I offer a comprehensive array of services to my clients, going well beyond “grant writing.” Not all clients need all the services outlined below; we work together to determine what will best meet their current needs.
No-Charge Initial Consultation
I am happy to speak with representatives of nonprofit organizations, municipalities, and businesses free of charge, to discuss the funding challenges they face and to explore how I might be able to help them fulfill their missions. These initial consultations typically last about an hour or an hour and a half, and can be done in person or by telephone.
Institutional Funder Prospecting
I conduct research to identify funding prospects for clients using a variety of resources. I subscribe to Foundation Directory Online Plus, a database that provides frequently updated information (including comprehensive profiles and 990-PF tax returns) on the 10,000 largest private and community foundations in the United States and over 1.8 million recently awarded grants. This is a great tool for quickly identifying funders that might be a good “fit” for a specific client and its projects.
I supplement this with research in the Maine Philanthropy Center’s Directory of Maine Grantmakers, other electronic and print resources (including on-line lists of funders’ RFPs), and personal contact with colleagues in grant-giving and grant-getting positions. I summarize the results of my research in a memo identifying the institutional funders (in Maine, the Northeast, and around the nation) that I would recommend the client approach, providing information on each prospect’s areas of interest, range of grant amounts, geographic limitations, deadlines, application guidelines, and contacts.
Research on Specific Funders
Clients sometimes ask me to evaluate the advisability of their approaching particular institutional funders for grants. I use the resources described above, and sometimes contact grant makers directly, to determine the potential fit between funder and client.
Funding Opportunities Assessment
I compile the results of my initial consultation and other meetings, prospecting, and research on specific funders into a single document that identifies a new client’s opportunities for obtaining funding for its operations, particular projects, and capacity-building efforts. The client and I discuss these opportunities, and then develop a plan and schedule for cultivating institutional funders and submitting requests for grant support.
Narrative Documents
I draft these documents, as required by specific funders or appropriate to the circumstances, for use in cultivating institutional funders; requesting general operating, institutional capacity building, or specific project grant funding; complying with the terms of grant agreements; and enhancing relationships with funder contacts:
• Letters of inquiry/intent
• Concept papers
• Executive summaries
• Proposals
• Cover letters
• Formal interim and final reports
• Informal update letters
• Any other documents requested by funders
Financial Documents
Some funders require that operating, project, and capital budget and financial reporting information be presented in specific formats. Others welcome this information in formats chosen by applicants. For funders that do not specify format, I compile clients’ financial information in spreadsheets that simply and accurately present budgeted and actual expenses and income in a format that allows funders to quickly identify what they need and want to see, without unnecessary detail that adds to their review time and distracts their attention from a proposal’s substance.
Review of Material Produced In-house
If a client prefers to draft material for a particular funder itself, either through staff or volunteer effort, I sometimes review that material and suggest how it might more closely address that funder’s requirements and interests. A fresh look by someone not intimately involved in the development of a project or program can help tailor a submission to an audience that is not familiar with the subject.
Briefings for Funder Site Visits and Other Meetings
I prepare briefing materials (including cases for support) for clients preparing for meetings with prospective and current funders, outlining key objectives, talking points, and information on funders.
Grants Management
Upon request, I ensure that clients are complying with the terms of a grant agreement by monitoring completion of required activities and preparing interim and final narrative and financial reports. I also assist with “after the grant” funder stewardship by drafting informal written updates and prompting them stay in touch with funders by telephone and email.
Interim Staffing
Grant-seeking organizations that normally have access to in-house grant writing expertise occasionally find themselves temporarily without those services due to staffing changes or sabbaticals, with funders’ deadlines bearing down on them. I offer interim staffing services to organizations in these circumstances, and can do as little as preparing a single proposal or grant report or as much as stepping in as an independent contractor to fill a staff position for a finite time.
I know from personal experience how difficult it can be for a nonprofit to operate in the absence of a key development staffer. I also know how important it is for an interim replacement to ask the right questions immediately and to operate efficiently, to reduce the stress on employees giving them the information they need to do the work. My availability to provide this service at any given time depends on my current workload with existing clients.