What Is A Grant Writing Consultant And What Do They Do?

The greater part of the population can be forgiven for asking this question as a grant writing consultant is a very specific occupation within a very specific field. They do have an important job and are absolutely essential to businesses, non-profit organizations and even people within a number of professions. Indeed, there are more people who require the services of a grant writing consultant then one might think. So, what are grant writing consultants and what do they do?

A grant writing consultant both advises and guides people on writing and submitting a successful grant application. That might sound a little confusing, but it’s not as complicated as one might think, although grant writing consultants actually do a lot more than just this. Here’s how it all works:

A non-profit organization, a charity for instance, is helping the poor to obtain medications that they desperately need to stay healthy, but cannot afford. This is a great idea and a good thing to do for their country, but in order to get donations they need to advertise, have an office, and be able to put the infrastructure in place for the charity to succeed and get those medications to those who need them.

Due to this charity being relatively unknown, they find it difficult to get any donations. It’s for these reasons that there are grants provided by the governments and corporations that help charities, and other businesses, to get on their feet. Grants, however, aren’t as numerous as all of the people who are looking to get one, making them a difficult thing to obtain.

There are boards who decide who gets a grant and who doesn’t. In many cases, being denied a grant means that a small business, charity, or artist isn’t given the chance to thrive and, instead, they may fail before they’ve even started.

A grant can make all the difference to this charity trying to help the poor and they’re unlikely to be able to get off the ground without a grant or two. Here’s the problem that they face: they are a simple charity made up primarily of volunteers and none of them have much experience with formal writing, let alone writing grants. What is a charity to do when faced with this problem?

That’s where grant writing consultants come in. This charity needs expertise to get that grant and they only have one shot at being awarded the specific one they want to apply for. They need to ensure that their grant application has the best chance of succeeding and that the application itself is done the correct way.

That’s why this charity contacts a grant writing consultant to help them with the process. These experienced consultants are there to help different organizations and individuals obtain the grants they need to establish themselves or just to keep the company going, because some charities and organizations don’t bring in enough revenue from donations or other sources, alone.

Grant writing consultants help that charity to identify the grant, or grants, that they’re eligible for and then they guide them through the entire process of applying for a grant, including writing the grant, itself. By the time a consultant has finished with that charity, they’ve submitted their grant, and hopefully, have been awarded it.

This process is quite involved on the consultant’s side of things. They do more than just write a grant application. They also brainstorm with their clients and staff to design grant programs, encourage ongoing communication to ensure that the plan is properly adhered to, and will even continue their support past the end of the grant application.

Grant writing consultants will also help a business to create budgets, keep in touch with their supporters, and market their business so that they cannot just survive, but thrive.

Do grant writing consultants provide their services for free? The answer is that most usually don’t because they do need to make a profit to stay in business, so the fee that they charge is usually a percentage of the grant, although it may be hourly or by project. Most grant writing consultants won’t even submit a grant application until everyone has signed off on it.

So, what do grant writing consultants do? They help businesses and individuals to do more than just get grants; they help them to thrive in today’s competitive world of business.

What does an organization do when they realize that they need help getting started with a grant writing consultant? The process starts with a visit from a consultant who can assess what it is that the company needs to get started and then speak with the organization’s representatives on what they can do to move forward from there.