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

Conclusion

The proposal is many things to many people. For the grantseeker, it is a means of telling a story and a plea for assistance. To you, it is an application to be scrutinized, a potential contract to be weighed, and, sometimes, a wild dream that might be made possible. And to people who benefit from the idea it describes, the proposal could be a ticket to a better way of life. Because so much depends on the proposal, you are obligated to scritinize it in the most rigorous and thoughtful manner. But proposals also deserve to be given another look, through the lens of the spirit. Certainly, this involves taking risks and occasionally backing long shots. When you consider the potential reward of backing the improbable winner, however, you ...