Grant Writing 101 Part One

Researching and writing grant applications for not-for-profit organizations is an area ripe for freelance work, but many writers shy away from it because they think it calls more social architectural skills than writing skills. To some extent, that is true. A grant application has to be able to clearly define the issue or need to be addressed, the target population to be served, and the efficacy of the proposed program to meet the need and serve the client population. However, frankly speaking, this isn’t rocket science. Generally, it entails harvesting information from readily available demographic data compiled by other organizations such as private foundations or local/state governments. Most often, the not-for-profit agency will have done much of this work. How else will they have made the decision to design a program and seek funding for it, if they haven’t determined the existence and extent of the problem to be addressed?

What a writer does need to bring to the project when writing a grant application are the same skills needed for almost any other writing job. You need to be able to write in clear, concise language, always in the positive and never the passive voice, and you need to be able to organize information so that it is readily understood and accessible. It’s really not so different from writing an article on politics, current events,or almost any other subject. However, these two abilities are especially important in writing a grant application, because the reader – the grant reviewer – may be reading dozens of applications in the initial step of the competitive process. The easier you can make it for the reviewer to understand the information you present and follow your train of thought to its conclusion in what is often a quick and cursory reading, the more likely it is that your application will make it through to the next level of consideration.

According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, as of 2008 there were 974,337 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charitable organizations in the United States. Many of these are large organizations, with budgets sizable enough to allow them to keep a Development Director and/or Grant Writers on staff. However, there are many good sized organizations who handle most their grant work in house, but still contract out work when an opportunity arises that is beyond their internal capacity to take on. As an example, I have worked on several projects for a local organization, which has a million dollar plus annual budget. They could afford a staff grant writer, but they prefer to put their money into client services. As a result, the Executive Director handles the annual applications to their regular funding sources, and they contact out work as opportunities for new funding come up.

Of course, in addition to these large and midsized not-for-profits, there are a myriad of small ones, with new ones incorporating all the time. Their fields of interest range from low-come housing or food programs for the homeless to youth sports activities to promotion of the arts, and everything in between. The particular service area doesn’t have to be of personal interest to you, but it doesn’t hurt, and there are plenty to choose from. As in any type of freelance writing, the more adaptable you are, the more work will come your way.

So how do you find freelance grant writing jobs? It is my experience that most not-for-profit organizations are not yet in the habit of posting jobs on freelance writing job sites. There are a few such sites, such as PostsandBids.com, which actively solicit grant writing jobs from not-for-profit organizations, and it is hoped that in the future such sites will become a more common vehicle to connect employers and freelancers in this field. In the meantime, while I have on occasion found jobs listed on Craig’s List, it is for the most part a matter of identifying not-for-profit organizations in your local or regional area and sending or emailing them a resume and writing samples. A local Volunteer Center or United Way is a good source for lists of local organizations. If you have little or no experience, you can offer to do a small job or two for a minimum fee just to build up your credentials.

As a final note, never accept a job where payment is contingent on the grant application being funded. First, in many cases, this is illegal, or at least highly unethical. No funding source that I have ever heard of is willing to pay for any expense incurred prior to the funding of the grant, and that includes grant writing expenses. To try and find a way to do so is simply fraud. Second, the grant application process is competitive and often highly political, and no matter how well written a proposal is, the outcome is never certain. To make payment contingent on successful funding is unreasonable and unprofessional. If you do the work as a professional, the organization must be professional and pay you the compensation you are entitled to.

Patrick is a 20 year veteran of the freelancing industry, specializing in grants, fund-raising and writing.

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