Cost to Hire a Grant Writer Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

I've written several posts their links are listed at the end of this post about how to hire and begin working with a grant writer. The next question is: what is fair compensation for a grant writer? first of all, i've said it before, here, and i'll say it again. never pay a grant writer a portion of a grant that your organization receives after they write the proposal for it. this is called ' contingency pay', and it is unethical in american fundraising. The most reputable/established professional affiliations in the united states revoke memberships if members are found to be taking pay from grants received.

For example the association of fundraising professionals why shouldn't your organization pay a percentage of each grant that your writer wrote and you guys received? it jeopardizes your relationship with the grant donor because they expect their grant donation will pay for what you said you were requesting the money for not for your overhead costs cost of the grant writer. Grant writers' hourly rates or salaries are fundraising and overhead expenses they are not programs/project expenses. If grant donors learn that you're spending their donation on costs other than what you said you'd spend the money on they won't give to your organization, again and they'll let other grantors know that your organization did this to them.

Second, grant writing is only successful when your organization has a strong healthy reputation, when the program that you are requesting the money for is meeting a real need in your community well, and when your organization's reputation among the non profit and grant donors' communities is strong. In other words, whether a grant is received or not is not only based on whether the grant writer is good enough it is mostly based on whether your organization is in a strong position to receive grants. Having a talented, knowledgeable, experienced, and successful grant writer is important but successfully raising grants is a team effort between the grant writer and the organization as is true of all operations of your organization, not just fundraising. Good grant writers are professionals with expertise that you seek so you pay them for their work. You are investing in the future of your organization increasing its assets, increasing the number of strong relationships with donors, increasing the potential success of your projects/programs, and in the end achieving your mission statement's work.

Ask colleagues at other non profit agencies who have worked with grant writers that they're really happy with what they spent on their grant writer. Did the grant writer charge by the hour or did they hire them as staff? if the fee was hourly, what was it? how much experience did their grant writer have? ask colleagues at a few different sized non profit agencies how much they spent on their grant writer and how much experience each had. You'll begin to get a picture of how much you should expect to pay for various experience levels in your region. Next, contact local or regional professional fundraising and grant writing affiliations. Ask them if they can indicate what the going rate is for professional grant writers at various experience levels.

If they are not sure, ask them if an area non profit or community foundation/organization has recently conducted a fundraising professionals' salaries survey. If so, get a hold of it and look up what the going rate/pay is for various experience levels. If you know that you have a large capital campaign that you're beginning a year from now plan on having hired the grant writer at least six months prior to the beginning of the capital project's beginnings. Why? various grant donors meet at different times to decide who they'll give grants to. Your grant writer will need time to write a strong proposal before the grant donor's deadline and also allow for the grant donor's decision making time. If the campaign will last three years you'll need to budget for a grant writer for at least two and a half years this may vary. If you need to get a grant to pay for a grant writer for three years, there are grant donors who offer grants specifically for overhead or fundraising costs but they are few and far between.

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Just don't pay any portion of any grant to an expense that you did not tell the grant donor you'd be paying for with their donation. In seattle in 2005, for instance, the two or three most reputable contract grant writers also had the longest careers. Most professional contract grant writers in seattle at that time who had 5 10 years' experience and were good at what they did received an hourly rate between $40/hour $90/hour depending on expertise. The seattle non profit sector is mostly open, educated, and up on the latest paradigms. Seattle non profits mostly understand that for quality one must hire an experienced professional and be willing to invest resources, team work, and time in the best for their mission's work. Do not lessen the amount of time you hire a grant writer for, based on the grant writer's cost.

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Invest in the grant writing process, as much as your organization is investing in grant writing as a fundraising method. Lastly, while interviewing various candidates, consider whether they value themselves. In other words, if they have twelve years of successful grant writing experience but charge very little be a bit leery. Conversely, when hiring a grant writer always remember that successful grant writing is as contingent on the organization applying for grants as the grant writer's abilities.

For instance, if a grant writer is excellent at what they do, but the non profit organization that they worked for mismanaged assets the non profit may not have received grants because of the organization not because of the grant writer's abilities. Here are more blog posts that will help you if you're about to hire a grant writer contractor or staff: review the freelance grantwriters list. grantwriters work primarily with nonprofit organizations. if you're looking for grants for an individual or a for profit business, deborah kluge's website may answer your questions. A good match between the grantwriter rsquo s experience and the skill level you need for the job. Are we compatible? can we communicate? does this writer rsquo s work style organizational skills, demeanor, and approach to deadlines fit with our operational practices and culture? do we share a vision? are you accepting new clients now? good grantwriters are much in demand. Would you be interested in working with us on this project? what is your experience in our field? may we see your resume and writing samples? how do you charge? by the hour? by contract? how much? require that your organization be ready to write grants or at least be willing to work hard to get there.

Consultants with deeper and broader expertise provide more value and therefore charge more. Nonprofit charitable orgs expert joanne fritz has worked in the nonprofit world for most of her 30 year career beginning with teaching at the secondary, college, and university levels. She has also held senior management positions at two national nonprofits and two universities. Fritz has served on numerous nonprofit boards and was chosen to participate in leadership programs in two cities.

Read more most nonprofits want to include grants from foundations or the government in their funding mix. You may be fortunate enough to have an experienced grant writer on staff, especially if your organization has a long standing grants program. But for many nonprofits that is not so, and it might make sense to hire a grant professional or consultant, at least for a limited time. I asked just such an expert, jake seliger of seliger associates, about the pros and cons of hiring an outside grant writer. the grant writer will actually sit down and write the proposal. He or she is not likely to spend time in endless meetings discussing what the proposal should be like. Some organizations assign groups to write a proposal, a strategy that often ends up producing what jake calls a 34 franken proposal, 34 cobbled together from mismatched parts.

Since the goal of writing proposals is to get the money, being on time is crucial. But it 39 s surprising how many would be grant writers fail to turn in complete and technically acceptable proposals ahead of time. A good consultant will get that proposal to you early enough for a thorough review and revisions and then to the funder by the deadline.

If you make someone an employee and discover six months later that he has time management issues, that person can often be hard to fire. If your consultant is no good, you just cancel her retainer or don 39 t hire her for the next job. An expert likely knows the quirks of many funders and various systems, such as the foundation center 39 s grants database or the federal government 39 s grants.gov. You don 39 t want to make a million dollar mistake because the grant writer doesn 39 t know the ins and outs of the application system. the consultant does not have the institutional memory that an insider might have. it 39 s great if your staff grant writer has been with you a long time or if the system he set up can be easily passed on to the next person hired. On the other hand, if you have had staff turnover, the lack of memory could work the other way. No one remembers when and how the last proposal was done, or where to start next time.

A consultant grant writer might be able to bring you up to speed faster than a new hire, and a consultant can often set up a grants system that works well when you do make that next hire. But remember that a professional grant writer has several clients to work with at any given time. However, any grants professional worth his fees should be able to juggle that situation and give you all the time you need. you might not pick the right person. it can be tricky finding the consultant who fits with your organization, listens well, and has the sharpest skills. Also, sign a short term contract so you can have a trial run before getting involved long term. Cost is likely the most frequent reason organizations hesitate to hire a professional grant writer. But that fear itself can trip up a nonprofit when it is reluctant to hire professional help to do the tasks that can 39 t be handled by current staff.

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