As consumers, we can’t help but to find the best deals and make the most out of our money. When the situation even permits, we will even resort to DIY’s (do-it-yourself) stuff just to save money. Same applies with grant proposals. There are certain people and firms that chose one of their employees or a certain member of their committees to write their proposal. They think that by getting a writer from within their group can help them shave some dollars off their expenditure list. But hey, are they really getting the best results?
Why Do I Hire a Grant Writer?
Here are a number of reasons why you should hire a grant writer than put your chance of getting funded in the hands of inexperienced people:
1. They get the job done.
Of course anybody who has placed his mind and heart in writing can get the job done. But the question is “when?” Having an employee or a member of your organization to write the grant proposal will mean that that person needs to sit down and write the grant proposal. His or her whole time and effort will be focused on writing the proposal, which in turn can affect his or her productivity. Unless of course you have your own in-house grant writer whose sole tasks is to prepare grant proposals for your organization. Also, the whole committee would have to endure long hours of meetings and discussions deciding how your proposal should look like.
Okay, so you decided to divide the job among your employees: employee 1- needs assessment; employee 2 – evaluation; employee 3- whatever; and the list goes on. That’s not half bad considering that the work will be distributed and all you have to do is to assemble it up. But it will only generate a bigger problem than the one you already have. Since each part is done completely by a different person, there is a great possibility that the pieces won’t match at all. The project description will not agree with the evaluation and writing styles, which may be totally different from one another. The result would be a total mess.
Hiring a grant writer will spare you from these lurking troubles. Since their job is to write proposals, you are assured that they will really sit down and write your proposal. You won’t have to worry about your employee’s productivity or how your paper should look like.
2. They have the know-how.
I’m not saying that only professional grant writers have the capacity to write outstanding grant proposals. In fact, anybody can write a full-length proposal for your cause or project. However, there are lots of new and more innovative ideas of serving the info that a pro writer can access. Further, they are more familiar with the so-called “in’s and out’s” of the trade and more likely be able to provide a better output compared to your in-house writer.
3. They have the best perspective.
Grant writers have more writing experience. Although it is true that only the members of an organization can best depict or communicate the pressing need for the project; nonetheless, grant writers have the capacity to look at your project from a different perspective.
There are times when our perspective is limited to the things that we like. Getting a professional writer can give you additional insights for your proposal and can provide suggestions on how you can further increase your chance of getting funded.
4. They have the speed.
Since they already have the knowledge and experience, they can work on your proposal easily. That is, if you did your part of providing the details and necessary information for your grant proposal. When you chose to write the grant proposal on your own (or have someone from your organization or company write the proposal for your group), you control the time frame and the number of days that you can consume in piecing it out. That’s where the problem arises.
It will take some time to compile and decide which information or ideas should be presented and which should be removed from the draft. Since you are able to control the time, chances are, you will get lax on writing the proposal thinking that you still have time. When this attitude or perception continues, you’ll be surprised one day that the grant calendar is almost over; thus, you will have to wait for the next grant cycle.
Since grant writers already have an established turn-around time, you can just choose among their list of services, pay the fee, provide the complete and necessary details of the project, and voila! Your grant writer will take the workload off your hands and start writing the proposal for you.
5. The power is still in you.
Although you have hired a grant writer to facilitate the writing of your proposal, you, as an individual or a representative of a certain company or organization, should still be able to provide complete (with a strong emphasis on the word COMPLETE) and accurate info regarding your organization or with the project. If your writer asks for a breakdown of the budget, immediately send that out. Some grant seekers who opt to hire a grant writer are usually leery in providing info about their budget and organization.
Let me tell you something then. Providing vague details and incomplete info will delay the writing of your proposal. If you really want to get that proposal out there in no time, you should be prepared and ready with the info needed for your proposal. So next time, if you really want to secure funds for your cause without the added agony of incomplete or mismatched proposal, deadlines, and having your effort, time, and money put to waste; just remember: you’re better-off with an expert grant writer.
