Reading List: Developing Successful Grants: How to Turn Your Ideas into Reality

Awww, the good old days of the early 2000s :D 

In my defense, I just discovered this book this month, so this isn't one of those that I've had on my to-read bookshelf so long it's gone out of date while waiting for me to read it.

This is an insightful analysis of the process of writing grants, with lots of good ideas of how to go about the process, from first knowing what you need to fund then to finding grants, writing the application, using a Common Grant Application, preparing your budget, on and on. 

The book was written in 2005, so reading it in 2026 there are quite a few "tips" that are now outdated (like saving your documents to a zip disk, going to your local magazine store to purchase a phone list, and not submitting electronically); however, overall the advice and process is still relevant and helps you avoid pitfalls. 

The Upsides:

• Start with taking an inventory of your needs - program needs, equipment, etc. Once you know those things, then you can begin looking for funding. 
• They lay out the process in really easy to understand steps.
• There is lots of advice and quite a few samples (samples of how to format goals vs. objectives in a table, samples of breaking text into bullet points to be visually appealing, advice on using emotional language, etc.).
• They explain how to make the general layout they recommend match a funder's RFP or required layout.
• They include what items/aspects you should include in your application, even if the funder doesn't ask for it.

The Downsides:

• The age of the book. There were quite a few things that I thought, "Ooh! I didn't know about that. Let me go look it up," only to find a website that is for sale instead of having whatever it had in 2005, or the aforementioned tip of getting a list of funders at your local reputable magazine store. (There were also a number of suggested websites that I remember from long ago, felt nostalgic when reading about them, then was sad to visit their website and realize they don't exist anymore or not in the same way they used to.)
  
• One thing they repeatedly highlight is having a group to work on grant applications, including people familiar with the program(s) being funded, a proofreader, a writer, someone to compile everything, community supporters, ... These are great ideas and would certainly help a grantwriter feel less pressured and stressed, but let's be real - how likely is it a small organization is going to have that many people available to help with a grant? Even if you recruit members of your community for some of these positions, you're still not likely to have this grand Team they recommend. But it's a nice ideal.
  
  

Overall: This is a really great look at the process of writing grants, and despite the age of it, it's still very informative and useful. I recommend this to people working on finding funding and preparing grant applications, especially people who are new to the role.  

 

Developing Successful Grants: How to Turn Your Ideas into Reality, 2005

Mike DuBose, Martha Davis, Anne Black, and Research Associates

230 pages

Reading List: Things Great and Small: Collections Management Policies (2nd ed)

Sometimes I'm so ashamed by how long books sit on my bookshelf before I read them. I see them in the store or online, I get really excited, I buy them, and then... I just don't have time to read them. I bought this book when it was new (2018) but didn't read it until this month. Yikes! At least nothing's too outdated yet!

This is a nice overview of collections management policies - different types of policies you should have, what you should take into account, why to have policies, who should be involved in writing or approving different policies, all that good stuff. It also includes topics like risk management, intellectual property, and ethics.

If you've read a lot about collections, collections management, and policies, there's nothing really new in here; but this is a great synopsis of collections management policies if you haven't read a bunch others, or a nice one-stop-shop of all the good stuff to get you going.

Plus, John Simmons is funny. If you're on any collections e-lists with him, you likely know his December holiday-themed/museum-management-themed poems. (I was disappointed, though, that the funny wasn't strong throughout. He starts off well, with sample policies from the House of Victoriana, the Institute of Contrafactual Science, and the Museum of Mediocre Art, but then some of their sample policies are just like regular sample policies and the funny is gone.)

 

The upsides:

• A nice one-stop-shop of all the good stuff to get you going on your Collections Management policies
  
• Good for newcomers to the Collections Management game
  

The downsides:

• If you have other books about Collections Management, you might not need this.
• There are a number of "When Policy Meets Reality" call-out boxes scattered throughout the book, but a lot of them seem irrelevant. They're funny or interesting or astounding, but they're not always helpful. If you try hard, you might force yourself to stop and think about what you would do if you were in that situation, but there's not a lot of insight offered. And others just make you think "Huh, that's... interesting" and you move on. It's some wasted space that could have either been used for more helpful info, or could have just been cut and made the book a bit smaller. Similarly, a lot of the images seem unnecessary, and removing them could have made the book smaller. (I keep saying "smaller" because it's a tall and wide book - 11" H x 8.5+" W)
  

  

Overall: This is definitely worth a read, unless you Absolutely Know Everything about collections management and policies. Even if you think you know a lot, you still might get some new insights. Or you might gain a new favorite reference book.

 

Things Great and Small: Collections Management Policies, 2nd edition, 2018

John E. Simmons

220 pages (and it's a tall and wide book, too), including references/bibliography/other reading, and appendices with AAM's Code of Ethics, AAM's Accreditation Commission's Standards Regarding Collections Stewardship, various laws and regulations that affect collections

Reading List: Getting Caught Up

Hey, I read a museum-related book! Lookatme! (Yikes). I'm trying to make more of an effort to read museum- or nonprofit-related books again (Didn't I say that before, too?), and this year I've read five already! ... Okay, some of it has been because it's been painfully slow for me at work lately, and I've had to create projects to keep myself occupied. One of those was finally reading a bunch of books our old Executive Director gave my then-manager when she retired and cleared out her office. My then-manager gave the books to me to store for our department, and now that I've had NOTHING to do, I decided it was finally time to read them!

Book #1 was The AAA Way to Fundraising Success: Maximum Involvement, Maximum Results, which I really learned about in a webcast I watched (DonorPerfect Community Conference 2025, Robbe Healey "Stay the Course: Individual Giving Tactics for Changing Times"). The book sounded useful, and the cover the presenter showed started to seem really familiar... and then I realized it was because it was one of the books our Director had given us that I'd been wanting to read! So I dove into it.

The book is super short but super useful. It helps you think about how to structure your organization's culture of philanthropy and how everyone can be involved. It's specifically focused on getting your board involved in cultivating donors and partnerships, but it can be applied to anyone. 

Kay Sprinkel Grace says there are 3 types of people needed: Ambassadors and Advocates to talk up your cause, make connections, and lay the groundwork, then the Askers who do the actual asking for a donation. She describes the function of each of the roles and explains what personal traits make for a good fit for that role, and also gives ideas of how the different roles interact and work together.

This was such a fantastic way to show that fundraising isn't only about asking for money; it's about getting the word out and building relationships, too. And we can all play a part in that. Someone may not feel comfortable asking someone for $$$, but can talk up the cause they believe in.

Book #2 was Asking: A 59-Minute Guide to Everything Board Members, Volunteers, and Staff Must Know to Secure the Gift, by Jerold Panas. This was a quick, easy-to-read reference book, yet it felt like it was giving you everything you need to know. He lays out the cultivation and solicitation process step-by-step, from identifying potential donors to writing an introductory letter (I'm not sure how much of that is still relevant today) and making an introductory phone call to having a first conversation (but not asking for money yet) on through to the Ask and follow up. Panas gives great tips, makes it all seem really easy, and even gives advice for when the donor says no or when you only think they've said no. Like The AAA Way to Fundraising Success, this would make a great reference book to have handy to keep fundraisers on track and motivated.

I'll mention book #3 for the year quickly because while it wasn't exactly useful, it was fun to read: The Principles Of Museum Administration, George Brown Goode's 1895-ish treatise of the workings of museums (reprint purchased on Amazon). It was really interesting to read as a historical record of how early museums in the U.S. were perceived and run, and how much of what he wrote is still relevant today!

I originally hadn't planned on writing about The Principles of Museum Administration because it was so short, and hadn't even thought about writing about the fundraising ones, in part because I've been reading them at work (different environment, so I didn't make the mental connection between reading and blogging) and in part because they're not museum-related. However, museums obviously need to fundraise, so even though these books aren't about collections or exhibits or other museum-specific areas, they are relevant to museums. 

So there you go! Museum- and nonprofit-related books I've been reading in 2026. I've got two more that I've finished reading recently, so stay tuned for those reviews!