How to Write Knockout Proposals: What You Must Know (And Say) to Win Funding Every Time [Paperback]

Joseph Barbato (Author), Joel Orosz (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This pithy little book is a lifeline for anyone who has ever struggled to write a grant proposal. In clear, lucid prose, PW contributing editor Barbato demystifies a process most of us classify somewhere between daunting and incomprehensible. By the time you've finished reading, you'll believe you can do what he promises in the title; if you follow his user-friendly directions, you probably will. In 51 short chapters (two pages apiece), Barbato covers everything from why you need more than a good idea and how best to communicate with a particular funder. Some suggestions are obvious ("Find giving guidelines that resonate beautifully with your need. Then, you and the prospective donor will have, if not a bond, at least a strong interest in common"). Others are clearly the result of Barbato's experience as a veteran proposal writer and the author of five previous books. To get background information on a topic you're not familiar with, he suggests reading a young-adult novel in addition to surfing the Internet or checking encyclopedia articles. He also recommends waiting around if you're interviewing a source. "Let him stop you at the door as you're leaving," he writes. "I've found many experts at their lucid best just at that final moment in the interview. They want to make sure you understand." For anyone facing the difficult task of writing a funding proposal, Barbato's advice is sound, clear and to the point.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: Emerson & Church (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889102202
• ISBN-13: 978-1889102207
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #989,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joseph Barbato is an author, journalist, and consultant who blogs about books at www.redweatherreview.com.

Barbato grew up in New York City and earned B.A. and M.A. degrees at New York University, where he worked for many years as a writer and editor. He later spent nine years as editorial director at the headquarters of The Nature Conservancy, where he co-edited the literary anthologies "Heart of the Land" and "Off the Beaten Path." Barbato has also served as fiction editor of a little magazine, The Remington Review, and has syndicated features on books and authors to The Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and many other newspapers.

A former contributing editor of Publishers Weekly, he has also been a contributor to Smithsonian, Kirkus Reviews, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Washington Post, The New York Times, Newsday, America, The Village Voice, The New Leader, The Chicago Tribune, and The Progressive. He also co-edited the literary anthology "Patchwork of Dreams," which gathers stories, poems, and other work by residents of the multi-cultural community of Queens in New York City.

A veteran of capital campaigns at NYU and The Nature Conservancy, Barbato has written several books on nonprofit fundraising and communications: "How to Write Knockout Proposals," "Writing for a Good Cause," and "Attracting the Attention Your Cause Deserves." He has been a consultant to many nonprofit institutions, including M.I.T., the Smithsonian Institution, the American Academy in Berlin, the Brookings Institution, the Westport Playhouse, the American Diabetes Association, the National Wildlife Federation, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, and Oxford University (U.K.).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Guide for Foundation Proposal Writing, October 18, 2004

By 

Michael Wyland "Nonprofit Consultant" (Sioux Falls, SD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Write Knockout Proposals: What You Must Know (And Say) to Win Funding Every Time (Paperback)

Joseph Barbato has written a very useful and easy-to-read book on how to write foundation grant applications.

Rather than focusing on the nuts and bolts of proposals, he focuses on the essential lessons a good grant application writer must know or learn to be successful. Using the advice in this book will help the reader think and act like an experienced proposal writer.

The chapters are short, concise, and well-written -- a good mantra for crafting successful foundation proposals. Chapter titles include "Maps Help," "Needing Money Isn't Enough," and "Getting Unstuck." If you've written a lot of proposals and helped a lot of clients, you'll find yourself saying "Yes, people need to know that!" as you read the book.

I recommend the book highly. I wish that the author had addressed Federal and other governmental proposal writing as well, for two main reasons. First, while it's a great idea to solicit advice and counsel from a foundation's staff, it's between difficult and impossible to work with a government program officer while drafting a proposal. Working without this counsel requires the proposal writer to hone all the more closely to the written application guidelines -- a point not made as directly in the book as it might have been.

Second, the very brevity and conciseness valued by foundation program officers may actually work against a Federal or other governmental proposal being funded. The written guidance often mandates a certain amount of repetition between proposal sections, both in material to be covered and, occasionally, in the structure of the proposal itself.

These two small issues aside, I really like this book. One particularly effective use of it would be as a supplemental text when delivering grantsmanship training. The book includes much of the good advice a trainer would give orally while handing out written materials on the minutiae of the grant application. Reading "Knockout Proposals" is like having a grantsmanship coach at your side during the writing process.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short, Sweet, Right on Target, September 19, 2004

By 

John (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Write Knockout Proposals: What You Must Know (And Say) to Win Funding Every Time (Paperback)

I like my information FAST and accurate. And How to Write Knockout Proposals gives me just that. Short chapters that cover essential points in lively language. The whole book takes about an hour to read.

Barbato doesn't dither. What other writers say in 300 pages, he manages to say in under 130.

I was scared of writing proposals before. I'm not anymore.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Succinct!, April 6, 2006

By 

Pamela (Haverford, PA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Write Knockout Proposals: What You Must Know (And Say) to Win Funding Every Time (Paperback)

You already know how to read and apply guidelines. Here is an excellent little guide to giving your foundation proposals a compelling, readable edge.