● FOR NONPROFITS WITH $1M-$5M BUDGETS
Stop writing grants
at 9pm on a Sunday.
We run the grant pipeline for Executive Directors who can’t justify a $95K full-time hire — but can’t afford to leave six figures on the table either. Research, writing, reporting, renewals. Done properly, on deadline.
No pitch deck. No hard sell. If we’re not a fit, we’ll tell you in the first 10 minutes.
FROM THE DESK OF OUR CLIENTS
“We really believe in what you are doing, and appreciate the support.
Keep up the great work!”
*Received a $25,000 grant after only 2 applications written in month one. (And this is a recurring funder!)
*Built their grant strategy from scratch.
Vice President, Global Field Operations
Christian Education, International
$1.5M Budget
“Great news, Heritage Foundation for $15k arrived the other day. Thank you for your work!”
*Received a $15,000 grant after only 2 applications written in month one!
*Built their grant strategy from scratch.
Executive Director
Education, Youth Development
$1.25M Budget
*Found over $400,000 in grant funding capacity that Peggy Adams (one of the largest animal shelters in the country) were missing.
Development Director
Animal Welfare
$15M Budget
The Situation
You’re running an organization, not a grants department.
Between board reporting, staff management, program delivery, and PR — grant writing is what gets pushed to nights, weekends, or a program manager who was never trained to do it.
You already know what’s happening. Deadlines slip. Proposals go out generic. Prospect research is a browser tab you keep meaning to open. And every quarter you can name at least one funder you didn’t have time to properly pursue.
A full-time grant writer costs $70K–$110K loaded. That’s not a hire most boards will approve for a single function. So the work stays on your plate, or it doesn’t get done. We’re the third option.
THREE WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER
Start where you actually are.
Most EDs enter through Prospect Research or move straight to the Retainer. We’ll tell you honestly which one fits — not the most expensive one.
Foundation
Pathway to Provision Package
One-time engagement
The infrastructure funders expect before they’ll say yes. Case for support, program budgets, logic models, boilerplate library, and a categorized funder shortlist. Built once, reused for every future application.
Best for organizations under $1M, or established orgs whose materials haven’t been rebuilt in 3+ years.
Intelligence
Prospect Research
Per-project or quarterly
Stop guessing which funders fit. We deliver a ranked, vetted pipeline with giving history, alignment notes, deadlines, contact intelligence, and warm-intro paths. Framed as risk mitigation, not more homework.
Best when your team is spending hours on Candid and still applying to funders who don’t actually fund your program area.
Ongoing
Most Requested
Stewardship Retainer
Monthly ● From $ 2,500
The one most Executive Directors actually want. We become an extension of your team and run the pipeline end-to-end — research, writing, submission, reporting, renewals. You approve. We handle everything else.
Best for grant-active organizations with $1.5M+ budgets who are already leaving money on the table because there’s no one to catch it.
The math your board will ask about
Retainer vs. hire vs. leaving it to chance.
We built this table because it’s the exact question every ED has to answer before they can sign anything. Bring it to your finance committee.
| Full-Time Hire | Our Retainer | Keep DIY-ing it! | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loaded Annual Cost | $75,000 | $30,000 | $0* |
| Annual Submissions | 24-32 | 24-36 | 12-16 |
| Prospect Research | Included | Included | On your team |
| Ramp Time | 3-6 months | 2-4 weeks | n/a |
| Renewal Management | Yes | Yes | Maybe |
| Fixed Overhead | Salary + Benefits + PTO | Cancel within 30 days | Your weekend! |
*Direct cost. Real cost is the 20–30% of revenue peer orgs lose when a single grant doesn’t renew because no one was watching the pipeline.
HOW WE WORK
Our Process, Your Peace.
01
Fit call
30 minutes. We ask about your programs, current funding mix, and the two or three funders you’re most worried about losing. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll say so and refer you elsewhere.
02
Diagnostic
Two weeks. We audit your existing materials, funder history, and pipeline. You get a written assessment — usable even if you don’t move forward with us.
03
Onboarding
One week. We embed with your team, sync calendars, and take over the funder tracker. Your ED is out of the day-to-day work by week three.
04
In Motion
You get monthly reporting on submissions, awards, denials with feedback, and upcoming deadlines. Your board sees a professional grants function without a new hire.
QUESTIONS WE GET
Straight answers, no throat-clearing.
How is this different from hiring a freelance grant writer on Upwork?
Freelance writers write. We run the function. That means prospect research, deadline management, reporting, renewals, funder communication, and pipeline strategy — not just drafting when you send them a link. Nothing against freelance writers; they’re just solving a different problem.
Will you understand our mission well enough to write in our voice?
Yes — and if we can’t, we tell you on the fit call and don’t take the engagement. Onboarding includes a voice audit, stakeholder interviews, and two weeks of shadowing your team before we submit anything under your name.
What’s the minimum retainer commitment?
Six months. It takes 60–90 days to build a working pipeline; anything shorter isn’t fair to either of us. Month-to-month after that, cancel with 30 days notice.
We’re pre-grants. Can you still help?
The Grant Readiness Package exists for exactly this. We won’t put you on retainer until your infrastructure is ready — you’d be paying us to submit proposals that get rejected.
Do you take a percentage of grants awarded?
No. Contingent grant fees violate AFP ethics standards and most funder policies. We charge flat retainers so our incentive stays aligned with your long-term pipeline, not a single big swing.
How do you report to our board?
Monthly written report and a quarterly call with your board chair or development committee. Everything is documented — submissions, awards, denials with feedback, projected pipeline value.
Book a 30-minute fit call.
No slide deck. No sales sequence. We’ll ask about your programs, your current funding mix, and the deadlines keeping you up at night. If we’re not a fit, we’ll say so in the first ten minutes and point you to someone who is.
+ No contingency fees
+ AFP-aligned ethics
+ Cancel with 30 days notice
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