Whether in a cover letter or in the resumé, some fundraisers like to make bold statements about how much they’ve raised. Avoid making this kind of statement. Fundraising is a joint activity that depends on many factors, including what cause the nonprofit serves, past success in raising money, standing in the community, and connections the nonprofit’s staff and board have with funders. The artful creation of grant proposals is, alas, not the most important factor—although without it, the other factors might be meaningless. The person deciding if she should hire you knows this and will consider sweeping statements plain old boasting and of little value.

Similarly, quoting your success rate can be misleading. Someone writing proposals for a major nonprofit with deep community roots and a long history of service will have a very different success rate than a grant writer raising funds for a brand-new organization serving an unpopular cause.

So what glowing things can you say about your work in your cover letter? You can objectively state how many proposals you’ve written and definitely highlight one or two successful ones if you have them. You can also write about what challenges you overcame in creating a proposal. For example …

Writing about a great relationship you had with a client is, of course, very positive. Be careful not to sound negative about anyone or any nonprofit you worked with! Just as in any job interview, you never want to be negative lest the person interviewing you wonder what awful things you might say about them one day.