Ellen Karsh

Many small businesses, non-profits, individual researchers, and larger institutions depend on grants to fund their activities and livelihoods. Whether from private foundations or governmental entities, these funds are given through a competitive process. Through market forces, this process seeks to align funders’ desires with projects that achieve results. This book seeks to demystify this process and provide readers with a “leg up” to write better grant proposals.

Karsh and Fox’s show more work is primarily geared towards writers of socially oriented grants. Its examples include primarily social causes, not basic research. I work in the sciences, and this book does not include many examples of these kind of projects. However, it’s guiding advice and principles certainly can apply to those type of projects, too. I’m just going to have to read another book geared towards scientific grant-writing, too.

I honestly lack the experience to judge the trustworthiness of this Karsh and Fox’s advice. Like many potential readers, I am more in need of insight than able to judge reliability. Nonetheless, the communication style is clear and expressive. Obviously, this book, now in its fifth edition, has gone through many rounds of editing. Its voice is mature, and its points, well-thought-out.

Of special note, the authors have consulted grant givers extensively in the preparation of this book. As such, this book offers useful, practical tips towards garnering a favorable response. They even include several chapters of “roundtable” advice that explore relevant topics. For decades, Karsh was a grant giver in a prior career, and Fox, a grant writer. Their powerful combination produces much insight. Especially for projects aligned for social impact, this book provides a healthy repository of advice that should be consulted before any proposal words are written. show less

Okay, so for being a book about grant writing that I was required to read for my professional writing capstone class, this is well written and entertaining as well as being informative. Something I certainly wasn't expecting and appreciate that Karsh was able to accomplish.

If you need to read a book about grant writing, I suggest this one. The title is not misleading.

This had a lot of great information about how grant makers decide how to allocated funds and how to put a proposal together. I would have liked a little more info on how to present the organization's current financial situation and also on targeting inquiries. However, although I think the title is hyperbole, it's a very useful book.

I'm sorry to report that this book did not lead me by the hand to a huge grant for making art with beads. Or even one enabling me to loll around reading books all day. It was quite informative and clearly written, however, and I gained a fair bit of understanding of the grant process.