Grant writing and administration for small organizations
If your organization hasn't worked with me before, I'll write your first grant application free.
I do the preparing. Your team reviews, signs and submits. Everything runs by email and shared documents, which is what keeps the prices low.
Your first application, free
Everything a paid application includes, at no cost. It's how I'd rather start: showing you the work instead of describing it.
- Fit check, intake, narrative, budget and two revision rounds
- Final draft five business days before the deadline
- You submit it from your own account. If it isn't awarded, you owe nothing
Grant writing
Flat fee by application type, agreed by email before I start. The same whether or not the grant is awarded, and never a percentage.
Grant administration
After an award: the calendar, monthly budget tracking, and every report and drawdown drafted for you to sign. Usually paid from the award.
Ongoing services
A website kept current, a monthly grant watch, a giving page, a newsletter, Google Ad Grants and a volunteer portal. From $25 a month.
Desk work only. You keep the relationships.
Funders expect to hear from your own leaders, so the relationship work stays with you. I do the paperwork side. Here is how it divides.
SGSeth, from the desk
- Funder research and the fit check
- The narrative, budget and budget narrative
- After an award: calendar, tracking, every report and drawdown drafted
- Talking points before a funder call, and draft emails for you to send
- An organized file, ready for any funder visit
YouYour organization
- Funder calls, meetings and site visits
- Donor conversations and letters of support from partners
- Any public hearing a funder requires
- Review, sign and submit everything, from your own account
- Your own books, your program, and the judgment calls
Who it's for: small nonprofits with budgets of roughly $150K to $3M, and small businesses going after programs like ETP, SBIR and STTR or USDA rural business grants. I'm in Humboldt County, California, and work by email anywhere.
From first email to submission
The same path for a free first application and a paid one. Gold is your step, green is mine.
YouSethBoth
- YouEmail a few sentencesThe grant you have, or the one you're hoping for.
- SethFit checkIs this grant worth your time? A plain yes or no, and why.
- YouIntake formThe facts only you have: program numbers, staff, history.
- SethNarrative and budgetFull narrative, budget and budget narrative, short answers.
- BothTwo revision roundsYou mark it up, I rework it. Twice, included.
- SethFinal draft, 5 business days earlyWhen the intake arrived on time.
- YouReview, sign, submitFrom your own account. Then forward me the confirmation.
After the first: flat fees by type
The fee follows the work a funder's format demands, not the size of the check. We agree it by email before I start, and it is the same whether or not the grant is awarded. The bar shows how each fee compares.
Foundation grants
- Letter of inquiry or short form$450
- Ask under $25K$950
- Ask $25K to $100K$1,850
- Ask over $100K$2,900
Government grants
- City, county or state application$2,750
- Federal, form-based$950
- Federal, full narrative$4,500
Also
- Your first application, any typeFree
- Resubmission or renewal of an application I wroteHalf the fee
- Funder research report, up to 15 funders that fit $395
Half when the application is agreed by email, half when the final draft is delivered. A research report is paid on delivery. Each application includes the fit check, intake form, full narrative and budget narrative, two revision rounds, and a final draft five business days before the deadline when the intake is on time.
No fee ever depends on winning. The fee is set before work starts and is owed whether or not the grant is awarded. I never take a percentage of an award.
Grant administration
Winning a grant is one job. Keeping it is another. I do that desk work: award setup, a calendar of every report and payment date with reminders at least 14 days ahead, monthly budget-to-actual and match tracking, every financial and progress report and drawdown request drafted, and closeout. You sign and submit, keep your own books, run the program and talk to the funder.
When it's required. Only when the application asked for $25,000 or more and the funder allows administrative costs, with a line for the fee in the approved budget.
Otherwise it's optional. After the award, we both answer "agreed" to one email, or we don't. Choosing not to costs nothing.
By award size
- Under $25,000Hourly
- $25,000 to under $50,000, two or fewer reports a year$1,500 a year
- $50,000 to $150,000$175 a month
- Over $150,000 to $500,000$275 a month
- Over $500,000$400 a month
Added to the above
- Setup, once per award, for the monthly plans$500
- Federal funds, direct or passed through a state or county+$150 a month
- Reports only, no tracking$350 a report
Hourly is $85 an hour, capped at the hours you approve. An award under $50,000 with more than two reports a year takes the $50,000 to $150,000 rate. Either of us can end by email, and you get every record, calendar and draft in a usable format.
What administration covers, what stays with you, and how a month works
Ongoing services
Six things a small organization needs done and rarely has anyone to do. Each is a checkbox on the agreement, lives in your own accounts, and can be added or dropped by email.
Website work
$250 setup (includes 1 hour), then hourly
Text and photo updates, new pages from your existing layouts, event and donate-button changes.
Grant Watch and Filing Calendar
$300 a year
A monthly email of open grants that fit you, plus reminders 30 and 7 days before each state and federal filing.
Online giving page
$350 one time
A donation page on a free platform in your own account, with monthly giving, a donate button and automatic receipts.
Monthly newsletter
$150 a month
One email newsletter a month from your own account. You send a few lines and photos; nothing sends without your approval.
Google Ad Grants
Free eligibility check; $600 setup only if approved; $250 a month
Up to $10,000 a month in free Google search ads for eligible 501(c)(3)s, set up and kept inside Google's rules.
Volunteer portal
$900 setup; $25 a month care
Sign-up, online waiver, background-check requests, welcome email and shift scheduling on your own domain. Try the demo.
Bundle discounts
Two ongoing services from Grant Watch, the newsletter, Ad Grants and the volunteer portal. Three or more: 15% off all of them.
The online giving page at half price with the newsletter or Ad Grants.
Ad Grants setup at half price with website work. One-time setup fees are not otherwise discounted.
Questions
Is the administration fee really allowable?
Usually, as its own budget line or through your indirect rate, and the cleanest way is to include it when you apply. You and your funder decide. More on the administration page.
Do you submit anything for us?
No, never. I prepare the documents. Someone at your organization reviews, signs and submits them, then sends me the funder's confirmation so I can mark it done.
Do you take a percentage of the award?
No. Flat fees only, set before work starts, and nothing else.
What do you charge by the hour?
$85 an hour, with a half-hour minimum per piece of work and 15-minute increments after that. I quote it in writing first, and nothing is owed without your email approval.
Are calls and meetings included?
Calls and meetings with me, by phone, video or in person, are hourly with a half-hour minimum, approved by booking or by agreeing by email. The intro call before we start working together is free.
How are we billed?
One-time fees when the work is done. Monthly fees and hourly work in arrears, with hours listed by task. Yearly fees in advance on the start date and each anniversary. Invoices are due in 15 days by check or bank transfer. I work as a 1099 independent contractor and supply a W-9.
How do we stop?
Either of us can end by email. On ending you get every record, calendar and draft in a format you can use. Your records and results stay confidential, and I use your name as a reference only with written permission.
Let's talk
Tell me about the grant you have, or the one you're hoping for. A few sentences is plenty, and I'll write back.
Seth