Grant Coaching

Elizabeth is currently offering a Grant Coaching Package. For just six months ($350 per month) you will meet semi-monthly with Elizabeth to identify goals, hone skills, and implement customized internal systems. This process will give your organization the tools it needs to (a) identify the right funders and funding opportunities, (b) conduct efficient research, (c) develop program/proposal designs that are competitive and support your mission, and (d) prepare winning grant proposals.

When your organization is ready to pursue grant funding, it can feel overwhelming! Grant proposals adhere to a unique style of writing. Many proposals require intricate program designs with compelling and competitive outcomes. Without a clear plan you will waste resources chasing the wrong opportunities. Without efficient and effective systems in place, you and your team will waste valuable time repeating tasks each time you submit a proposal.

“I’ll just hire a grant writer” - A grant writer is only as successful as the organization behind them. If your design and research is lacking, no amount of “magical” writing will save it. You need to bring your best to the table when you meet with your grant writer so they can do their job well. Elizabeth has met grant writers (on staff at organizations and outside consultants) that will write a proposal they know will fail. She wants you to be equipped to assess each opportunity so you don’t fall victim to these unethical practices! Grant writers charge between $500 - 20,000 to write one proposal. Make sure you are investing when you are ready and in the right person that will support your successes and not profit from your mistakes.

“Ok, but we have a grant proposal we need to submit right now!” - Believe it or not, we hear this response a lot. Trust us, it won’t take six months to start moving forward. We have worked with clients that needed to apply to an opportunity immediately. By customizing the process, we can help you focus on your goals in real time. We will start with a call to assess the fit of the opportunity in front of you and then create a plan immediately to get you moving - if it is possible to submit a competitive proposal in time. Then we will turn our attention back to getting your systems in great shape.

When you invest in a strong foundation for your processes and submit a professional proposal to a funder, you are demonstrating your competency to lead and to complete the tasks at hand. Elizabeth has years of project management experience - guiding organizations through developing internal systems and honing their pitches. She has directly won over $15 million in grant awards for her clients. She has supported clients in their processes as they have won countless awards. Contact us today to learn more.

Grant ServiceS

For Nonprofit Organizations:

Sometimes hiring a grant writer is not in the budget. We offer some budget-friendly ways for your team to receive some extra support to ensure the proposal meets the funder's requirements, communicates a compelling need, and describes a logical intervention. We use a mock scoring process to review your proposal before you submit it to the funder. We also help organizations draft budgets and budget narratives. Contact us early in your project to reserve your spot today.

Services:

• Project or Program Budgets & Budget Narratives

• Mock Scoring Services

Fees vary based on complexity, usually between $200 - $1,500

For Foundations:

When your foundation needs support in pushing out a new funding stream or is drowning in proposals due to staffing shortages, we can help you get caught up. With direct experience as a funder, Elizabeth is experienced in managing grant application and review processes and monitoring. Please contact us to discuss your unique needs, but some services include:

• Proposal review and scoring.

• Assistance developing requests for proposals and scoring criteria.

• Providing technical assistance or training to your grantees.

Bookkeeping services ***NOt ACCEPTING NEW BOOKKEEPING CLIENTS AT THIS TIME***

• Customized Chart of Accounts

• Upload and classify transactions

• Reconcile accounts monthly

• Monthly financial statements

• Yearly financial statements for your tax accountant or CPA

• Monthly meetings to review financial statements & share best practices

• Quickbooks Online Subscription

• Coordinate with a 3rd party payroll provider

• Clean up existing books

• Catch up past months

• More! Contact us if you need something not listed.

Strategic planning

Switching from survival mode to thriving mode involves creating a robust strategic plan and using it as a roadmap for the future. Staff involvement and buy-in to the strategic plan is a critical component for its success. So how does the strategic plan end up on one person’s desk during the creation stage and shoved into a dusty filing cabinet after its approval? Let’s put the strategy back in your planning process and create a living, breathing plan that your staff is excited to implement.

Services:

• Customizable Strategic Planning Sessions

• Strategic & Mission Alignment for Grant Application and Review Processes

• Grant-Specific Planning

• Staff Planning Retreats

• Planning focused on financial goals

Check out one of my articles highlighting the downfall of one organization that failed to include robust financial planning in their strategic planning processes: “The Snowball Effect: Without Strategy Nonprofit Orgs Can Swiftly Lose It All”