If you are a novice to grantseeking or are looking for a general overview of the fundraising process, this book is a good place to start. Throughout the slim volume, author Mark Guyer —— a professional with more than fifteen years' experience in the nonprofit sector —— describes how the grant process works, outlines methods of identifying and researching appropriate funders, and offers advice on how to develop an effective grant proposal.

The book's opening chapter, "First Steps," discusses the importance of developing an overall grant plan and emphasizes key factors that can be helpful in securing funding. As he does throughout the book, Guyer enhances the text with relevant and at times amusing anecdotes, stories, and advice based on his personal experiences counseling nonprofit organizations.

The chapters that follow cover three main funding sources for nonprofit groups: private foundations, corporations, and government agencies. Clearly aimed at the fundraising neophyte, the chapters in question include strategies tailored to the specific type of funder, as well as guidance in selecting the most appropriate funding source. Elsewhere, a chapter titled "Finding the Information You Need" focuses on specific library resources that best serve those who are at the research stage of the fundraising process, including electronic databases and grantmaker directories published by the Foundation Center, the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance issued by the U. S. government, and tax returns (990-PFs) filed by foundations with the Internal Revenue Service.

As with many books in this category, however, the chapter most likely to attract readers is the one that covers the development of the grant proposal. In addition to summarizing eight basic elements of a funding request, the author does a very effective job of educating novice grantwriters about "proposal don'ts" as well as the most common gripes of grantmaker staff charged with evaluating proposals.

Among its best features, A Concise Guide provides a number of documents that can be used during the process of identifying and researching grantmakers and preparing the formal grant request. These include a checklist for developing an overall grant plan, a prospect worksheet, sample budget formats, and a resource list of relevant Internet sites. While a table of contents is more than adequate for a book this size, an index is nevertheless included in the back, making specific topics very easy to find.

For citations to additional materials on this topic, refer to Literature of the Nonprofit Sector Online, using the subject headings "Fundraising-handbooks, manuals, etc." or "Proposal development-handbooks, manuals, etc."