This week’s show focuses on writing non-profit grant proposals but it comes from the funders point of view. You can find all kinds of information on the web or in your library about how to write a grant proposal, but actually very little about how it feels to be the one who has to read it and even, reject it. New nonprofit leaders, in particular, will find this show helpful because you’ll get honest comments from the director of a small but very typical grant-making organization.

What does a funder look for in a proposal? What is it like to sift through dozens more proposals from non-profits than you can possibly fund? What annoys a funder so much that your project will be tossed in the trash?

My guest this week is Kristen Smith, the Executive Director of Planet Dog Foundation. It’s the nonprofit arm of the company, Planet Dog, which contributes 2% of every sale of any Planet Dog product to fund the foundation’s grant-making activities.

Before leading the Planet Dog Foundation, Kristin worked in a variety of nonprofits in the U.S. and abroad, doing development and fundraising, legislative activism, grassroots mobilization and education, communications and public relations. In other words, she’s been in your shoes!