A grant writer for your nonprofit who has actually run one.
We write the whole application: which funders to target, the case for your project, a budget that holds up, and the privacy and accessibility documents funders now want. Built by people who run nonprofits, not a freelancer with a template. Priced per grant, and often grant-eligible, so the grant can pay us back.
Should a nonprofit hire a grant writer?
If applications keep landing on someone who’s already running the organization, yes. A good grant writer does the research, writing, and budget you don’t have time for, and catches the compliance details that get applications screened out. Expect $75–150 an hour at market rates, or a flat $1,500–5,000 for a full application; we quote one fixed number per grant after a free call, and grant-development costs are often eligible inside the grant itself, so a successful application can pay for the work. You keep control of the story; we do the heavy lifting.
Looking for the money first? Where BC nonprofits find grantsThe problem was never the writing
Most nonprofits can describe their work fine. The trouble is the deadline lands on an executive director who's already doing three jobs, the budget has to survive a line-by-line read, and funders now want privacy and accessibility documents most applicants guess at. Miss one of those and a strong project gets screened out before anyone reads the merits.
- The application lands on the ED, who writes it at 11pm between everything else
- You hire a freelancer who writes a clean story but doesn't know how your programs actually run
- The budget doesn't quite match the narrative, and a reviewer notices
- The funder asks for accessibility or privacy documents and nobody's sure what they want
- A winnable grant gets skipped entirely because there was no time to apply
- People who've run nonprofits write it, so it sounds like your organization
- The budget and the story are built together, so they match and hold up under review
- The privacy and accessibility documents funders now ask for come built in
- You get a straight answer on whether a grant is worth applying for before you spend the time
- Priced per grant after a free call, and often recoverable inside the grant itself
Built by people who actually run nonprofits
You're not too small to matter here. The people who write your application serve on nonprofit boards and run nonprofits, so we already understand your budget, your funders, and the compliance funders now ask for.
We've run the organizations we write for
The people who write your application sit on nonprofit boards and run nonprofits. We've filed the reports, defended the budgets, and lived the programs, so we write applications that are honest about how the work really happens. Experienced reviewers reward that.
We close the compliance gap most writers leave open
Funders increasingly want accessibility summaries, privacy and data-handling statements, and proof your systems can deliver. Our background is nonprofit technology and compliance, so we write those documents instead of guessing at them. It's the quiet part that screens applications out.
We'll tell you when not to apply
The free scoping call isn't a sales pitch. If a grant is a long shot or a bad fit, we say so before you spend a week on it. We'd rather you win the right grant than lose three chasing ones that were never yours.
You keep what we build
You walk away with reusable narrative language, a budget structure, and a technology and compliance statement you can adapt for the next application. The work outlasts this one grant.
The whole application, start to submission
You can hand us a concept and a deadline, or bring us in partway through a draft. Either way, here's what a grant writer takes off your desk.
Funder research and eligibility
We find the right programs and confirm you actually qualify, before you sink time into an application that can't win.
The project narrative
A clear case for funding: the need, your approach, the outcomes, and how you'll measure them, structured the way reviewers score it.
The budget
A line-by-line budget that matches the narrative and survives scrutiny, not a number pulled together the night before.
Privacy and accessibility documents
The WCAG accessibility summaries, PIPEDA and data-governance statements that funders increasingly attach conditions to, and most applicants guess at.
Proof you can deliver
A clear case that your organization, your team, and your systems can actually do what the grant would fund.
Submission-ready packaging
Funder-specific formatting, attachments, and final assembly, so nothing gets bounced on a technicality.
Applications written across the sector
We've developed applications for funders at every level, for nonprofits of nearly every size and cause. We've also gone further than the paperwork, sitting at the board level with national organizations like the Canadian Covid Society to support their fundraising and growth.
Federal, provincial, and municipal programs
Programs like Canada Summer Jobs, a provincial gaming or community grant, or a municipal cultural fund, each with its own forms, priorities, and reporting rules. We research the specific program and shape the application to how that funder actually scores it.
Community and private foundations
Community foundations like Vancouver Foundation and private family foundations, where the fit and the relationship matter as much as the numbers. We write to what the foundation actually funds, in the language its reviewers use.
Corporate giving and sector programs
Between us we've developed applications, funding amendments, budgets, and charitable registration filings for nonprofits of nearly every size and cause.
Priced per grant, not per template.
No two grants are the same size of job, and the price shouldn't be either. Once we've scoped your application on a free call, you approve a single written number before any work starts. No tiers to squeeze into, no hourly meter running in the background, and nothing extra after you've signed off.
What a grant writer costs, and the three ways they chargeOften grant-eligible. Many funders treat grant development and capacity building as eligible line items in the very grant they help you win, which means a successful application can pay you back for the fee. Few EDs realize this. When your funder allows it, we'll say so up front.
What EDs ask before they hire
Should a small nonprofit hire a grant writer?
Often, yes. If your applications keep landing on an executive director who's already running the organization, a grant writer buys back the time and catches the details that get applications screened out. The honest test: is there a winnable grant you keep not applying for because nobody has the hours? If so, hiring someone to write it usually pays off, sometimes literally, since the cost is often grant-eligible.
What should we budget to hire a grant writer?
As a rule of thumb, experienced grant writers charge $75 to $150 an hour, or a flat $1,500 to $5,000 for a full application. We work the flat way: after a free scoping call you get a written scope with one fixed number for your grant, with no hourly meter and no tier to squeeze into. And since grant-development costs are frequently grant-eligible, a winning application can pay you back for the writing.
If we hire you, are we guaranteed to win?
No, and be wary of any writer who promises it. The decision always belongs to the funder. What hiring a professional changes is the part you control: the application shows up complete, the budget survives a line-by-line read, and no avoidable compliance mistake screens you out before a reviewer ever weighs the merits.
Can we recover your fee through the grant?
In many cases, yes. Grant development and capacity building are frequently allowable expenses in the very grant they help you win, which means a successful application can cover the cost of hiring us. It's one of the least-known line items in nonprofit funding: you pay us like any other vendor, and the funder reimburses it as part of the project. We'll flag on the scoping call whether your funder allows it.
Do you write the whole thing, or work with us?
Either. We can build an application from a concept, or pick up a draft you've already started. We check in at each stage so the final version still sounds like your organization, not like us.
Which funders do you work with, and are you Canada-wide?
Any funder, anywhere in Canada. Between us we've developed applications for government programs at every level, community and private foundations, and corporate funders, for nonprofits of nearly every size and cause. The work is remote, so where you are doesn't change the price or the process.
We already have a draft. Can you just clean it up?
Yes. Bring it to the scoping call. Sometimes the right move is a full rebuild; sometimes it's tightening the narrative and adding the compliance documents. We scope to what you actually need, not the biggest job we could bill.
The only grant you're guaranteed not to win is the one nobody had time to write.
Book a free scoping call. We'll tell you whether it's worth applying, what a strong application needs, and exactly what it costs to build with you. No pressure, no retainer.