Grant writing is a complex process and if you are not familiar with the field then your organization should contract with a professional grant writer. However, you must be able to pay the grant writer. If your organization has limited funds, ask your grant writer about payment installment plans.
Some organizations ask, “Why should we pay the grant writer if we didn’t get the grant?” Answer: To answer your questions, proposals succeed or fail for a number of reasons, most of which are out of the grant writer’s control.
Why should we pay the grant writer before we receive the grant writer’s services?
Answer: You must also pay the grant writer for their time and labor.
Your organization is not allowed to pay your grant writer strictly commission. You must pay your grant writer for their labor and only an administrative fee from the awarded funding if listed in the budget. Some funders do not allow organizations to include an administrative fee for the grant writer. If the funders do allow administration fees then your grant writer is only allowed to charge 15% to 20% of the awarded grant, again only if listed in the budget that you submitted to the funders.
So let us discuss the top 3 reasons to seek grant funding for your nonprofit organization:
There is a lot of money out for grant seekers
According to charitynavigator.org, during the year of 2014, the total giving was more than $358 billion. If you are not applying for grants for your organization then you are leaving money on the table and other organizations are reaping the benefits.
Grants funding exists for several kinds of nonprofits
New nonprofits are even eligible for grant money. The most popular type of grant for new nonprofits is seed money. Many funders provide grant monies for exclusively local nonprofits; therefore you want to start seeking grant funders in your area. All you have to do is conduct your own research and or hire a grant writer to do the research for you and connect with the right funders.
Your organization can fund any kind of need
Project-specific funding is the most common. There are grants that provide funding for new organizations, operational costs, and endowment funding, etc.
Before seeking grant funding, be sure to have a business plan and mission statement for your organization. More than likely, grant funders will want to know about your business and why they should provide funding for your organization.