June EasthamGrant writing · research · strategy

Grant writing services · built around the opportunity

Give the deadline a workable plan.

I begin with the funder’s guidelines, application deadline, and the proposal materials your organization already has.

Then we identify the research, narrative development, budget coordination, staff contributions, review, and approval needed to prepare the application.

First question

What is already in hand?

What the application requires—and what your program, development, and finance staff can provide—determines the work.

These are possible starting materials and work products, not a fixed package. The written agreement identifies exactly what I will prepare.

What you may bring

Current guidelines
Existing draft
Program information
Budget context
Outcome records & sources
→

What I may help develop

Opportunity notes & questions
Work plan & review dates
Proposal narrative
Reviewed application
Traceable source notes

Responsibility note: submission, attachments, budget preparation, and post-award reporting are included only when the written agreement assigns those tasks to me.

Four useful kinds of support

What support does the application need?

These services can stand alone or work together. Before work begins, we identify the proposal sections, research, review rounds, staff contributions, deadlines, responsibilities, and fee.

Direction

Opportunity review

Is this opportunity worth pursuing—and what would it require?

  • Review eligibility, guidelines, criteria, deadline, and submission requirements.
  • Identify required information, forms, attachments, and commitments.
  • Flag open questions, weak alignment, or timing risks before drafting.
What this can produce
A written opportunity review may include a requirement map, question list, deadline plan, and an apply, defer, or decline recommendation. It cannot guarantee eligibility or competitiveness.

Development

Proposal development

How should the organization’s knowledge become a clear case?

  • Review the existing case for support, program records, prior proposals, and funder instructions.
  • Interview program, development, finance, or subject-matter staff where their knowledge is needed.
  • Connect community need, program activities, organizational capacity, program budget, and intended outcomes.
  • Draft the proposal narrative in the organization’s voice and within the funder’s limits.
What this can produce
The work may include a narrative outline, working draft, revised response set, budget narrative, source notes, and selected language that can be maintained in the organization’s case for support.

Refinement

Editing & review

Does the draft answer the real questions with supported claims?

  • Test the draft against the prompt, criteria, and character limits.
  • Identify unsupported, inconsistent, overly broad, or unclear statements.
  • Strengthen structure and reconcile revisions across sections.
What this can produce
The work may include an annotated review, developmental edit, line edit, compliance check, question log, or a revised draft ready for factual, program, and financial review.

Coordination

Application coordination

Who provides, reviews, approves, and submits each part of the application?

  • Build the work plan backward from the submission deadline.
  • Track program information, budget figures, attachments, and review points.
  • Clarify approvals, portal access, and submission responsibility early.
What this can produce
The work may include a responsibility map, submission checklist, working calendar, attachment tracker, and review schedule. I submit an application only when the written agreement explicitly assigns that responsibility to me.

Shared responsibility

Who contributes and approves?

Your organization remains the authority on its programs, finances, partnerships, and commitments. I make the questions, missing information, and review points visible so the right staff can respond.

Your organization confirms

  • Program facts, people served, and planned activities
  • Financial information, budget, and organizational commitments
  • Partners, permissions, signatures, and authorized submitter
  • Final approval of what the application promises

My responsibilities are written down

  • Proposal writing, research, editing, or application coordination
  • Dates for information, drafts, feedback, and approval
  • Review rounds and unresolved questions
  • Which attachments, budget tasks, portal steps, or reports are included

How to begin

What should the first note include?

You do not need to clean up every file before making contact. A short, factual first inquiry is enough.

Discuss the work

The organization & project

A sentence or two about the work and the people it serves.

The opportunity

The current guidelines or application link, if one exists.

The timing

The deadline, time zone, and any earlier internal decision date.

The starting material

What is already prepared and the support you are looking for.

A useful place to begin

Bring the work in front of you.

Availability depends on the proposal requirements, the work needed, and the time remaining before submission.

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