Every engagement begins with understanding your organization, programs, goals, and priorities. From there, I develop a clear scope of work, timeline, and process tailored to what you need—whether that's a single grant application, a specific project such as program documentation or prospect research, or ongoing support across the funding lifecycle.

Throughout the process, I keep communication clear, collaborative, and organized. I'll guide the work, identify what I need from your team, keep us moving toward deadlines, and bring strategic questions and ideas to the table along the way.

Think of me as an extension of your team. I handle the research, strategy, writing, project management, and proposal development, while your team provides the organizational and program expertise that only you can offer.

Most clients spend time gathering documents, answering questions, reviewing drafts, and providing feedback. The level of involvement depends on the project, but I aim to make your participation focused and purposeful—not burdensome.

The strongest proposals are collaborative. I'll typically need information about your organization, programs, budget, leadership, goals, outcomes, and future plans, along with any existing materials that may help tell your story.

You don't need to have everything perfectly documented before we begin. Part of my role is to identify what's missing, surface institutional knowledge, and help develop or strengthen the materials needed for a competitive application. I'll guide you through exactly what we need and identify gaps along the way.

Not always—and that's okay.

Sometimes the best investment isn't submitting more applications right away. It may be strengthening your organizational narrative, documenting a program, refining a program model, developing measurable outcomes, building evaluation tools, or identifying better funding matches.

If I don't believe your organization is ready for a particular opportunity, I'll tell you honestly and help identify the next steps that will strengthen your position for future funding.

I work with a range of mission-driven organizations and purpose-driven businesses, including:

• Nonprofits and community-based organizations

• Public schools, school districts, and education foundations

• Colleges and universities

• Local governments and public agencies

• Coalitions and collaborative initiatives

• Social enterprises and fiscally sponsored projects

• BIPOC-, women-, and other founder-led businesses seeking grant or philanthropic funding

For nonprofits and public agencies, funding opportunities are often more established and easier to identify. For businesses and social enterprises, I typically begin with research and eligibility assessment to determine which foundations, corporate giving programs, government grants, competitions, or other funding opportunities may align with your business model, ownership structure, industry, and goals.

Every engagement starts with understanding where your organization is today and identifying the funding landscape that's most appropriate for you.

I typically work on an hourly or project-based basis, depending on the scope of work. For ongoing, comprehensive support, I can also structure engagements as a retainer.

Before we begin, I'll provide a clear proposal outlining deliverables, estimated hours when applicable, timeline, and cost so there are no surprises. Every organization has different needs, so together we'll determine the structure that makes the most sense for your goals and budget.

No. I do not work on commission or accept payment contingent on whether a grant is awarded, and I cannot guarantee funding.

Contingency-based compensation is widely discouraged as an ethical practice in the grant profession because it can create conflicts of interest and compromise the objectivity of the grant development process. Many funders also prohibit grant funds from being used to pay commissions or success fees related to preparing or securing an award.

More importantly, no grant writer controls a funder's final decision. Funding outcomes depend on factors including funder priorities, available resources, geographic restrictions, competitiveness, review processes, and broader economic conditions.

My role is to maximize your organization's competitiveness through strategic research, thoughtful positioning, persuasive writing, and a rigorous application process—not to promise an outcome that no one can ethically guarantee.

Even strong proposals aren't funded every time. If a proposal isn't selected, we'll review any feedback provided by the funder, identify opportunities for improvement, and determine whether the application should be revised for resubmission or adapted for another funding opportunity.

Because I build proposals around strong organizational narratives, measurable outcomes, and reusable content, much of the work we create together can often be leveraged for future applications and communications. The goal is for each engagement to build organizational capacity and useful assets—not simply produce a single submission.

Every project is different, but competitive grant proposals often require several weeks or months to develop well.

A typical project may include:

• Discovery and information gathering

• Research and funder review

• Proposal strategy and outlining

• Narrative development

• Budget alignment

• Internal review and revisions

• Final submission preparation

Whenever possible, I encourage organizations to begin well before a grant deadline. Starting early allows time for stronger strategy, thoughtful collaboration, and a more competitive application.

Many organizations successfully write grants in-house. Others don't have the time, capacity, or specialized experience required to research opportunities, interpret funder guidelines, develop competitive narratives, and manage complex application processes.

I bring an outside strategic perspective, deep research skills, persuasive writing, and experience translating complex programs into compelling, fundable narratives. My goal isn't simply to take writing off your team's plate—it's to help you see and articulate the strengths of your work while building materials and processes that remain useful after the application is submitted.

Many consultants focus on writing applications. I focus on understanding organizations—what makes you, your work, and your impact uniquely compelling.

My background spans strategy, research, communications, project management, and organizational storytelling. I look for the threads connecting your mission, programs, outcomes, and community impact, often uncovering strengths, patterns, and opportunities that haven't yet been articulated.

The result is more than a polished grant proposal. It's stronger language, clearer program strategy, and reusable materials that help your organization make its strongest case for investment—now and in the future.

I use AI thoughtfully and transparently as a tool to support research, organization, brainstorming, and certain aspects of the writing process—but not as a substitute for human judgment, organizational knowledge, or authentic storytelling.

For more on how I approach AI, including the principles that guide its use in my work, see my AI Philosophy.