The Insider's Guide to Grantmaking: How Foundations Find, Fund, and Manage Effective Programs

A Grantseeker's Bill of Rights

A straightforward way to systematize this kind of “right behavior” for program officers is to draw up a bill of rights for grantseekers. A number of attempts have been made over the years to do just that, with the number of grantseekers' rights ranging from less than ten to more than twenty. The list that follows takes into consideration its predecessors (most of which, over the years, have been published in Foundation News and Commentary) and adds a few new twists. My choice of offering ten rights is a deliberate one. Not only is this pleasing historically, but my aim is to present a concise statement of the most important things that all program officers should honor in their dealings with applicants:

1. The right ...