FAQs

How do I know where to find funders for my organization or project?

There are many different sources for locating grant funds. The Foundation Center, Guidestar, Grants.gov, and the Federal Register are some of the most common. At The Grant Plant, we use a variety of methods to locate the most up-to-date funding sources. To see upcoming deadlines that are applicable to New Mexico nonprofits, please check our Funding & Events Calendar.



Is The Grant Plant paid on contingency?

No. Within the fundraising profession, it is considered unethical to be personally vested in the outcome of a grant proposal. For more information on this, please see the Association for Fundraising Professionals. We do recognize that many nonprofit organizations pursue grant funding because their current or upcoming cash flow is insufficient, so we strive to keep our rates affordable for our clients.



What is The Grant Plant’s success rate?

Please keep in mind that success rates are often not the best indicator of a grant writer’s work for a variety of reasons; some grants hinge on a site visit process, other grants are based on pre-established relationships with members of the funding agency, and not all clients report the outcome of their proposals to grant writers. However, using data over the past six years, we are able to project our success rate at about 60% on proposals in which the outcomes have been reported to us. The national average reported by the Grants Office is one in six proposals (17%). Preliminary projections of 2008 activity indicate that the average grant award size for our clients was just about $80,000 and our clients' average return on investment from using our services was approximately $53 for every dollar spent. To date, The Grant Plant has written over $8.1 million in funded proposals.



Why doesn’t The Grant Plant charge by project?

The Grant Plant charges an hourly rate on most of its services to maximize our clients’ dollars. When you hire The Grant Plant, we will most likely put the most time in initially, that is, in getting to know your organization’s programs and services, history, staff, goals, and other information. Therefore, the time spent on each subsequent proposal will be reduced accordingly. We are happy to give any client an estimate of the number of hours a particular project will take us, and always let the client know if that number goes up or down significantly.


Are you twins?

Nope -- but we are sisters and we do share the same birthday!

 

What do I do to get started?

We would love to hear from you. Please complete our Contact Us form for more information.