How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Grant Writer? What to Expect

When you need something done that you don’t have the time or expertise to do, you call on a professional.

Sure, you could take the time to patch together a fix to the leaking pipes in your house instead of hiring a plumber. This might save you some money, but you’ll have spent valuable time making the repairs (which might not even work in the long run, so you’ll face the same problem again soon). 🪠😩

For nonprofits, hiring a professional grant writer falls into this same category of valuable investments in professional expertise.

Bringing in a professional grant writer saves you time and often dramatically increases your chances of winning funding. Plus, for many nonprofits, professional help means they now have the capacity to apply for grants they would have otherwise passed up completely.

⭐ Understanding how to pay a grant writer and their average fees will set you up for more productive partnerships and successful grant proposals.

However, the process can definitely be confusing to newcomers, so you probably have a few questions. This guide will cover them all, plus our takes and recommendations from years of writing and winning grants. Here’s what we’ll answer:

• How much does it cost to hire a grant writer?
• How are grant writers typically paid?
• Can I pay a grant writer on commission?
• The no-no’s of paying a grant writer
• What’s included in the cost of a grant writer?
• How do you know you found a good grant writer?

How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Grant Writer?

Let’s answer your biggest question first: How much will you need to pay to hire a grant writer to help your organization apply for funding opportunities?

The cost of professional grant writing services varies from writer to writer and based on your needs. We’ll discuss all the nuances that can impact costs below.

Here are the ballpark estimates we use here in the Global Grant Writing Collective:

For reference, relatively straightforward foundation grants can take around 20-40 hours of work from a grant writer, while heavy-duty federal grants can take upwards of 60 hours (at least).

Another helpful point of comparison for your organization may be the typical cost of hiring a full-time grant writer. In-house nonprofit grant writers today make an average base salary of around $63,000/year. Many nonprofits build relationships with freelance grant writers that turn into formal employment down the line once they’ve built a strong funding pipeline together.

Check out our video walkthrough for a closer look at these ballpark figures and how we think about grant writing pricing:

🦄 Our Take: Going with the Cheapest Option Often Isn’t Worth It.

Note the pricing tiers above: “Affordable/Fair” and “Premium.”

We don’t recommend using grant writing services that market themselves as economy options or especially cheap.

As with any professional service, you ultimately get what you pay for. Plus, as we’ll see below, high-quality grant writing services bring you so much more value than just the proposals themselves.

If you can’t afford to hire a grant writer right now, we strongly believe that investing in grant writing training for yourself or your team will be a much better long-term choice. There are tons of accessible training options, and we’ve got a free course to get you started, too. Minimize risk and build long-term value by building your skills at your own pace!

Free Grant Writing Trainings

These how-to videos offer a smattering of webinar replays from our online grant writing training and feature topics such as working remotely, project management, fundraising, and how to utilize the Freedom of Information Act for federal funding.

Access Free Trainings

How Are Grant Writers Typically Paid?

Ok, so you know roughly what costs to expect from hiring a grant writer for projects of different sizes. How do you actually pay them? What fee structures do they use, and why?

Grant writers are typically paid at an hourly rate for their work or with a flat fee for an entire project.

You may encounter a few common variations on the flat fee structure:

• You pay 50% of the fee upfront and 50% upon completion of the project
• Grant writers send monthly invoices for the percentage of work completed on the agreed project, allowing you to pay as you go.
• You pay the entire cost upon project completion.

Grant writing consultants may prefer one of these models, or you may have the flexibility to choose the right structure that meets both your needs.

🤔 Wait, Can I Pay a Grant Writer on Commission?

You might wonder if you can pay a freelance grant writer on commission or from the grant itself. This is a common question, so you’re not alone.

The short answer is no, you cannot.

This was common practice in the past, but it’s fallen out of favor.

🚫 The No-No’s of Paying a Grant Writer

Building grant writing fees into the proposal, paying a writer a percentage of the funding won, or any other version of a commission-based pay structure is a no-no. Why?

First, professional grant writing associations have unanimously deemed this practice unethical. It is not only unfair to the grant writer, but it can actually get your organization in deep trouble with your funders.

Whether from a government office or a family foundation, grants are meant to fund future expenses as outlined in your grant budget, not past expenses. Since grant writing takes place months before a grant award, this expense is not allowable.

If funders see that you’ve paid a grant writer using awarded funds, you could be required to pay back all awarded funds and possibly penalties and interest. After all, a grant proposal is effectively a contract with the funder that your organization will do what is laid out in it.

Straightforward, upfront fee structures that compensate grant writers before funders make award decisions are safer, more ethical, and help your organization build a better reputation.

🦄 Our Take: Flat Fees Are Your Best Option.

So, commission-based fees are out of the picture. Between hourly rates and flat fees for grant writing services, which is better? We’d argue that flat fees are your best choice.

Hourly rates for grant writing can lead to unpredictable total costs. A grant proposal can easily take longer than first estimated—these projects have many moving pieces, after all. Overages can lead to conflicts and budget issues, and while this doesn’t happen every time, it’s something to be aware of.

Flat fees give everyone clearer shared expectations from the start.

In the Global Grant Writers Collective, we teach grant writers to bill monthly by the percentage of work completed on the project. For nonprofits, this means they agree on a fixed fee upfront and then receive invoices as work is completed, paying as they go. We’ve found this structure to strike the right balance of predictable, fair, and easy for both nonprofits and grant writers.

What’s Included in the Cost of a Grant Writer?

Grant writers can help your organization develop a full range of grant materials, including:

• Letters of intent
• Grant proposals for opportunities at all scales and for different types of funders
• More thorough proposals and plans for complex federal grant applications
• Funding Strategies, 12-month roadmaps of the best grants to pursue that yield the highest likelihood of success

Professional grant writers may offer broad services or specialize in one particular field like federal grant seeking. We also mentioned above that support from a grant writer gives your organization much more than just a written proposal. Within the scope of grant seeking, a grant writer also brings these skills and resources to support your project:

• Grant and background research
• Project management
• Communication with funders, researchers, and/or internal team members
• Budget development
• Programmatic design
• Additional consultation to support other grant-specific needs

Remember that hiring a grant writer should also give you this full package of support. Not only will this save your team throughout the entire grant seeking process, but their services can also offer your team valuable lessons to carry forward on your own.

🦄 Our Take: Grant Writing Services are an Investment.

What if you pay a grant writer to research and write a proposal for you, but you ultimately don’t win the funding? Was the investment lost?

We don’t think so, and we’ve seen firsthand how an investment in expertise pays off over the long term.

Grant writers bring expertise that can pay dividends down the line—in won grants, knowledge, relationships with funders, and more.

For example, even if you don’t win a grant that a writer helped you apply for, that investment can (and often does) still generate value. Remember that in many sectors, funding cycles are long. You might apply one year and miss a grant, then apply and win the next year by making quick updates to the same proposal.

That’s not even mentioning how a stellar grant writer can demonstrate best practices and workflows that level up your organization’s skills. Plus, if you hire a grant writer to develop a Funding Strategy for you, you’ll have a tailor-made funding playbook for the next year, saving you immense amounts of time and stress later.

This long-term value is why you shouldn’t necessarily go with the cheapest options available or try to use pay structures that complicate a grant writer’s incentives. For instance, trying to pay a busy grant writer based on a percentage of awarded funds for a small grant likely won’t give either of you the best experience.

Again, if you’re unsure whether you can afford professional grant writing services, you can focus instead on building your capacity and skills. Build relationships with local funders. Get some training under your belt. Grant writing courses are often a wise investment for small shops, but this tip applies across the board—anyone can benefit from becoming a savvier grant seeker.

Free Grant Writing Trainings

These how-to videos offer a smattering of webinar replays from our online grant writing training and feature topics such as working remotely, project management, fundraising, and how to utilize the Freedom of Information Act for federal funding.

Access Free Trainings

How Do You Know You Found a Good Grant Writer?

So, hiring a grant writer is an investment—but it might still feel like a gamble.

You know you can’t sit down in a Las Vegas casino and ask the poker dealer if she will let you pay up from your (imagined) future winnings. You have to put up some money to get a seat at the table and the chance to win a whole lot more.

In other words, your buy-in gets you the opportunity to play the game and offers the possibility of winning more money.

Hiring a grant writer secures a professional with the skills and experience to develop a high-quality proposal that increases your odds of winning (and takes the heavy lifting off your plate).

Still, just like your poker buy-in, hiring a grant writer doesn’t guarantee a win. A lot of factors are out of your and your grant writer’s control. However, you can give yourself the best odds by choosing the right partner in the first place.

These qualities are all positives to look out for:

• Professional training and/or certification
• A positive win rate and track record (with caveats—see below)
• Positive reviews from past clients
• Ethical fee structures that create shared expectations
• Any specializations you need, like in a particular sector or for federal grants
• Word of mouth or personal recommendations from peers who’ve hired them
• All the other qualities that bring additional value to the grant writing process (strong communication, project management skills, etc.)

Of course, not every grant writer will display all of these qualities, and that’s fine. Those just starting their careers may not have many reviews but can still wow with their skills and results.

To learn more about the full process of hiring a grant writer and a closer look at these qualities, check out our complete guide: How To Hire a Grant Writer.

🦄 Our Take: Understand the Nuances of Grant Writing Win Rates.

Time for the caveats.

For better or worse, a grant writer’s win rate or track record is often the first thing prospective clients ask about. Makes sense—even knowing that a proposal doesn’t guarantee a win, you want to have reasonable confidence that you’ll stand a strong chance.

However, understand that win rates are nuanced. Distilling a grant writer’s track record into a single number can obscure, distort, or oversimplify things. That number may give you an inaccurate picture of the grant writer’s abilities and worth.

For example, remember that many of the reasons behind award decisions are out of your and your grant writer’s control. For example:

• A grant writer may research and develop a knockout proposal for a nonprofit. If they lose the grant, it could be because the proposal fell flat. But it could just as easily be because the funder had different priorities, the competition was extremely fierce, or other applicants already had relationships with the funder. This would be a loss in the writer’s track record even if the organization had a great experience or went on to repurpose the proposal and win later.
• On the other hand, a grant writer may encourage their clients to apply for the same small or easy grants year after year. These wins could contribute to an impressive track record, but if you’re going after bigger fish, you could be misled into thinking this writer will definitely help you transform your nonprofit with game-changing funding.

⭐ When evaluating potential grant writers, get more context than just their win rates. Learn the context and specific stories that go into it. Talk to their past clients, see examples of their work, and learn more about their specializations and relationships with funders.

We Can Connect You with Hundreds of Certified Grant Writers

We’re all about helping folks make a positive impact in their community. We can connect you with a talented and certified grant writer from our pool of expert-trained professionals. Review the process and look for a grant writer who fits your goals.

Why does the Global Grant Writing Collective stand out? Our grant writing process starts with plenty of research and developing a savvy Funding Strategy for clients.

Our certified grant writers can offer you a roadmap of the top grants that your organization has the best chances of winning if pursued over the next 12-18 months. With a custom Funding Strategy, you’ll automatically increase your return on investment from hiring one of our community members.

From there, our grant writing unicorns provide each client with personalized, professional, and superior service from start to funded. As part of a professional community, they also have access to a wide network of resources and other grant writing pros to collaborate with.

Learn more about our process here. Submit your request for a grant writer today and take one step closer to winning funding. If you have any questions, please email us at info@senworks.org.

Want to learn more about grant writing best practices? Check out our blog or these recommended resources:

• How to Write a Grant Proposal: 7-Step System & Bonus Tips
• Grant Writing Tips for Nonprofits: 10 Ways to Start Strong
• Best AI Grant Writing Tools: 15+ Top Resources & Our Take
• 7 Superpowers of a Potential Grant Writer: How to Know Grant Writing Is for You