Nonprofits organizations, schools, individuals, and even small businesses sometimes depend on grant funding in order to keep programs open and the bills paid. Grant writing can be a good business for some, or a way to supplement other writing or consulting work for others. As someone who has done a bit of grant writing I can share some of the pluses and pitfalls of taking on grant writing as a home-based business.
Grant writing requires a great deal of technical writing skill, as well as just pure organization. A little creativity and writing talent is a good thing, but basically putting together grants that get funded is more about falling rules and guidelines to the letter and less about writing compelling copy. Grant writers will also likely be called upon to do a lot of research–researching for funding, working with foundations and funders, and collecting pieces of information from various sources. In this way, it’s a bit like being a research writer or journalist. An organized, detail-oriented person with solid writing skills could make a good grant writer.
As for credentials, it is not necessary to take classes in grant writing, but having one class or workshop under your belt can help in terms of credibility. The best way to learn about grant writing is just to do it. You can start by volunteering to write a couple grants for local nonprofits or other groups just to get your feet wet and gain experience. Clients will want to know if you’ve been “successful” or not which means they want to know if your proposals have been funded. An experienced grant writer knows that you can write the most dazzling proposal in the world and it won’t be funded while a simple letter of introduction will be returned with a $20,000 award. It has less to do with a grant writer’s talent than it does with timing, research, and finding likely matches for fund grantors and projects.
If you decide to take up grant writing, you’ll have to decide if you charge by the hour or by the project. Keep in mind that it is considered unethical for a fund raising professional to take compensation as a percentage or portion of a grant amount funded. You should get paid for the work you do and not “write on spec”. Trust me, you will be asked by organizations and nonprofits continue to try to find grant writers who will forgo pay for a “cut” of a grant award. Don’t do it! It demeans your work and undervalues the work of professional grant writers. You can charge by the hour and invoice a client for your work, or you can break it out and charge by the task or by the overall project. You’ll have to figure out which works best for you and your client.
Expect working with nonprofit organizations to be somewhat financially precarious. In all the work I’ve done, the times I either have not been paid at all or have had to work and struggle to extract payment–it has been with work I’ve done for nonprofit organizations. It is not that they are intentionally wanting to “stiff” grant writers or consultants, but revenue is often precarious, management is often inexperienced or unsophisticated, and payment can be slow.
Relationships are important in getting grant writing work–both with clients and by developing working relationships with foundations and funders. Your relationships and connections can be one of the biggest assets you can bring to your grant writing clients. The longer you are “in the business” the more likely you are to have a good handle on what the funding trends are and how to write and produce grants that get funded. It can be feast or famine though, so try to chat with others who are working as independent grant writers before you take the plunge and start your own home-based grant writing business.
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