On CharityChannel (June 16, 2008), Roberta Cooke provides a comprehensive list of 25 attachments you may need to include in a grant application. If you make these readily accessible to everyone in your organization who may be involved in submitting proposals, you can start pulling together a grant application on short notice, even if your lead proposal writer is away. The full list can be accessed only by CharityChannel subscribers but includes: your IRS tax-exemption letter, a list of your board members and their affiliations, your last three audits, a description of all your programs, a copy of your anti-discrimination policy, biographies of your staff: media reports, letters of support, and a list of previous grants. [Editor's note: Don't forget--you'll also need a system for keeping these items current.]

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The June 16 issue of Local/State Funding Report explains how to use Adobe Reader to attach required documents when you submit a federal grant application through Grants.gov. Most application packages will have an "Add Attachment" button that allows you to select a file. After making sure you've selected the correct attachments, click on the "Check Package for Errors" button to make sure you've completed all required fields. The complete tutorial for the Grants.gov grant application process is here.

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In the May/June issue of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal, Pat Munoz outlines simple ways even small organizations can create new revenue streams from existing assets, such as cash in the bank. Her article, "Using Your Money to Make Money," explains how to divide your funds into Short-Term, Medium-Term and Long-Term Assets and devise a strategy for wringing the maximum value out of each category. "A small cash reserve," says Munoz, "if invested judiciously, might double within 10-12 years." Her suggestions include creating sweep accounts at your bank, staggering your certificates of deposit so they'll mature at the most advantageous times, and developing an investment policy with board and volunteer oversight.

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The May 29, 2008, issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy has advice on how to get grants from the fastest-growing source of private dollars--donor-advised funds. These funds, which have been established by individuals in special accounts at banks, other financial institutions, community foundations and other nonprofit groups, now have assets of approximately $23 billion. You can visit the websites of community foundations and commercial funds (like Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Schwab Fund for Charitable Giving, and the New York Community Trust) to see which funds accept applications. In any case, you should make sure your organization looks good on GuideStar and Charity Navigator--many donors look to these sites for guidance in making grant decisions.

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If you're a proposal writer, chances are you've been given a grants "wish list" and urged to "just go and get the money." Is that grantsmanship? The newly revised and soon-to-be-released version of Norton J. Kiritz's groundbreaking work, Program Planning & Proposal Writing, defines grantsmanship.

In 1972, The Grantsmanship Center defined the principles of grantsmanship for an emerging profession. Since then, we have continued to champion ideals that define grantsmanship as far more than the art of writing proposals and obtaining grants. Grantsmanship is a philosophy, a code of ethics, and a set of skills applied simultaneously to bring about positive change. People who practice grantsmanship:

• know that the mission of their organization is service to its beneficiaries, and that grants must respond to that mission;
• use grants to address problems and bring benefits to the community, with the understanding that grants are not the solution to every funding need;
• view planning as nonnegotiable--if there is no plan, there's nothing to write about;
• know they don't know it all and so seek the opinions and ideas of constituents, staff, and colleague organizations;
• proactively search for private funders and government programs that fit their mission, rather than only reacting to random opportunities;
• build partnerships with funders who share their organization's goals and values, seeing them as allies, advisors, and advocates--not as automatic teller machines;
• are steadfastly ethical--don't misrepresent or fabricate information, disparage their peers, bend missions to qualify for funds, exaggerate problems, or promote needless programs;
• know what they need to know--the problem they're up against, their constituency, their community, recent research, and best practices in their field;
• know how to write a proposal that makes the case.

A grant is just a tool. Money alone doesn't protect battered families, help children to read, fill the plates of the hungry, clean polluted lakes, or open museum doors. But when guided by a thoughtful plan from a committed organization, a grant can be a powerful catalyst for change.

Organizations that practice grantsmanship are more effective. Their proposals are more likely to get funded, but more importantly, their programs are more likely to make a difference.

Grantsmanship: it's not about money; it's about results.