include a sample proposal and 57 pages of tips from grant makers.
Publisher: Foundation Center, 79 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10003; (800) 424-9836 or (212) 620-4230; fax (212) 807-3691; http://fdncenter.org; 271 pages; $34.95; ISBN 1-59542-129-7.
