Is Your Museum Grant-Ready?: Assessing Your Organization's Potential for Funding

by Sarah S. Brophy

Is your institution grant-ready? This is a crucial question that almost every small museum or historic organization will find itself asking when considering grant funding, as it seeks to expand or improve programs, broaden its reach, or just simply maintain its existing level of performance. This succinct volume provides an accessible, step-by-step guide to assessing an organization's readiness for the grant application process, and includes seven real-life examples of institutions that have successfully achieved grant-readiness. Chapters will help assess readiness, and provide explanations and checklists to address the important components of this daunting process. Appendices contain proposal writing tips and a list of the author's favorite most-used resources. This innovative volume will be invaluable to museums, cultural institutions and students studying history or non profit work.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is Your Museum Grant-Ready is a remarkable introduction to the grant writing process. Before reading it, I will admit that I had almost no knowledge of how to tell if your museum was grant ready or the steps involved in building a grant application. I know that I am not the only museum professional out there who has no experience or training when it comes to grants, and I am really glad I came across this book.

One of the things instilled in me by my peers is continued professional development. It can come from attending conferences, participating in academic discussions, or reading career related material. My current job does not support professional development, so I have taken it upon myself to participate in events on my own and to read material to better myself. So I read Is Your Museum Grant-Ready for fun.

Not only does it give the basis for assessing your organization's potential for funding, but it prepares you as well. It asks you to consider your short-term and long-term goals, how involved and connected you are in your community, and whether or not you are ready to tackle grant applications. This was a really nice aspect for this book, which makes it not just a manual for grants. Rather it is an overview of grants and everything involved, letting you assess if you and your institution are ready to take the next step.

I highly recommend this book to anyone new to the grant writing process. Is Your Museum Grant-Ready was written to mentally prepare you for the herculean task of grant applications, and if or when I do apply for grants, I will probably reread this to ensure I am indeed ready. As of now, it was great for a bit of light reading, and if you are looking to continue your professional development or are just curious about grants, please pick this book up. You won't regret it.

[Melissa Mannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

My go-to source for grant information. Sarah's book is very readable, with straight-forward information that I've used to assist my archives consulting clients.