Are you interested in learning about writing jobs and enjoying the many benefits of freelancing? Do you want to work from home for good, have control of your own time, and avoid the challenges of the daily commute?
If your answer to the two questions above is “yes”, then you should know about the different kinds of writing jobs you should pursue.
One of the many opportunities available is grant writing jobs. With the right tools, grant writing can be a profitable writing gig for you. That’s mainly because not many writers do grant writing, so you will have the edge over most writers.
So, let’s discuss the main duties of a grant writer, what industries need grant writers, and how to write effective grants.
What Does a Grant Writer Do?
Grant writing is the proposal or the idea of asking for funds to gain financial support for the activities of the organization requesting the grant.
Thus, a grant writer’s job is to compose the grant submission or application for the financial institution that gives the grant. Meaning they aid them in securing the vital funds needed to fulfill their mission.
Hence, the most notable customers of grant writers are nonprofit organizations.
Although grant writing may sound difficult to do, it is not actually as difficult as it sounds. For example, many writers may find it intimidating to write a federal grant and the various risks that come with it.
That said, once you know the particulars about grant writing, landing a gig will be a piece of cake regardless of the industry you prefer. In fact, even without any grant writing experience, you can explore jobs based on your skills.
Top grant writers also need to know the ins and outs of the industry to find specific grants, understand the entire grant application, and ultimately communicate and work smoothly with the client to ensure the client’s chance of receiving the grant funding.
As a grant writer, you are also in charge of keeping track of the specific grants you applied for and monitoring how much the organization receives. It is obvious that the more financing you get, the more organization will reach out to you.
You can apply for one-time contracts or apply for long-term contracts with your client. Typically, when grant writers work on long-term contracts, they do not only write grants but also have a consultative role.
They write the proposal, do the required research, and communicate with both the grant-issuing private foundation and the non-profit organization.
Grant Writing Jobs in Different Industries
A lot of non profit organizations require the services of a proposal writer or an experienced grant writer. We have a list below of the industries most involved in hiring grant writers.
1. Education
Remote grant writing jobs focus on education establishments such as local or national schools. Education grant writers request an educational grant covering the budget for hiring staff, buying new equipment, or improving the establishment.
2. Environmental
Most remote grant writing jobs for the environment come from the EPA or the Environmental Protection Agency.
The primary goal of environmental grants is to protect the environment. The EPA supports hundreds, if not thousands, of grants every year, so you can be sure that many environmental grant writing jobs are available yearly.
3. Health
Grant writing jobs remote on health can cover a variety of projects.
The primary goal of health grants is to encourage mental and physical health wellness for individuals in a community. Health grants can both be program based or purely research.
4. Housing
Grant writer jobs on housing requests for funds so the organization can help ensure adequate housing for low-income families.
Help can be in various forms, such as building a house, stopping foreclosure, renovating a property, and providing inexpensive rent, especially to those in need. Housing grants can also be included in community development grants.
5. Animal Welfare
An animal welfare grant focuses on helping our furry friends. Help can be in the form of pet education, preventing overpopulation, or ensuring safe homes.
6. Arts and Culture
Grant writing jobs on arts and culture cover plans related to music, dance, local arts, performing arts, events, visual arts, and literature. One example would be to open a dance center for the community.
7. Human Rights
Human rights grants cover equality rights such as disability rights, justice system reform on gender and racial equality, and public welfare, including women and child welfare. One example would be creating a mentorship program to aid in reducing youth incarceration.
How to Land Entry Level Grant Writing Jobs
Grant writing requires dedication and in-depth knowledge to get you started, so the compensation can be very lucrative for grant writing jobs remote.
For beginner grant writers, the expected compensation is around $70,000.
However, to land more entry level grant writing jobs, it is not enough that you have the perfect resume.
You also need to sell yourself so that potential clients will know about you. Here are some tips to help you get more grant writing jobs:
1. Build a Solid Experience
Some companies and agencies offer a grant opportunity for aspiring grant writers to help you start your grant writing career.
Chances are, these internships are not paid, but it is a valuable learning experiences that will surely help you in your future grant writing applications.
You can also offer your grant writing services for a highly discounted price, or even for free, to get some experience under your name.
Another solid proof to promote your skills is the return of investment that you provide for your clients as a grant writer.
2. Let the Clients Know You Are a Grant Writer
Clients won’t know you are a grant writer unless you tell them.
Ensure that you label yourself as a grant writer on your online profile. You can also give them a list of a grant writer’s primary responsibilities.
3. Start Locally
It is easier to get your very first grant writing gig if you start locally.
Look for smaller non-profit organizations in your area and propose to help them get grants. Initial grant writing experience is important if you want to get bigger gigs.
4. Leverage Your Strength
While a degree isn’t required to be a freelancer, you can always leverage your degree when you’re writing.
If you have a finance degree, you can use that to your advantage when writing the budgeting part of the grant proposal.
If you major in history, you can seek organizations that focus on museums. Whatever your expertise is, you can use that to your advantage.
5. Check Out Popular Job Boards for Grant Writing
You can look into the following job boards if you’re looking for a grant writing job:
- Glassdoor
- Monster
- Craigslist
Effective Grant Writing Tips
There are a lot of variables involved when writing a grant.
To become an effective grant writer, you should have a deep understanding of the data you need in your proposal. This is crucial to acquire the grant successfully.
Keep in mind that other non-profit organizations or companies are eyeing the same grant, so your goal is to stand out among the thousands of competitors.
Like all things, preparation is key when planning to become a grant proposal writer. You need to determine your goals, estimate the expenditures, know the timeline of your plan, and look for prospective grants.
It is more efficient to send a brief grant letter first before submitting a complete grant proposal. If your initial letter gets approved, you should send the complete grant proposal to up your chances of this funding opportunity.
1. Write a Powerful Cover Letter
The perfect opportunity to catch the funder’s attention is through a strong cover letter.
While your grant application’s body may need to be a bit too formal, your cover letter can directly address the reader and be more creative.
Your cover letter’s key objective is to attract the reader to obtain your proposal. Chances are they have read hundreds, if not thousands, of grant applications, and your cover letter should highlight you from the rest of the crowd.
Dos and Don’ts
| Do | Don’t |
| Keep it short | Become too emotional |
| Say exactly what you need | Mention your competition |
| Avoid repeating statements | |
| Make a connection |
2. Start With a Brief Executive Summary
An executive summary is also called a proposal summary. This part of a grant proposal is a brief synopsis of the full proposal.
It is where you introduce your market segment, business, project goals, and proposal. It should be factual, pragmatic, and quickly get to the point while also providing sufficient detail.
Dos and Don’ts
| Dos | Don’ts |
| Keep it at least two pages | Directly address the funder |
| Include the resources | Provide too much |
| Introduce your organization |
3. Introduce Your Organization
After presenting your entire proposal, it is now time to present your organization.
Provide as much material information as possible about your history, infrastructure, experience, and mission. Include your business successes, key staff’s biography, philosophy, and company goals.
It is also important to have client recommendations, customer feedback, and letters of thanks. You can also include industry certifications, licenses, and indemnity insurance details.
You must show that your organization or company can fulfill all safety, legal, and quality obligations.
Dos and Don’ts
| Dos | Don’ts |
| Be objective | Present too much detail |
| Provide a backstory | Stray from the main idea |
4. Write a Straightforward Problem Statement
The problem statement is one of the essential parts of a grant proposal. This is where you show your community’s problem and offer your solution to the problem.
You must do substantial research to know the underlying problem, previous solutions that failed, and the difference in why your solution will succeed.
Dos and Don’ts
| Dos | Don’ts |
| Use similar data | Make it personal |
| Highlight urgency | Use circular reasoning |
| Focus on the main problem |
5. Clearly State Your Objectives and Goals
Another essential part of writing a grant proposal is clearly stating your objectives and goals.
Your grant proposal is bound to fail if you mishandle this part of the process. Provide details on how you will measure the success of your project.
This section of the proposal should provide information regarding the benefits that the community, government, grantee, or client will expect for their investment.
Dos and Don’ts
| Dos | Don’ts |
| State objectives as results | Become too ambitious |
| Make your goals and objectives SMART | Misunderstand goals for processes |
| Connect objectives and goals to the audience |
6. Have a Project Plan
The next step after letting your funding agency know your objectives and goals is to let them know exactly how you will achieve them. Provide the personnel, facilities, support services, and transport you need to be able to achieve success.
Dos and Don’ts
| Dos | Don’ts |
| Connect to the objectives | Assume things |
| Provide examples | Forget about your audience |
| Show cost-effectiveness |
7. Track Your Success
This part of the process covers your evaluation. You must add the timeframe of your evaluation and the persons responsible for it.
You should also include the specific products or skills needed and the total expense of the project’s evaluation phase. This step is one of the most important because funding agencies rely on evaluations.
Dos and Don’ts
| Dos | Don’ts |
| Obtain feedback | Be vague |
| Decide between external and internal evaluation | Forget about time frames |
8. Include Sustainability and Other Funding
No one likes to invest in short-term projects with zero perspectives. It is a business after all, and longevity is a big factor.
This section of the proposal should include the full cost of proprietorship including daily business, ongoing maintenance, and operational support.
Dos and Don’ts
| Dos | Don’ts |
| Have a robust blueprint | Leave a thing out |
| Mention other funding |
9. Define a Project Budget
This section is where you provide details about your expenditures and budgeting. You should provide the details of how you will use your resources. The project budget is the core of your grant proposal.
Underquoting will get you funding but the risk is you might not be able to deliver on your project. Overcharging, on the other hand, might be seen as profiteering. It can also be the main cause that you lose the grant.
Dos and Don’ts
| Dos | Don’ts |
| Pay close attention to detail | Do it alone |
| Double-check | Forget to discuss indirect costs |
| Round off your values |
Grant Writing as a Career
While there are many ways to earn as an online writer, we think that grant writing may offer the best rewards. Your words are the very instrument that makes or breaks a specific project of a nonprofit organization.
If you are successful in acquiring grants through your grant writing, it can be a very fulfilling job, especially when you witness the impact your client makes on the lives of the people they help.
That said, it is important to avoid committing the following common mistakes that entry-level grant writers and assistant grant writers make. It will surely ruin your start to an excellent career path.
- Not fully understanding the application
- Not following directions within the application
- Not having genuine signatures
- Failing to adhere to formatting guidelines
- Having grammatical and spelling mistakes
- Not submitting the grant proposal on time
FAQs
1. What’s the difference between a grant letter and a grant proposal?
While these two are very similar things, it is actually easy to determine which is which. A grant proposal is longer because it contains the cover letter, project summary, problem statement, and other specific parts of the proposal.
A grant letter is a shorter and more streamlined version of a grant proposal. It has a similar structure, but it does not exceed four pages.
2. How do you compose a scientific grant proposal?
To write a scientific grant proposal, you should emphasize the importance of your project and its overall contribution to science. Also, provide relevant facts, research data, and statistics to back up your letter.
3. How to compose an education grant proposal?
To write an education grant proposal, present the project description and how your project will enhance the education system. Provide specific details on how your plan will enhance students’ knowledge, productivity, and learning process.
4. How to write an art grant proposal?
The first thing to mention is the timetable for your project. Art can sometimes be hard to express, so you should be careful when discussing the kind of art you make. Ensure that you convey the message clearly to the funding organization.
5. Usually, how many pages does a grant proposal have?
Although there is no formal rule dictating how many pages a grant proposal should have, you should target a maximum of 25 pages. The length of the proposal will depend on the complexity and number of issues that the project covers.
6. How many hours does writing a grant proposal take?
Writing a grant proposal follows a strict structure and rules. Not only that, you have to do deep research before you can even start writing the proposal.
Approximately, writing and editing grant proposals can take days or even weeks. It is best practice to commit one week to write your grant proposal.
