Writing for a Good Cause: The Complete Guide to Crafting Proposals and Other Persuasive Pieces for Nonprofits

Citation

Cassell, K.A. and Mercado, M.I. (2001), "Writing for a Good Cause: The Complete Guide to Crafting Proposals and Other Persuasive Pieces for Nonprofits", The Bottom Line, Vol. 14 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/bl.2001.17014aae.002

Writing for a Good Cause: The Complete Guide to Crafting Proposals and Other Persuasive Pieces for Nonprofits

Writing for a Good Cause: The Complete Guide to Crafting Proposals and Other Persuasive Pieces for Nonprofits

Barbato, J. and Furlich, D.S.Fireside Book, Simon & SchusterNew York, NY2000

Keywords: Grants, Non-profit organizations, Funding, Fund-raising

Imagine our surprise when we began to read this book. We expected just another tedious book on how to write proposals. This is an interesting contribution to the literature of fundraising. Writing for a Good Cause is a practical guide to the art of fundraising, which draws on the considerable fundraising experiences of the Joseph Barbato and Danielle Furlich, who have produced fundraising proposals, brochures, newsletters and other materials for major campaigns. Barbato is president of his own consulting firm, which provides writing and design services to the fundraising communications programs of many non-profit organizations, while Danielle S. Furlich is a writer and editor.

The authors proceed upon the assumption that to write successful proposals you must know two things: what to put into the proposal and how to write well. Although this book examines both of these things, it emphasizes the latter. The focus is because of the mistaken notion that not only can anyone write but also, that anyone writes well. According to the authors, "stringing words together with an occasional period is not writing no matter how pretty it looks …". As a result, this book's goal is to show the reader how accomplished writers lure readers by using plain English for complex subjects. In other words, the authors are intent upon showing the reader how to use words to win the support of funders.

Part 1 discusses the various aspects of "The Wacky World of Fund Raising." The authors are quite practical in their approach to fundraising. They pull no punches when they state that fundraising is about pleasing donors. A donor who is pleased gives money, while one who is displeased does not. It is as simple as that and as complicated as that. How does one go about fundraising? Because there are steps that one has to follow in order to raise funds, the authors briefly discuss the background and philosophy of gift-giving and fundraising in the United States and the mechanisms, i.e. the various types of development offices and the fundraising teams, which are organized for the purpose of fund-raising in different institutions.

In Part 2, "Writing the Perfect Proposal," the authors share with the reader the sine qua non rules, which funders insist that you follow if you want their money. Thus, when writing to a foundation, follow their guidelines religiously, i.e. do not skip questions and do not omit a single piece of information. The second commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Go On," is followed by the third, which requires that we organize our thoughts; the fourth cautions us not to pluck heartstrings too vigorously, followed by the fifth, which states that we should not "speak in tongues"; the sixth, that we should take a positive approach in writing our proposal and the seventh, that we should be sure to ask for the money. We are also cautioned not use the same proposal for various fundraising efforts, because if your proofreading is not exact, your proposal has a good chance of being rejected immediately. However, the authors are not done yet, because knowing the rules is not enough. They take you next through the process of proposal research, organization and the writing process. To assist you in this process, the authors have included excerpts of interviews with photo, design, printing, Web site architects and other experts.

In our opinion, the premier contribution of this book is the authors "Down and Dirty Proposal Kit," to be utilized, particularly in emergency situations when the deadline is yesterday. Their kit includes the Ten Key Questions that you should ask yourself before writing the proposal, followed by what you should include in the proposal, guidelines for writing it and other valuable "Hot Tips." In the back of this book are resources, which the authors highly recommend that the reader utilize in their quest to write proposals that bring their organization money. These include books on fundraising and writing proposals, organizations and periodicals published by fundraising organizations. For anyone who wants to read a straightforward book on the process inherent in writing successful proposals, place this book on your list.

Kay A. Cassell Associate Director, Programs and Services for the New York Public Library's Branch Libraries

Marina I. Mercado Adjunct Faculty Member at Mercy College, New York and a consultant in international business