About · 256 Peach Orchard Rd, Southbury, CT

A one-desk grant writing practice for small nonprofits. The narrative, the budget and the logic model are written in the same room, by the same writer, to make the same argument.

Our word for it

pol·len·quill n.

  1. Something small, carried from one party to another, that makes the far side grow.
  2. The pen that does the carrying.
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A writing desk by a window: grant proposal pages fanned out with colored tabs, a rust pencil, a binder clip and a quill in a small jar against a sage-green wall
Southbury, CT One desk
Fig. AThe desk on Peach Orchard Rd. Packets are laid out here in the funder’s attachment order before anything is uploaded.

01 — The name

Named for what it does.

Pollenquill started from a pattern that shows up at small-organization board tables. A good program, sincere writing, and an application declined anyway — because the budget said one thing, the narrative said another, and the logic model promised outcomes nobody was set up to count.

The fix wasn’t better adjectives. It was one desk holding all three documents at once.

So that is how the practice is arranged. The writer who runs your intake call drafts the narrative, builds the budget, lays out the logic model and assembles the packet. When a number changes on page four of the budget, it changes on page six of the narrative the same afternoon, because the same person is looking at both.

The name is fairly literal. Pollen is small, it travels between two parties, and the growing happens at the far end. A quill carries it. Neither half pretends to be the plant — your program is the plant. Our job is getting it read by the right funder in the form that funder asked for.

Most of the work is for organizations without a development office: the kind where the executive director also keeps the books, writes the newsletter and unlocks the building on Saturdays. Those groups don’t need a consultant’s vocabulary. They need a clean packet, delivered before the portal closes, and a writer who answers the phone.

  • On pollenTransferred, not manufactured. We don’t invent your program; we carry it to the people with the money.
  • The roomOne desk, a scanner, and a long table for laying packets out in the order the funder lists its attachments.
  • VisitingBy appointment. Most clients never drive to Southbury — calls and shared documents carry the work.
  • CapacityA limited number of applications are taken each month, so each one stays with one writer from intake to submission.

02 — The red pen

One paragraph, before and after.

Most of the job is subtraction. Here is a need statement of the sort that lands in our inbox, and the version that leaves. Same program, same facts — fewer adjectives, more things a program officer can check.

Already have a draft? Edit & package starts at $265 for up to 12 pages, back within 4 business days.

Send us your draft
Red pen · round one Checkable

Need statement · as received

Our organization is passionate about serving the community1 and has been making a real difference in the lives of countless families2 who are struggling in these difficult times.3 We believe that with your generous support, we can continue to expand our impactful programs and reach even more people in need.4

  1. The funder assumes you care. Cut it and open with the problem.
  2. “Countless” means nobody counted. Count them.
  3. Which times? Name the gap — when, how often, how bad.
  4. Say what the money buys, in dollars, and for how long.

As sent

Last year the pantry served 412 households, up from 268 the year before. Shelves ran empty by the third Thursday of most months. A $14,000 grant buys a second walk-in cooler and funds a part-time intake coordinator for twelve months.

Composite specimen — the figures are illustrative, not a client’s.

03 — House rules

Six rules, written down.

Written down so we keep them, and so you can hold us to them on any call.

  1. The first one

    One argument per proposal

    A proposal is an argument about money. Every section — need, approach, budget, evaluation — should push the same case. Five vague ideas lose to one clear one.

  2. No share of the award

    The fee is flat and quoted before work starts. Commission arrangements run against professional ethics codes, and most funders won’t let grant dollars pay for them.

  3. The RFP is read before the phone rings

    Send the solicitation and we read it first. The first call is about fit and scope, with a quote attached — not a tour of our services.

  4. Same desk

    Narrative and budget, one writer

    Nothing is handed off between a “writer” and a “numbers person.” The budget justification is written by whoever wrote the paragraph it justifies.

  5. Only outcomes you can count

    If your program has no way to measure it, it doesn’t go in the logic model. A funder’s year-end report is easier when the proposal didn’t overpromise.

  6. Bad fit, said early

    If a funder’s giving history says you aren’t competitive yet, you hear it from us before you pay for a proposal — not after the decline letter.

04 — What crosses the desk

Yes, no, and sometimes.

The plain list of what Pollenquill writes, what it passes on, and the one category that depends on the calendar. Fees are flat and match the fee sheet.

A printed paragraph marked up in rust-red pencil with strikethroughs and numbered margin marks, a red pencil and paper clip beside it on sage linen
Work Pollenquill takes on and passes on, with notes and flat fees
No.The workAt the deskNotes & fee
01 Prospect scan Yes 15–25 vetted funders, giving history read from their 990s.$340
02 Private & community foundation proposals Yes The usual one. Narrative, budget, justification and attachments.$1,180
03 Federal & state pass-through applications Yes Built against the NOFO; SAM and UEI checked in week one.$2,740
04 Letters of inquiry Yes Two pages, or whatever length the funder allows.$195
05 A declined proposal, reworked for a second funder Yes Most of it carries. You pay for the reshaping, not a new proposal.$420
06 Edit & package your own draft Yes Up to 12 pages, compliance-checked, back in 4 business days.$265
07 A fresh draft due in under ten business days Sometimes Depends on the RFP and the calendar. We’ll say which on the first call.Quoted on the call
08 Grants for individuals or for-profit companies No Nonprofits, community groups and fiscally sponsored projects only.
09 Commission or success-fee arrangements No See house rule no. 2. The flat fee is the whole bill.

Next

Send the RFP. We read it before we call.

Tell us the funder, the deadline and what the money is for. You’ll get a flat quote on the first call, or a plain answer about fit.

Book a scoping call
Hours
By appointment — book a call
Desk
256 Peach Orchard Rd, Southbury, CT 06488
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