Grant Writer Career

As per the insight enabled by the frequently money-strapped nonprofit group, the grant writer is responsible for keeping the organization running and also assisting employees to work on the next interesting project.

Grants are surrounded by various realistic as well as mythical stories. Richard Linklater received a $2,300 grant from a Texas-based nonprofit organization in order to support his incomplete film, Slackers. This film transformed his career.

However, on the other side, Conservation International (among the biggest conservation organizations in the world) received a $261 million grant from the Betty and Gordon Moore Foundation. This grant was given in order to protect the biological diversity worldwide. This grant is the largest grant ever given to any environmental group. Such grants turn a dream venture into reality, and also lend power to the folklore around grant fundraising.

So who provides such grants? Mostly, the main spotlight of an institutional fund raising are foundations. However, it is another type of legally acknowledged non profit organization which is founded for allocating funds to creditable causes. Like other nonprofits organizations, foundations also have a central board which is called as the Board of Trustees along with an Executive Director or President. This board is responsible for making decisions regarding the funds.

So what is the job of Grant Writers? How do they work? Are they in-house grant writers or freelancers? Grant writers are not simply writers; they also work as researchers, correspondents and financial managers. They are also active participants in the program side of nonprofits. While writing a grant proposal, they consider all the things to decide whether the program represents a nonprofit program. Along with writing grant proposals, grant-writing profession offers various things. Following are the responsibilities of the grant writers:

• Handling the process of writing grant proposals and preparing reports on the present grants.
• Recognizing potential foundation, business and government grant makers, and planning policies for commencing or escalating relationships with funders.
• Developing and maintaining correspondence and contact with present and potential funders on regular basis.
• Managing a schedule of proposal submissions and directing deadlines, and coordinating employees in order to meet those deadlines.

The above functions come under the rubric of institutional fund raising which refers to foundations, businesses as well as government agencies.