Freelance writing, like playing in the NFL, allows a few superstars to grow famously, fabulously wealthy. Many others, good writers, make a decent living through perseverance. Diversifying can make you a winner, and grant proposal writing is a gold mine. Does your talent translate to proposal writing? Absolutely.
Start Small
Take a class. Your self-confidence will soar. The Foundation Center has classes in various cities, and free resources like a tutorial you can breeze through in an hour. Click learning lab link. Bookmark their free database (click “finding funders” in the navigation bar, top of the page). Visit the tutorial. Browse books like, Demystifying Grant Seeking by Larissa Golden Brown and Martin John Brown. The Browns are thorough and easy to follow.
Volunteer to Build a Sample File
Volunteer to write a proposal for a preschool, park district or church. Visit a not-for-profit. Talk with the resource development expert. Level with them. If you’ve never written a proposal, say so, but point out you’re an experienced, skilled writer - volunteering your services. When you hook an assignment, reel it in with your finest writing. You may create a future filled with assignments.
Before you write, interview the organization’s people. Get a handle on their vision and goals. What’s the project they want funded? What’s the timeline? What will be the outcome? How much money is needed?
How Do You Write Grants?
It’s like doing an in-depth story about someone. What would readers want to know? The subject’s background? Where she’s headed? Construct your proposal like this: Define a problem needing attention, how will grant money solve it, tell the organization’s story to prove they’ll use the money for solutions.
Finding a donor is a lot like finding a writer's market. Search online (Guidestar has a free database), check funding magazines and directories at the library.
Study prospective foundations. Call to see if your project fits the funder’s goals, then request grant guidelines. See? It's like writing for an editor. Foundation decision makers are also inundated with tons of submissions. Write honestly and factually – if you can’t show them the vision and persuade them that you will succeed, you’re unlikely to get money. Write well, submit your proposal on time and follow-up.
Now Line up More Work
Track down other non-profits in the phonebook, checking headings like service organizations or shelters. Your prospects will include hospitals, homeless shelters, daycares, domestic violence shelters, and associations for disabled people. Every community has non-profit agencies. Then:
- Compose a query.
- Polish it and address it to the agency’s executive director. List writing credits. Sell yourself the way you do each time you draft a query to any market.
- Follow with a phone call in ten days. If you don't follow up, you won’t get the job. A nice opening - give the director a clue that you know something about her organization.
- You might make an appointment to have coffee or lunch with her (you’ll pick up the tab). You won’t get a commitment with dessert, she has to get approval from a board of directors. But if the director likes you, you’re in.
- You’ll need to talk about money (pay for your services). It's acceptable in some circles to pay a grant writer a percentage of funding she secures, but the American Association of Fund Raising Professionals thinks that’s a no-no. Hourly or per grant is best.
- Write a contract spelling out exactly what you'll do, your rate, and what expenses your customer may need to pay (like postage, copying costs) . It’s easier to spend time seeing to details upfront than it is to mop up misunderstandings later.
- When the job is completed, ask for a written recommendation from your customer. via the board of directors or executive director. That's a magnet for new customers.
Now you can supplement your freelance writing income with steady work from non-profits. Build lasting relationships and the assignments will lead to more.
