Cambridge Business Association
Getting Your Share of the Pie
Book

Getting Your Share of the Pie

The Complete Guide to Finding Grants

Valerie J. Mann
Praeger, 2010
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

Author and grant-writing expert Valerie J. Mann has successfully won close to $95 million for her clients. Now she’s written a book for US organizations that don’t have the expertise to learn what’s available or the additional funds to hire a professional to prepare their grant applications. She makes grant writing an understandable, straightforward process, as she covers the initial search for funding, how to back up the claims in your proposal and even what you can learn from rejection. She includes a glossary of common terms, a sample grant proposal and other useful information. Mann delves into the specific details of several different kinds of grants, particularly for law enforcement, although she does not spend much time discussing grants for individuals or the arts. Will this book make you an expert? Well, that takes experience, but getAbstract finds that this helpful manual will initiate beginners and set any grant seeker on a productive path.

Summary

Grant Basics

Grant funding unfolds in a logical order: a nonprofit’s leaders identify a need, design a project and seek a funder whose mission makes it a good match for the project. In the quest for funding, good grant writing is important, but it doesn’t make up for shortfalls in a poorly designed project. A project’s design is based on a clearly identified need – and so are a grantor’s parameters. Private-sector grant givers include individuals, businesses and foundations, all with widely varying missions and requirements.

Government Grants and Loans

In general, for-profit businesses are not eligible for grants, though in the US they can receive low-interest loans and other assistance from government agencies, primarily the Small Business Administration, which offers expertise as well as loans, and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Some government units don’t grant funding, but instead act as guarantors for commercial loans. For example, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program partly funds economic development projects that repair infrastructure and generate jobs. This grant can make up only a small portion of such projects’ total funding...

About the Author

Valerie J. Mann, who has more than 30 years of grant-writing experience, is president of Mann and Mann Grant Solutions. She gives grant-seeking workshops and seminars.

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