How To Find A High Quality Grant Writer | Increase Your Chances Of Getting Free Startup Funding!

If you have a startup, a business, or a nonprofit that needs grant funding but you have no idea where to start, then hiring a grant writer is a great solution. Onboarding a really skilled grant writer can help you improve your chances of getting that funding, and that's so important, especially how competitive these grants can be. But finding a good grant writer can be a really hard undertaking. But don't worry, because in this video I'm going to break down how you can find a high-quality grant writer. Here we're going to go over how to find them, how to vet them, how to work with them, and how to pay them so that you can increase your chances for grant award. Hi everyone, welcome back to the channel. I'm Stacy Chin from keepyourequity.co, and our mission is to help startup founders just like you secure non-dilutive funding so that we can get your innovative ideas to the commercial market. And we specialize in helping science and tech startups to secure non-dilutive funding from programs called the SBIR and STTR. If you're interested in learning more about these programs, I'll leave a link to another video in the description. If you haven't done so, please like this video and subscribe to this channel so you won't miss out on any tips and tricks I have to share with you about how you secure non-dilutive funding. And also, don't forget to check out our website at keepyourequity.co where you find lots of other tips, resources, and advice of how you can secure non-dilutive funding. So if you need grant funding for your startup, your business, or a nonprofit, a common strategy is to find a grant writer. And although there are hundreds and thousands of grant writers out there, it's actually quite challenging to find a high-quality grant writer with plenty of experience and a really strong track record. But before we jump into it, let's first go over what a grant writer actually does. You might be thinking, well, they write grants, duh. Yeah, you're correct. Grant writers do write grants. But if you use grant writers effectively, they can actually add so much more value to your company or your startup than you think. Now, depending on what type of grant you're going after, a high-quality grant writer can also consult on your business strategy, your go-to-market goals, and proposed research and development efforts. Really good grant writers can and should advise you what milestones you need to hit in the short term so that you can be better aligned to your long-term objectives. So as an example, with my technical background as a PhD scientist, I found that this training was so helpful for me to advise my SBIR clients on what they should propose in their research and development strategies within their SBIR applications. And as a former startup founder myself, I found that my experiences in the business and startup world has been tremendously helpful to help my clients with a technical background be aligned to what their business goals should be according to their R&D efforts. Many startup founders that has pursued SBIR funding has told me how incredibly helpful it was to work with a really experienced grant writer because this actually helped to accelerate their business. Although working with a good grant writer can help them to improve their chances of securing SBIR funding, but they can also review other commercial or technical gaps within their business plan that they may not have realized before. And another reason why you want to find a really good grant writer is because they can actually give you well-written content that you can reuse for marketing, pitching, investor decks, white papers, and so and so much more. In fact, we have many clients that has taken SBIR proposals and reviews the content to draft white papers and vice versa as well. And this is because a really good grant writer should be able to articulate your ideas and structure a really compelling story that is clear, concise, and persuasive to motivate an audience, customers, reviewers, or investors why your idea should be taken seriously. And this skill set is incredibly valuable, especially for science and tech startups where you have to break down really complex, dense, technical ideas into a storyline that can be understood by many others. Although grant writing is a skill to be learned, there is a subtle art that goes along with it. So those who are really skilled in grant writing knows how to balance both the skill and art of grant writing to best present your company and ideas on paper. And for all those reasons, it is definitely worth the investment to find a high-quality grant writer. Since they can position your startup, business, or nonprofit for the best chances of success for your short and long-term goals. I know you're begging me to answer the question, "How much does a grant writer cost and where can I find them?" And the good news for you is that there are so many ways to find grant writers, and they come in all different price points. But before reaching out to them, you'll first want to figure out what types of grants you want to pursue, because there are many different grant writers that have different specialties. For example, for-profit grant writers may not be the best fit for companies looking for nonprofit funding opportunities, and vice versa. Similarly, if you're pursuing a technical proposal that has a heavy research and development component, like an SBIR or an STTR, then you'll want to find a grant writer that has a technical background and knows how to go about these types of funding opportunities. Now, to find a grant writer, there are typically two general options for you to consider depending on what types of grants you're going after and how much you're willing to invest. First, there are larger grant writing agencies And then second, there are independent freelancers. And both routes are excellent options, and it's really your decision to figure out what's the best choice for you. And you can find these agencies or these freelancers either through a Google search, LinkedIn, or freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr. Larger grant writing agencies have a really strong track record, and they have a systematic approach that helps them to churn out grants after grants after grants. And these agencies are typically composed of many different grant writers with varying skill sets backgrounds and levels of experience. And when working with these agencies, they would sometimes assign you a small team of grant writers that can support you throughout your grant writing process. And although some agencies can work on an hourly basis, many of them would prefer a flat fee arrangement plus a success fee, which we'll get back to in a second. Independent freelancers are a great choice as well, and you can find one at your price point. However, the quality of independent grant writers can have more variability compared to that of an agency. So you just want to make sure that you do your due diligence before you make that hire. Grant writing agencies are the more expensive route, costing anywhere from $3,000 or even $20,000 or more for their services, depending on the type of grant and how large the grant that you want to pursue. And this is especially true for agencies that specialize in for-profit businesses. Those that specialize in nonprofits would typically charge less. However, really experienced freelance grant writers that has a strong track record of success can also charge a flat fee per project in a similar price range. However, they do typically have more flexibility in their pricing structure compared to these larger agencies and would also work accordingly to an hourly rate, with the more experienced ones charging anywhere from $200 to even $350 an hour. And so depending on the grant that you want to pursue, some opportunities would allow a company to propose for a small business fee within their budget. And if so, grant writers can ask the companies to get paid a success fee if they were to help them get the grant awarded. And this is a common strategy for many SBIR and STTR grant writers. If you'd like to learn more about SBIR and STTR budgets and want to learn more about the small business fee, I'll leave a link in the description to another video. Grant writers that get paid through a success fee would charge less upfront to prepare the grant since there's a huge upside for the grant writer to potentially have tens or even $100,000 if that grant gets awarded. And larger grant writing agencies often likes to get paid these small business fees. And since larger grant writing agencies tend to work with many different companies to pursue proposals, they can tolerate that risk and therefore would like to get paid upfront in order to capture that larger success fee if that grant gets awarded. And when working with independent freelancers, some grant writers might want that success fee and others may not, but you can use that as a way to help you negotiate a pricing structure arrangement that will work best for you and that grant writer. And so for that reason, offering a success fee can help incentivize grant writers to work with you to prepare a high-quality grant because it holds them accountable to produce good work. But of course, just with life, nothing is guaranteed, especially given how competitive these grants are. So therefore, the grant writer is also putting themselves in that risk category if they were willing to accept that success fee. But either way, it's really good for you to know your options so that when you talk to a grant writer, you have all the tools you'll need to negotiate with them and define a pricing arrangement and structure that would work best for you. Now, even if you hire the best grant writer in the world, that does not mean you can just sit back on your couch and relax and have the grant writer do all the work. That is not how to effectively work with a grant writer. When we work with new SBIR or STTR clients, I always emphasize that preparing a strong grant application is an entirely collaborative process, and it takes a lot of time, hard work, and effort on both the grant writer's side and also the client side to put together a really strong application. And when you work with a really a grant writer, throughout the whole process, they should be relying on the companies and founders to be the experts of their technology and the company and the business strategy. And then the grant writer's job is to figure out what content or materials they need in order to structure that really strong narrative on paper. A really strong grant writer should be able to advise and guide the company on what materials they need and how to best structure their proposal on paper for the best chances of success. So from my experience, If you're working with a really strong grant writer, ultimately it does come down to client quality to determine how strong the grant would be. Or in other words, how ready is your company to pursue a big grant? And strong grant writers should know how to advise a company to best position themselves to increase the odds of winning a grant. And because of that, there are things that you can do as a client and the company to help position yourselves for an award. This is pretty much a help me to help you type of situation. So for example, if a grant writer advises a company that they need a particular consultant with particular expertise to be added to their team in order to increase their chances for award, but if the company doesn't have the right resources or refuses to find this individual, then there's nothing really much a grant writer can do. So if you're really truly serious about pursuing a grant and positioning your company for the best chances of award, you want to make sure you listen to those grant writers and to take their advice about how to go about the grant writing strategy. Because if you're not committed to the process, you're just wasting your time, your effort, your resources, and your money. So finally, how do you find a high-quality grant writer that is reliable, has a strong success track record, and can improve your chances of winning that grant? Well, there's a couple of things that you can do as the client to figure this out. First, you'll want to reach out to several different grant writers, and I would recommend reaching out to both independent freelancers and larger agencies. So that you understand what each has to offer to you. And again, you can find them through Google searching, LinkedIn, Fiverr, or Upwork, or even just through your network. And when you interview these grant writers, you can ask them the following questions: What type of grants do you specialize in? How many years of grant writing experience do you have? How much grant writing have you secured to date for their clients? And do you have experience reviewing grants or serving on review panels? And these are all really great generic questions to start off with. But here's really the key to know if you're talking to an experienced grant writer. When you're speaking to them, they're also evaluating whether you are a right fit for them, and that's how you really know if they are a seasoned grant writer. And for these reasons, these grant writers should also be asking you a lot of questions as well. So for example, where are you currently in your developments? What do you need the funding for? What are your short and long-term business objectives? So if you're noticing that these grant writers are taking a significant interest into the ins and outs of your company, that helps you to distinguish whether you're talking to a, a high-quality grant writer, because you want someone that's also invested in your company, your startup, your idea, and also in you. You don't want a grant writer to say sweet nothings into your ear and then just take the money, write a sloppy proposal, and then run away with it. Because a high-quality grant writer also knows they need to spend their own time and efforts to really make sure they do everything they can to improve your chances of an award. And in general, these really good grant writers should be adding value to your company. They should be advising you on your business strategy and and also your research and development efforts. They should be using everything they've learned from their past experiences of securing grants and applying it to your particular situation. And most importantly, you want to work with someone that it can be completely transparent and honest with you. If you see my other videos, you should know by now that securing any grants is super hard just because of how competitive they are. And that's just a stark reality of fundraising through grants. Sometimes you have no idea who the reviewer is on the other side and the impression your idea might give that reviewer. You might also have no idea about the competition or how many other grants are getting submitted that are proposing a similar idea. And unfortunately, sometimes you might just catch a reviewer on a bad day. So there's definitely a little bit of luck that has to be in your favor to get these proposals awarded. So when you're interviewing for a grant writer and if they're being overly confident or guaranteeing you that they can secure your grant 100%, that's a big red flag. Run away. And again, it's no surprise that more experienced grant writers will come with a higher price tag. Again, it's always good to know your options, and different ways to pay them so that you can identify and motivate a high-quality grant writer to help you in your fundraising journey. Thank you so much for watching until the end of this video. If you found any of these tips helpful, please hit the like button and subscribe to this channel so that you can learn any more tips and tricks on how you can secure non-diluted funding. And also, don't forget to check out our website for more resources that can help you in your fundraising journey. Thank you so much again, and I'll see you in the video very soon.