Grant Writing

[George Wilkerson <George_Wilkerson -at- PC -dot- RADIAN -dot- COM>]

There's a couple of things we probably should point out to everyone with regard
to this subject area. My apologies if you know it already.

Grant writing is generally the term used for writing proposals for non-profit or
not-for-profit groups. They're usually written to respond to a set of guidelines
(as opposed to an RFP) published by a foundation or government fonding source
like the Department of Education.

Proposal writing is generally done for commercial outfits in response to an RFP
or TOR.

I've done both and my experience is that the former requires more writing "from
scratch" than the latter. In my current job as a proposal writer, I actually
spend more time planning, coordinating, collecting information, making writing
assignments (to scientists and engineers), producing schedules, researching,
culling resumes and past project information, lining up graphics, printing, and
binding, and performing a variety of other tasks necessary to get the proposal
to the point where it's ready to be shipped to the client. In this respect,
"writer" is a poor term. At best, I organize, edit, and smooth what others
produce.

So...what to charge? In addition to everything else others have mentioned,
location matters too. Here in Austin Texas, $50 an hour is high for someone
doing this kind of work. (Of course, if they come in from out of town they can
get $100.) But in Houston $45-50 is not unusual.

And you have to figure your overhead--at least another 35% for a contractor who
has to pay his or her own medical insurance, taxes, etc. etc.

For a commerical client I'd have no qualms about taking a percentage. But for a
non- or not-for-profit agency, I'd be willing to work something out that was in
line with their circumstances and needs.