There are few proposal writing resources geared specifically to individual grantseekers and
"already-written proposals" for individual grant projects are usually unavailable for public access (via print
or the Internet) because typically they are very specific to the person requesting funding as well
as the donor's mission, and they work only within that context. Additionally, the highly specific
criteria for most funders that fund individuals has made it difficult to create a comprehensive "how-to" guide
for individual grantseekers.
There are however, a few good resources you may want to start with. Judith B. Margolin's The
Individual's Guide to Grants provides suggestions on carrying out a search for grants
and writing a proposal (Chapter 7). This book is available in
Center libraries and some
Cooperating Collections. We would also suggest
looking at our Reference Guide on Proposal Writing for Individuals.
You may also want to review our proposal writing resources designed for nonprofit organizations, such as those you will find in our
Reference Guide and
FAQs on Proposal Writing.
While these are designed for nonprofit organizations, you can modify the advice to suit your needs, since
there are many similarities. When looking at examples of nonprofit
proposals, you can ignore the institutional information, but you should still include such components as an
executive summary, statement of need, project description, budget, and conclusion. It
is the funders' guidelines that have the final word as to the content of your proposal, and these instructions
should be followed closely.
The following resources might assist individuals in writing a proposal or an artist needs statement:
- Chapin, Paul G. Research Projects and Research Proposals: A Guide for Scientists Seeking Funding. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. 2004. Directed to scientists who wish to design and write proposals for funding agencies. Includes project planning, information about specific government funders (as well as more general recommendations about researching private foundations), and grants management.
- Goodwin, Ariane. Writing the Artist Statement: Revealing the True Spirit of Your Work. Haverford, PA: Infinity Publishing, 2002.
- Karsh, Ellen and Arlen Sue Fox. The Only Grant-Writing Book You'll Ever Need. New York, NY: Carroll & Graf. 2003. Organized into a series of lessons, the book provides guidance to both nonprofits and individuals who are preparing proposals for public and private funders.
- University of Michigan's Resources for Writing Artist's Statements (http://www.lib.umich.edu/aael/article.php?articleID=21)
- The Alexia Foundation, dedicated to helping professional and student photographers produce photographs that promote world peace and cultural understanding, have samples of winning proposals available on its site. Click on Previous Winners for additional proposals.
For other books and articles containing information on proposal writing for individuals, try searching our Catalog of Nonprofit Literature (CNL), the Center's bibliographic database. You could start searching on the subjects "Proposal development" with the keyword "individual*" (the asterisk will ensure the search engine will pick up the plural or other forms of the word).
Many of the books and articles found through CNL will be located in Center Libraries and Cooperating Collections. It is best to call ahead to verify a specific library's holdings. All articles, but not books, can be obtained through interlibrary loan at your local Cooperating Collection.
See also our FAQs for individual grantseekers for further resources related to this topic.
Can't find the answer you're looking for in our FAQs? Ask our Online Librarian.
