Getting Grants Out of the Too-Hard Basket: What Working With a Grant Writer Actually Looks Like

Hear from guest blogger, Liz Fleming, on what it's like working with a Grant Writer

Picture this - you’ve found a grant (probably from The Grants Hub).

It looks promising. It seems to fit something your business or organisation has been wanting to do, and you start thinking about what this funding could make possible.

So, you take a closer look.

There are guidelines to work through (probably a 23-page document), eligibility requirements to check, questions to answer and a budget to prepare. Then there’s the grant application itself, with its word limits, supporting documents and, of course, the online portal for the actual submission.

It’s all doable, but it can quickly start to feel like a lot.

And that’s often how a perfectly good grant opportunity ends up sitting in the too-hard basket.

This is where I come in, as your grant writer, working in partnership with you.

A grant writer can do much more than write the words in your application. My grant writing services cover the whole grant application process, from checking eligibility and developing your project through to writing the application, creating the project budget and getting everything into the portal. I’ll even press submit for you. When I say the whole grant application process, I mean it!

You bring the insights and knowledge of your organisation and what you want to achieve. I bring the grant-writing expertise, structure and process to help turn that opportunity into a grant application we can actually get done, and be proud of.

You’ve found the grant. Is it actually the right one?

Before we start writing anything, the first step in the grant application process is making sure the grant is genuinely worth pursuing.

That means getting into those guidelines and checking the detail. I normally print them out and grab my highlighter at this point.

We need to check: Are you eligible? Does your project fit what the funding can be used for? Do your project dates line up? Are there any co-contribution requirements? And, importantly, do your project objectives align with what the funder is actually trying to achieve?

Being eligible for a grant and being a good fit for a grant are two very different things.

You might tick every eligibility box, but if your project doesn’t strongly align with the purpose of the funding, we need to think carefully about whether an application is worth your time.

This is where I help you make a sensible “go/no-go” decision before we invest time and energy into the grant application.

If it’s a go, great. Now we can start turning your idea into a project that is clear, considered and ready to become a strong grant application.

How do we turn your idea into a grant-ready project?

This is where the fun starts.

You might come to me with a well-developed project, or you might have the beginnings of an idea and know what you’d like to achieve. Either is fine. We start where you are.

Together, we brainstorm and pull the project apart.

What exactly are you going to do? Why is it needed? Who will benefit? What will it cost? What will change as a result? And how will we demonstrate that change?

These questions matter because a grant application needs to do more than describe a good idea. We need to give the funder a clear picture of what you’re proposing, why it matters, how you’ll deliver it and what their funding will help achieve.

I do ask lots of questions. Sometimes I’ll challenge an idea or spot a gap. Other times, I’ll hear something in our conversation and say, “Have we considered this?”

This is the partnership piece. We work together efficiently so the grant application gets written without the stress and overwhelm you may have experienced in the past.

You’re the expert - you know your organisation, your community and the problem you’re trying to solve. I know how to take that information and shape it into a project that responds to what the funder is asking.

Why does the grant application become a project too?

A grant application has a deadline, deliverables, dependencies and multiple moving parts, so I manage the grant application as a project in its own right.

Once we know what we’re applying for, I create a plan and work backwards from the submission deadline.

We work out what needs to happen and when. That might mean gathering quotes, confirming project dates, finding evidence, requesting letters of support (I can help you draft these), pulling together financial information or getting input from other people.

This is particularly important when information needs to come from several people. Waiting until the final few days to discover that we need a quote, signature or supporting document is never much fun.

Rather than you trying to keep all those moving parts in your head, I lead the process and keep us moving towards submission.

And importantly, I don’t send you a giant questionnaire and disappear. That’s not my style. We work through it together.

What does a grant writer actually write?

Yes, I write the grant. But by this point, you can probably see that the actual writing is only one piece of the puzzle.

I take everything we’ve developed and turn it into clear, compelling responses that answer the actual questions being asked and tell a consistent story about your project, the need for it and the outcomes you expect to achieve.

Good grant writing isn’t about filling an application with impressive-sounding words. It’s about making it easy for the assessor to understand your project and see how it responds to the funding criteria.

That means answering the question that was actually asked, providing the right evidence and making every word count, particularly when we’re working with tight word or character limits.

Does a grant writer help with the project budget?

I certainly do. In fact, this is one of my favourite parts.

I create the project budget alongside the written application. Side note - I love budgets, and being a Chartered Accountant, this is totally my jam!

The budget and the written application need to make sense together.

If we say we’re delivering something in the project, the costs need to support it. If there’s a figure in the budget, we need to understand why it’s there.

We work through the numbers together to create a realistic project budget within the funding parameters while also making the most of the opportunity available.

The budget isn’t something we tack onto the application at the end. It’s another part of the project story.

What happens when it’s time to submit the grant application?

And then there’s that online portal - another login and password to remember.

I work in the actual grant application portal too, entering responses, dealing with character and word limits, uploading information and checking that everything is where it needs to be.

I also make sure the downloaded application form matches what’s actually in the portal. We’ve nearly been caught out before by extra questions appearing online, so this is one of those little checks that matters.

I definitely don’t just hand you a Word document and wish you luck.

I stay with the application through to the end, making sure deadlines aren’t missed and that we get that confirmation email telling us our project is officially on its way to being assessed.

Are you ready to get that grant out of the too-hard basket?

Grant applications take time and effort. There’s no magic wand that makes that disappear, and there’s really no such thing as “free money”.

But there is a process.

With the right grant opportunity, a well-developed project and someone leading the process, applying for funding becomes far more manageable.

So, if you’ve found a grant on The Grants Hub and it’s currently sitting open in one of your browser tabs while you wonder where to start, perhaps it’s time to get it out of the too-hard basket.

Grant rounds are often only open for a limited time, so taking action early gives us more time to develop the project, gather what we need and prepare the strongest application we can.

Simply email me a couple of sentences about your project and the link to the grant. I’ll take it from there.

Bring me your idea, your knowledge and your enthusiasm for what you want to achieve.

I’ll bring my highlighter.

Liz Fleming

Liz Fleming

Liz Fleming of The Grants Club is a grant writer and Chartered Accountant who works alongside organisations to take grant opportunities from “we should apply for that” through to a completed, submission-ready application. With a practical, hands-on approach, she helps clients develop their projects, create realistic budgets and manage the grant application process from start to finish.

Let’s get your grant application written with Liz Fleming