Deborah's Proposal Writing Blog

There are many existing proposal writing books - yours should be something very special. Two areas we see little about are 1.Organizational Planning to obtain grants - in other words, how do you plan something that is often unexpected, but you still want the organization ready to respond to opportunities - is there a way of viewing the year ahead and possible grant opportunities, scheduling applications and still leave room for unanticipated opportunities? Or is there a way to schedule searching and finding funders for projects we know we want? 2. more information about searching the web for funders - specifics for the advanced grants coordinator.

I'd be happy to help write the book if you need it.

Madeleine Hemmings
Grants Coordinator
Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES

I evaluate Best Value proposals for the Navy. I find that many companies spend much of their time on peripheral issues of a proposal (layout, context, background) and not enough on the central issues on which we evaluate (core capabilities, direct and indirect rates, past performance/capabilities). Perhaps including a chapter on seeing the proposal from the point of view of an evaluator would help sharpen a writer’s focus.

notes for the book:
I hope to become a proposal writer & grant researcher for children's programs after many years in the Early Childhood Education field. I love reading the blog and consider every entry important to know (even the computer problems etc.)...a book should simply cover the same material but in a more organized manner. A kind of journal about a year of your life working as a "mostly" virtual proposal writer. I would like to read it from a very personal framework - not like a college course or textbook. I for one would read the book and so would LOTS of other people who check out your site. I would also sure appreciate seeing some completed grants as samples if any of your clients would agree to that. francesla@hotmail.com

A book of that type might be interesting, but the publisher is asking for something more specific. I think this blog is a kind of journal of the past year of my life as a proposal writer, but it's definitely not organized.

As for sample grants, I can't provide any of the ones I do for my clients, since my contracts with them prohibit it. But there are quite a few free grant samples on the web. I have a listing of some of these on my Sample Grants Page

A book is a good idea; but like a previous responder wrote, I would find it most interesting from a personal point of view -- kind of like your blog! It helps me to read about problems encountered and solutions rendered in your career as a proposal writer. I have been an independent proposal writer for 15 years and I have not been able to rubber stamp proposals. No two are the same so a book outlining exactly what to do wouldn't help me. (Only experience
helps!) A silly question--do you ever use the word "OFFEROR" when writing proposals? That word irritates me and the government uses it all the time. Have a productive day!

Maybe I should organize the blog and sell it as a book. I don't think I would get many sales, though. Would anyone really pay money to buy it?

Paula, yes I use "offeror" all the time. I also find it an irritating word. In fact, I have had clients ask me what it means. But that's governmentese for you. Why can't they just say "bidder" instead of "offeror"? I guess it doesn't sound official enough.

Actually, you WOULD get buyers for a book that were written in "blog" format. The Table of Contents could be sectioned such as, "Encounters With Clients That Were Hard to Satisfy," "Timeliness Issues," "Travel Ordeals," "How I Encouraged Clients to Pay My Fee Upfront," "Projects I Wasn't Able to Complete for a Variety of Reasons," "Preparing an Inept Client for a Verbal Proposal Presentation," "Dealings With Federal Contracting Officers," Working With Clients Overseas," "Personal Issues That Hindered Completion of a Project."

One day you should categorize all your blogs and see what type of chapters you would have!

Again, there are a lot of "proposal writing technique" books out there. Novice and experienced writers would enjoy, and could use, a book that has honest problems encoutered and solutions.

Good Luck!

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

URL:
Remember me? YesNo

Comments: