Professional Grant Writers

Build your team’s capacity to fulfill your organizational mission

Writing a successful grant proposal takes a great deal of knowledge, skill, and experience. While many organizations attempt to handle the grant writing process in-house with existing staff, an investment in a professional grant writer will pay off with more grants won and less distraction from the day-to-day work of your organization.

Hiring a grant writing company, like Resource Associates, will save your organization money and valuable resources. Hiring a full time, professional grant writer on staff can cost as much as $150,000. The average salary for a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) is over $80,000. By working with a firm like Resource Associates, you’ll receive all the benefits of having a professional grant writer on your team but save on the overhead. Other benefits include:

• Gaining the valuable experience, insight, and expertise of grant writers with a track record of winning grants.
• Relieving your staff of the time consuming work to put together a grant proposal.
• Eliminating the last minute rush and stress of putting together grant proposals.
• Submitting professional, comprehensive grant proposals that will make a favorable impression on grant reviewers.

How do you ensure you’re working with a reputable grant writer?

Many individuals and even firms claim to offer expert grant writing services. Be sure to investigate anyone you’re hiring very closely to make sure they’re not only experienced but reputable. Watch out for:

• Grant writers who have only written a handful grant applications. Professional grant writers have long, proven records of award success.
• Grant writers who charge clients based on commission paid from the grants themselves. Not only is this illegal, but it could get your organization in a great deal of trouble.
• The claim that a grant writer will write a single proposal and submit it to hundreds of funders for a single fee. Every grantor has its own set of proposal guidelines and therefore requires an original proposal written specifically for that funder and grant.
• Grant writers who have you fill out a lengthy questionnaire and then use that information as-is to create the proposal. A reputable grant writer will interview you and your team to discover the information necessary to write a grant proposal. You are hiring a grant writer to save you time and effort. If you’re taking the time to complete a lengthy questionnaire you might as well write the grant.

Illegal and ineffective approaches to grant writing can not only prevent you from winning grants but could also damage your organization’s reputation with funders and your community. Make sure you ask questions and check references before hiring a grant writer.

Be sure to check out the Grant Geek blog for more information on how to spot a scam firm and how to report grant scams.