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| Re: Presenting grant writer services
Posted by Linda Procopio   on 6/30/2009, 5:40 pm, in reply to "Presenting grant writer services"
VIP Poster
I did a LOT of volunteer grant proposal preparation before I ever considered charging for it (20 years worth!), so I asked those for whom I'd written successful proposals to allow me to give use them as references. I asked for their referrals and testimonials and used those to close new sales. To my surprise, the people I wrote for as a volunteer turned out to almost be a 'sales team' for me; and now years later most of my new clients still come from referrals from existing clients.
Early on, when I was deligently trying to build my business, I would choose a geographic region and a nonprofit genre, and do a speculative Foundation Database Search (examples: "Philadelphia/at risk youth"; "Pennsylvania/disability services"). I would then email the results of that generic Foundation List to every nonprofit in that region working in that genre, as my 'gift' to their mission, suggesting that they consider outsourcing the proposal preparation in order to take advantage of that List. Although I didn't receive more than a handful of clients from those early efforts, those nonprofits referred me to their friends over the years. Generosity pays off!
I also advertise a free twice-monthly Grant RFP e-bulletin, and over 2000 nonprofits have signed up for that. (I sponsor the e-newsletters of my state's association of nonprofits; and the 'Help Wanted' e-newsletters of my local AFP Chapter.) My Listserve provides me with a platform to steadily advertise my services. We also give grantwriting workshops in major cities in Pennsylvania and set up a booth at the annual conferences of our regional AFP Chapter & state nonprofit association. Do not overlook your local AFP Chapter: I receive many many referrals from my fellow AFP members.
Best wishes! We need more good grantwriters in the field! There's plenty of business to go around. Do you plan to specialize?
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