Top 10 Resources to Find a Good Grant Writer

[Note: Always check any potential hire's credentials, and check out the resource that you receive a referral for a hire from.]

In order to begin to understand what you should do when hiring a grant writer, read the following two posts:

What Are the Steps to Hiring A Grant Writer?http://thegrantplant.blogspot.com/2004/07/what-are-steps-to-hiring-grant-writer.html

Pricing Grant Writers - What Should We Pay?http://thegrantplant.blogspot.com/2007/07/pricing-grant-writers-what-should-we.html

Top 10 Resources to Find a Good Grant Writer:

10. Talk with colleagues in your local nonprofit sector (or if you live in a small town, talk with your colleagues in the nearby larger town or city) and ask them which grant writer they've worked with that they'd recommend. Ask why they'd recommend them.

9. Look up whether there is a professional grant writers' affiliation in your region (again, look into the larger nearby town if you live in a smaller community). If there is (e.g. Puget Sound Grantwriters Association, Upstate New York Grantwriters Association, etc.) ask if they have a list of consulting grant writers. Usually they won't make referrals, but they will provide a list of members who are consulting.

8. Call a university who has worked with organizations working on the same cause as yours' is, and ask which grant writers they would recommend.

7. Whether your nonprofit is a United Way agency or not, call your local United Way and ask one of their program managers if they can comfortably recommend a grant writer or two who they've worked with.

6. Contact a nearby regional (if not local) nonprofit resource center or organization (e.g. in Sacramento Nonprofit Resource Center, Nonprofit Resource Center of Alabama, Nonprofit Resource Center of Western Virginia, etc.) and ask whether they have a list of member professional grant writers.

5. Call your local community foundation (and if there isn't one near you, call the community foundation in the closest large city to your town). e.g. The Seattle Foundation, Lincoln Community Foundation , or The Rhode Island Foundation, etc.

4. Search the Internet for professional, accomplished grant writers who have referrals, who know your cause, who know grant donors who fund your cause, and who works in your geographic region. How do you find these qualities? Search for them (e.g. "grant writer, arts, Los Angeles"). Also, when you talk with them, ask them about these qualities. Get and follow up with their referrals!! Check everything out!

3. If there is a respected foundation that your organization has partnered with in the past (who your group received a grant from), ask one of their program managers which grant writers they know do excellent work. Foundations see all kinds of grant applications; they know who is good at applying for grants.

2. American Association of Grant Professionals is a great professional national grantwriters affiliation. They offer their member consultants' list. As always, talk to a few potential hires, get references and follow up with them.

1. The most respected/ethical/reputable professional fundraising affiliation the U.S. is the Association of Fundraising Professionals. They provide a list of AFP affiliated professional fundraising consultants. You can search for the service you need (grant writing) by geographic location. When you do contact a potential grantwriter, ask the writers if they have experience seeking grants for whichever cause you work for in the region that your organization serves. I encourage you to call a few of the grant writers, listed there. Always ask for referrals. Cursor down to the bottom of the page to search. The link to their consultants' list is:
http://www.afpnet.org/ConsultantDirectory/Search.cfm?folder_id=940