Preparing successful grant proposals to receive funding from corporations or foundations requires careful research, meticulous preparation, and graceful writing. Grant administrators tell us that many grant requestors have no real understanding of the proposal writing process and as a result, their worthy causes lose out.

If you learn how to avoid the errors that lead to the rejection of your proposal, you will be better prepared to help the causes you most admire. This course will walk you through all of the essential steps--including an important discussion of what you must do when the grant arrives!

In this course, you’ll learn how to become fully familiar with the institution or project for which you are requesting support. You’ll get valuable guidance in preparing a background statement and a brief financial statement to support your request. You’ll also research some charitable foundation and corporate giving sources.

Then, you'll learn how to put everything together so you can assemble, write, and submit complete grant proposals to foundations, corporations, and wealthy individuals for any number of your pet projects.

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.

Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader).

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Jillian Poole.

Jillian Poole has raised money for schools and colleges, arts organizations, community organizations – you name it – in the U.S. and abroad. She loves fund raising, because doing so empowers her to make wonderful things happen. She has had many years of hands-on fund raising experience for non-profit organizations, large and small. She taught a graduate course in arts management and fund raising at The American University for 16 years, and authored Managing for Money: A Handbook for International Cultural Institutions, a book that has been translated into six languages.

“ As a person that started a non-profit about a year and a half ago, this course was an amazing tool. I have to say that especially the supplemental materials were amazingly helpful. Thank you for all the time you put in doing this. It has been a great resource for me. ”

“ I came into this class having submitted many grant proposals that had been turned down. I wanted to learn why that had happened. I also wanted to learn a better way to write them. Jillian's class fulfilled my need very completly. Her writing style was very reader friendly. The information she communicated was easily understood. I was able to do her classroom assignments in a way that showed me the errors I had made in my grant applications. I submitted several questions to her during Lesson Discussion sessions. Her replies were prompt and meaningful, and very encouraging upon behalf of my efforts. ”

“ I enjoyed this class and felt it was useful to my career. I appreciate the instructor's wealth of knowledge and attentiveness. ”

“ I just wanted to say what a great tool this course has been. About a year and half ago I started my own non profit organization and this course has shown me some improvements I can make. It also has amazing resources that will really help us get the funding we need. Thank you for working so hard and doing such a great job. ”

“ I really enjoyed this class. The information learned during this class will be invaluable to our non-profit animal shelter. Thanks! ”

“ I thoroughly enjoyed this course and found it beneficial to my grant writing career. During upcoming grant proposals, I will refer to the material and references I gained from the course lessons. I want to thank you for sharing you knowledge, skills and experience as a grant writer with us throughout this course. I will pass the word onto my friends about this course! ”

“ I thought the class was exactly what I needed to get my start in Grant Writing. It was informative and complete, and I would highly recommend both this class and Jillian to anyone interested in taking a beginning Grant Writing Class. Thank you Jillian, you were terrific! ”

“ Jillian did a good job of sharing her experiences as a grant writer. I found the information given here VERY useful for an introductory course. ”

“ Jillian Poole gives very interesting and informative lessons with plenty of resources to help with individual research. In addition, she is a responsive instructor who writes in a friendly writer. I would recommend this course to those looking for a strong beginning, or those in need of some encouragement and confidence as a grant writer. ”

“ Jillian put together a first rate class. A great introduction for anyone interested in learning about the basics of grant writing along with some street-wise advice. ”