How Foundations Work: What Grantseekers Need to Know About the Many Faces of Foundations

Grantseekers spend much of their time and energy preparing grant requests. But do they really know enough about the foundations they are approaching to succeed in getting grants? Foundations are some of the nation?s most misunderstood and mysterious organizations. Dennis P. McIlnay offers a unique and remarkable look inside foundations, exploring the complex workings of the organizations that so often determine the success or failure of a nonprofit?s fundraising ventures.

Using case histories of grantseekers and insights from foundations themselves, Dennis P. McIlnay reveals the underlying principles and philosophies that guide grantmaking. He gives the grantseeker an edge in the highly competitive world of foundation grants by both debunking many of the myths and misconceptions surrounding foundations and including more productive strategies for dealing with them.

The book is structured around six perceptions of foundations?judges, editors, citizens, activists, entrepreneurs, and partners?and reveals the complex and often contradictory nature of foundations. How Foundations Work suggests that foundations have unique organizational personalities with unique values, languages, cultures, rituals, and behaviors that distinguish them from other organizations. Understanding these personalities is the key to grantseekers? success.

Accessible and intriguing, this book provides a thorough understanding of what makes foundations tick and how this affects their interactions with nonprofits. Managers and fund raisers in nonprofits will also find a comprehensive bibliography that provides additional resources.