How much should you spend for a grant writer?

There are different ways that you can go about hiring a grant writer. For example, you can hire a salaried Grant Writer as part of your organization or hire a contract grant writer (billed per hour/project). Alternatively, if the budget is tight, you can hire a college intern for college credit or collaborate with a professor to offer your grant writing project as extra credit. At least then, you will have the professor overlooking the project. However, such a course of action is best for those not in a hurry or applying en masse.

Paying for Quality and Experience

Regardless of your pay structure, just like in any profession, you have to be willing to pay for quality and experience.

If you decide to pay a contractor per hour, keep in mind the following criteria. Although it's possible to find a grant writer at $25 an hour, more than likely, you will be dealing with a highly inexperienced individual. Seasoned grant writers can charge $150 per hour or more. An experienced grant writer will precisely know your organization's most vital/weakest points and advise you of grant application possibilities.

Organization Saves Money

When paying for expertise, it's crucial to have all of your ducks in a row. You don't want a grant writer wasting precious time decoding or searching for information. I have seen organizations making upwards of half a million dollars expecting the grant writer to sift through endless emails (to get a general idea of the project details or spending). Simply put, that is a disrespect of the organization's resources. Particularly, if you are giving up a Benjamin Franklin per hour (or more), you want to have all of your information in order, in easy-to-read/navigate files. My point is that you want your grant writer to spend the company time researching possible grants for your organization, applying for those grants, and not chasing information through the world-wide-web.

Salaried Grant Writers

If you choose to hire a salaried grant writer instead, there's still the question of how you want them to apply their time and skills. Would you like to hire a kid freshly finished with his associate's degree or an obscure grant writing certificate? Or would you like to hire a seasoned grant writer with years of graduate education and spectacular writing chops? Since salaries vary depending on the industry, a good match will depend on your company's resources. The average national grant writer wage is $73,291 (October 2021).

Higher-paid industries include healthcare, government, and nonprofits. As a result, higher grant writer salaries climb past $90,000. If wages/cost of living is higher in your city, you may consider hiring remotely. As long as you keep the communication lines open, your grant writer needs to be located (or willing to work) in your time zone.

Do we need a full-time grant writer?

To make the best choice for you, you need to take a step back and consider the organizational needs. While budget capacity quickly answers some questions, others may not be so clear-cut. Follow this link if you need further information.

To answer that, you need to answer the following questions:

*Do we have a list of grants for which we would like to (re)apply?

*Do we have the essential documents required for applying for grants?

*What is the size of our organization/budget?

*How many hours per week are necessary for just the grant research? For grant writing? Meetings? Emails?

*What is the annual revenue from grants that we need to meet to supplement what we already have (the ratio between expenses, deficit, income in revenue/donations)?

The bigger the funding goals, the larger the need for a grant writer. Some organizations hire entire grant writing teams, while others are still in the beginning phases. But, if you stay transparent, organized, and focused, don't worry; you will get there too.