Will you write grants for a percentage of the funding received?
No. We charge either an hourly rate or a flat fee for each project, depending on the scope of work. Grant writing contingency fees are considered unethical by most professionals in the field.
Will you write a grant for no charge if we include you in the grant as the program evaluator or as another service provider?
No. Grant writing and program evaluation are completely separate activities. In addition, most government funding sources do not allow you to commit to a contractor in advance. In most cases, there are formal regulations that govern procurement practices.
How long does it take to write a grant proposal?
That depends on the length and complexity of the proposal. It can range from a few hours for a very simple, brief proposal to 120+ hours for highly complex and lengthy government proposals. Most government grant proposals fall in the 40-60 hour range after we have become familiar with the organization. In most cases, the first one or two grants we prepare for you will take longer than subsequent proposals.
If we hire you to write a proposal, will we have to do much work or can we just hand the project over to you?
Preparing a grant proposal is a collaborative process. At a minimum, you’ll need to provide documents about your organization, some information about your clients, a draft budget, and some details about what you want to propose. Larger, more complex proposals require more. If there are letters of support to be gathered, you must gather them. If collaborative meetings with community partners are required, you must facilitate those meetings and you are responsible for all communications with your community partners. At the beginning of the process, the responsibilities for everyone involved will be clearly defined.
Do you have some references so we can talk with others who have used your services?
Absolutely! After we have had an initial discussion, if you think you would like to pursue a partnership with us further, we would be happy to provide some references.
How do we get started with you?
The first step is to reach out to us. You can either call us at (530) 212-0323 or click the Contact Us link on the menu above. We will arrange a time to talk, either by phone or video conference, when you can tell us about your organization, we can tell you more about how our services work, and you can ask any questions you may have. There is no charge for this consultation, which can take up to an hour.
If we start working with you on a project and then decide not to submit the grant, will we still have to pay you?
Yes. You will be responsible to pay for the work we completed. The Agreement for Services will include detailed information about how this works, so you’ll know about it up front before you commit to anything.
Can we see a writing sample before we hire you?
Yes, but keep in mind that the grants we have written in the past are now the property of our clients. We need their permission before we can share them, even if they are government grants and part of the public record. We will show the same respect for you.
Will you help train our internal grant writer?
Yes, that is a service we provide. Schedule a consultation and we’d be happy to discuss it further.
What is your success rate?
Our success rate is between 75% and 80%, based on the type of project. Keep in mind that we specialize in large and complex government grant proposals and we have written hundreds of them. Our success rate cannot be prepared with those of people who have written a small number of grants or who have written foundation grants, almost exclusively. That said, regardless of how you view it, our success rate is excellent and among the best in the industry.
We are a small nonprofit organization run by volunteers. We have a very small budget. Would you consider donating your services to us?
Unfortunately, we do not regularly donate our services. However, every year we identify a small number of existing clients in your situation, and we discount our services for that year. All of the nonprofits who come to us do excellent work and they all support worthy causes. We would love to provide our services free of charge, but we cannot. Partnering with us to train some of your volunteers might be a better use of your resources.
