I wish that this excellent book had been available in 1986 when I first began writing grant proposals – it would have spared me a great deal of time in learning on the job and frustration in learning from my mistakes. Waddy Thompson has decades of experience in soliciting, winning, and managing grants, and in teaching others the art of successful grants fundraising, and he makes that experience accessible to the reader in a clear and concise style, illustrating his points with succinct examples, including sample proposals and cover letters for different types of funders.

The Wise Guide to Winning Grants goes well beyond how to write proposals to cover the entire process of grants fundraising: researching potential funders; working with program staff to develop the proposal; shaping the proposal to the funder’s interests; cultivating relationships with foundation staff members; developing and managing grant budgets; involving senior staff and board members of your organization in support of your proposal; keeping the funder informed of the progress of your project; meeting all your reporting obligations; and much, much more.

In addition to the wealth of information and sound advice he provides within the book itself, Thompson guides the reader to other valuable resources, like the various databases available for researching grants and grant-making organizations and the differences among them; and publications and websites that help keep the grant seeker up to date with developments in the field. Of special interest to the experienced professional is a section on working as a free-lance grant writer, advice that can be invaluable to fundraisers who find themselves between jobs, or who think they might enjoy working as an independent consultant rather than as an organization staff member. I encourage anyone who is involved in raising grant funds, beginner or experienced professional, to add the Wise Guide to their professional library and keep it close at hand.