At least once a week, a non-profit organization reaches out to me asking me to apply for their grant writing position.
I am always open to taking on a new client, but I currently have four clients that I love and have worked with for a while.
This makes me very choosy about who I consider working with. And the application process can take a while- updating resumes, interviewing, follow up questions, contract review, etc. So, it has to be the right fit for me to invest that kind of time.
Today I received a request on LinkedIn to apply to a contract grant writing position and I started thinking about my red flags when it comes to applying to work with a non-profit org.
I read the LinkedIn message and immediately headed over to their website to see what they were all about.
The first thing I noticed is that the grant writing position isn’t advertised on their website, so I assume they are using LinkedIn to filter out the grant professionals they want to consider.
I have already talked about how a non-profit website is important for winning grant funding, but it is also important when searching for a grant writer. If the website doesn’t have the information I will need to present to grant funders, it may be an uphill battle with the new client.
Allow me to illustrate.
A quick search of Indeed uncovers a position for a remote grant writer at a local food bank in Minnesota. I dug a bit deeper. I visited their website and clicked on Employment where I located the job listing for a grant writer.
Here I found several concerns.
- They advertise for a remote grant writer, but in the fine print it states, “must be able to work on-site when needed.” This disqualifies me because I live in Atlanta and I am not traveling to Minessota “when needed.”
- They advertise for a grant writer but the description talks about developing grant revenue strategies, helping to identify program revenue needs, following up grant reporting, sending thank you notes to grant funders, maintaining data bases, statistics, reporting, assisting with annual fundraising budgets, helping to complete the annual report, and on and on. This is not grant writing, this is grant coordinating or grant management.
- They require a Bachelor’s degree plus 3-5 years of experience but they are only paying $28/hour for 5-10 hours per week. So they want a grant manager but they only plan to pay less than $15,000/year. That’s a big NOPE for me. And not a good look for the organization.
Sidenote: I highly recommend that freelance grant writers consider working on a monthly retainer basis.
Moving on, I love that they partner with several other community organizations and food banks in adjacent communities. I was excited to read their Impact Report. I clicked on 2022, the most recent one offered and the report that displayed was 2021. That’s not a great sign.
They list their employees and Board of Directors, but they don’t have bios or photos for anyone. Grant funders want to read about leadership. Having bios instills confidence.
And finally, they post the obligatory Justice For All statement required by the US Department of Agriculture, but they don’t have their own organization DEI Policy or any related policies. I personally want to work with an organization that is dedicated to inclusion and grant funders want to see these policies.
This job posting is riddled with red flags for me and I would never consider applying.
When grant writers are more selective about organizations we serve, we improve our grant writing experience and the entire grant writing industry.
Until next time,
Write Epic Grants