A step-by-step guide to engaging a grant writer for nonprofit organizations
Engaging a grant writer can feel intimidating and overwhelming. Handing your grant program to someone outside your team requires deep trust and respect. Additionally, several layers of approval may be required to begin partnering with a grant writer. In this blog post, I will walk you through the process of engaging a grant writer and provide tips on preparing for each stage to help you navigate the process with confidence.Â
Why Engage a Grant Writer
Like most nonprofit professionals, I’ve worn many hats. With several years of experience in executive leadership, fundraising, programs, and boards of directors, I understand the many hurdles organizations face in fulfilling their mission.Â
Applying for grants is a time-consuming process and requires constant attention from prospect research, managing deadlines, relationship building with funders, grant writing, and reporting. It entails more than simply writing grants. Managing the process with limited capacity and greater organizational demands can be tedious. From research and practice, I know that resources are abundant, and acquiring a sustainable base of funders invested in your nonprofit's mission is possible.Â
A grant writer can help your organization secure the funds it needs to bloom. Grant writers have a specialized skill set to harness grants as tools to strengthen organizations. Grant writers are excellent communicators and project managers who thrive in untangling the complexities of your organization’s work and developing clear, concise language to communicate its unique mission-aligned impact to funders.Â
However, a grant writing consultant can do more than simply write grants for your organization. At Bloom Grant Consulting, we offer various services, including leading all grant writing efforts as your outsourced teammate, building new grant programs, developing content or boilerplate, creating grant trackers and calendars, researching and qualifying funders, coaching, and more. Our comprehensive approach ensures your organization has the tools, resources, and language to communicate with funders confidently and consistently.Â
Explore the financial benefits of hiring a grant writing consultant versus a full-time, in-house grant writer in our blog, Unlocking Savings: Why Contracting a Grant Writer is a Cost-Effective Choice for Your Organization.
The Process of Engaging a Grant Writer
Define Your Organization's Needs
First, it’s essential to outline your nonprofit’s grant writing needs.Â
Consider the following questions to define your organization’s needs:Â
What is the status of your organization’s grant program? Are you approaching grants for the first time? Are you restarting after a prolonged period of inactivity? Are you actively applying for grants?Â
How much support does your organization need with its grant program? Do you want a grant writing partner to manage your grants start-to-finish, or are you interested in support with research and strategy?Â
What are your funding needs?Â
Who will be the primary contact for your grant program?Â
What is your budget for grant writing?Â
Do you need organizational approval from executive leadership or the board of directors to contract a grant writer?
Research Grant Writing Consultants
You can find grant writers on various online databases. Nonprofit professional associations or organizations may have trusted recommendations for consultants. We are members of the Puget Sound Grant Writers Association and the Nonprofit Association of Oregon and can be found in their respective grant writer and nonprofit service provider directories. Â
Consider the following when researching grant writing consultants:Â
History of success: The grant writer has a portfolio of existing or past clients and has delivered results.Â
Referrals or testimonials: The grant writer is recommended by existing or past clients who speak highly of their work. Â
Excellent communication: The grant writer exhibits strong writing skills and is responsive to your outreach.Â
Service options: The grant writer offers various services to meet your organization’s needs within budget.
Compatibility: The grant writer aligns well with your team.Â
Your organization may have additional priorities when hiring a grant writing consultant, including familiarity with your organization, mission space, or location.Â
Similarly, grant writing consultants have priorities when evaluating potential nonprofit partners. Bloom Grant Consulting is excited to work with passionate nonprofit leaders who are ready to make an impact. We prefer to work with established nonprofit organizations with paid staff and two or more years of 990 filings. These nonprofit organizations have a solid foundation to secure and implement mission-driven services and programming supported by grant funding.  Â
Schedule Consultations with Select Grant WritersÂ
Once you’ve narrowed down your research, contact the grant writing consultants on your list to schedule consultations to learn more about how they can support you and your organization.Â
During a consultation, be prepared to speak about your organization's mission, goals, objectives, budget size, team structure, and more.Â
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As grant writing consultants, we are focused on building successful and collaborative partnerships with organizations to ensure long-term sustainability and mission impact. This requires meaningful participation and communication. This meeting is an opportunity to get to know one another and ensure compatibility for a future partnership.
Establish a Scope of Work and Sign a Contract
Following a successful consultation, we’ll align a scope of work for your nonprofit organization, valid for two weeks. Once we’ve agreed on a scope of work, we’ll prepare a contract for your organization to formalize our engagement. Once a contract is in place, we’ll begin the discovery phase.Â
Dive into Discovery
The discovery phase is just what it sounds like! It’s an opportunity for our team and your organization to lay the groundwork for our work together. We begin discovery by providing our clients with a document discovery checklist.Â
These core materials will help our team understand your organization’s structure and financial foundation. Many of these documents lay the foundation for future grant applications we will submit in collaboration with your team.Â
We understand that our clients may not have all of the documents on our list, so we provide indicators for what documents you have, what documents are in progress, and the ones you don’t have. We’re here to help you fill in the gaps!Â
We give our clients two weeks to complete the checklist before we jump into a kickoff meeting. Our client kickoff meeting is about setting expectations. In the first half of the meeting, we review the agreed-upon scope of work and timeline. The second half of the meeting is an in-depth discussion of prospect research. We discuss what type of funding prospects are suitable for your organization. This conversation leads seamlessly into the research phase.Â
Our Grant Readiness Checklist can help your organization prepare for the discovery phase.Â
At Bloom Grant Consulting, we are all about finding ways to help you reach your grant potential. This will help you assess your grant readiness before investing in a grant consultant, including a comprehensive checklist, detailed assessment questions, and space to self-reflect and strategize.
Begin Research
Research is pivotal to our work at Bloom Grant Consulting. Whether assessing an organization’s grant preparedness or identifying funding prospects, we are meticulous in our research. We use public data, subscription-based tools, and our experience in the field to provide you with an organized matrix packed with information to help your organization confidently approach the right funders.Â
Continue Based on Your Scope of Work
Once discovery and research are complete, we continue based on your organization’s unique scope of work. Throughout our engagement, this could include reviewing funding prospects, providing personalized training, one-on-one coaching, and more.Â
Our process for ongoing support is custom-made for our nonprofit partners. We become an integrated member of your team, executing your grant to-do list. This service is for organizations that need a partner to increase their capacity for grant writing, develop a regular cadence of proposal submission, meet deadlines, and build authentic relationships with funders. These are long-term engagements with six- to twelve-month contracts. We meet with our ongoing support clients bi-weekly for one hour to review and discuss upcoming grant proposals, develop funder outreach strategies, and provide cultivation coaching.Â
Engaging a grant writer is like planting the seeds for your nonprofit’s growth. By defining your needs and carefully selecting the right grant writing consultant, you can cultivate a partnership to help your organization thrive.
Plant seeds for future growth. Contact us to schedule a free 30-minute consultation today. We’re excited to meet you, explore how we can nurture your mission together, and watch it bloom!Â