Services · Fee sheet, revised October 2026

Eight engagements for small nonprofits. Each one a flat fee, quoted in writing before anyone starts typing.

Pick from the index, or send the RFP and we’ll tell you which engagement it actually is.

Send the RFP for a quote Or call (203) 405-1554

01 — The fee sheet

Eight things we write.

Grouped by where you are in the grant year. Each price covers the reading, the drafting and the packaging. Turnaround is counted from the day your documents arrive, not the day you first call.

ABefore you apply

01–02
01 / 08

Prospect scan

$340Flat, one time

Start here, usually

A sorted list of funders whose giving history fits your mission and your budget size, drawn from 990s and funder guidelines rather than a database export. Each one comes with its deadline, its typical grant range, and a line on fit — including the ones we’d skip.

  • 15–25 prospects, matched on mission and geography
  • Three years of 990 giving reviewed per funder
  • Ranked by fit, not by grant size
Turnaround
7 business days
You send
Mission, operating budget, one-page program summary
Delivered as
Spreadsheet plus a two-page summary
Order a scan
02 / 08

Letter of inquiry

$195Per letter

The two pages many foundations want before they’ll invite a full proposal. Short documents are the harder kind; this one gets the same intake call as a full application.

  • Written to the funder’s LOI guidelines and word limit
  • A budget line that matches what you’ll propose later
  • One revision round
Turnaround
5 business days
You send
Program summary, rough budget range
Delivered as
Editable DOCX and a clean PDF
Request a letter

BThe application

03–05
03 / 08

Foundation proposal

$1,180Per application

The usual one

A complete private, family or community foundation application, from a 75-minute intake call to a paginated packet. Narrative, budget, justification and attachments, written under the funder’s own headings and inside its page count.

  • Narrative: need, approach, evaluation, sustainability
  • Line-item budget and justification, reconciled to the narrative
  • Logic model, if the funder asks for one
  • Attachment checklist assembled in the funder’s order
  • One full revision round
Turnaround
4–6 weeks
You send
Recent 990s, board list, operating budget, any past proposals
Delivered as
Editable files plus a submission-ready PDF
Start a proposal
04 / 08

Federal application

$2,740Per application

Grants.gov packages for federal programs and state pass-through funds, built against the NOFO one requirement at a time. A compliance grid sits beside the draft so each scoring criterion lands where a reviewer looks for it.

  • Project narrative and logic model
  • Budget justification by federal object class
  • SF-424 family prepared with you
  • SAM registration and UEI status checked in week one
  • Two revision rounds
Turnaround
6–8 weeks
You send
As for foundations, plus your latest audit and any indirect rate agreement
Delivered as
Whatever the NOFO specifies, named to its rules
Call about a NOFO
05 / 08

Edit & package

$265Up to 12 pages

Fastest turn

You have a draft. We tighten it, check every requirement against the RFP, fix the budget arithmetic, and assemble the packet in the order the funder lists it.

  • Tracked changes with margin notes, not silent rewrites
  • Requirement-by-requirement compliance check
  • Over 12 pages: $18 per additional page
Turnaround
4 business days
You send
Your draft and the RFP
Delivered as
Tracked DOCX, clean PDF, assembled packet
Send your draft

CAfter the decision

06–07
06 / 08

Second-funder rework

$420Per new funder

A declined proposal is usually most of a funded one. We re-cut it to the next funder’s headings, page limit and stated priorities, and move the budget onto their template.

  • Narrative restructured, not just renamed
  • Budget rebuilt to the new funder’s format
  • Read against the decline feedback, if you received any
Turnaround
2–3 weeks
You send
The original proposal and any reviewer comments
Delivered as
Editable files plus a submission-ready PDF
Send the old proposal
07 / 08

Grant report

$310Interim or final

Reports on a grant you already hold. Program officers read these more closely than most applicants expect, and a clear one shortens the renewal conversation.

  • Narrative measured against the outcomes you originally proposed
  • Budget-to-actual variances explained in plain sentences
  • Written from your data; nothing extrapolated
Turnaround
10 business days
You send
Original proposal, award letter, program data
Delivered as
Funder’s report form, completed
Book a report

DLarger than the sheet

08
08 / 08

Multi-year & consortium

QuotedAfter we read the NOFO

Read first, priced second

Applications with several partners, sub-awards, or budgets above $750,000 vary too much to price in advance. We read the solicitation, then send a written flat quote within three business days. It’s still one number, and it doesn’t move.

  • Partner letters and MOUs coordinated
  • Sub-award budgets reconciled to the prime
  • Multi-year logic model and evaluation plan
Lead time
10 weeks or more before the deadline
You send
The NOFO and a list of partners
Quote arrives
Within 3 business days, in writing
Send the NOFO

02 — Side by side

What each fee covers.

The four engagements people most often weigh against each other. Where a cell says no, it isn’t quietly included either.

Read across
All four are billed flat, half at kickoff and half at submission.
Included Letter of inquiry$195 Foundation$1,180 Federal$2,740 Edit & package$265
Intake call45 min75 min90 min30 min
Narrative written from scratch Two pages Yes Yes Edited, not written
BudgetSummary figureLine-item, with justificationBy object class, with justificationArithmetic checked
Logic modelNot includedIf the funder asks Yes Reviewed
SF-424 familyNot includedNot included Prepared with you Not included
Attachment checklistNot included Assembled Assembled Assembled
Revision rounds112One tracked pass
Typical turnaround5 business days4–6 weeks6–8 weeks4 business days

03 — The other column

Not on the fee sheet.

Grant writers get asked for these often enough that it’s simpler to list them here than to decline them one call at a time.

A printed budget proof page with several lines struck through in rust-red pencil, the pencil resting across it
Struck, on purpose

  • A percentage of the award

    Flat fees only. Commission-based grant writing runs against the profession’s ethics codes, and most funders won’t let grant money pay for it anyway.

  • A guaranteed award

    Funders decide. What we control is whether the proposal is complete, compliant and clear. If a funder looks like a long shot for you, we say so before you pay.

  • Hourly billing

    The written quote is the invoice. If a narrative takes longer than we estimated, that’s ours to absorb.

  • Numbers you can’t count

    Outcomes in your logic model will be ones your program can actually measure next spring. We don’t round up for effect.

  • Submitting under our login

    You submit from your own portal or Grants.gov account. We stay on the phone while you press the button.

04 — The hand-off

What lands in your inbox.

A foundation or federal engagement ends with one shared folder, its files numbered in the order the funder asks for them. Every document is editable, and every one is yours to reuse for the next application.

Below is the folder from a typical foundation proposal. Federal folders add the SF-424 set and the compliance grid.

An open kraft folder holding six tabbed documents in order, with a binder clip and pencil beside it on a sage backdrop
Numbered, in order
Fig. 4The shared folder, as it’s handed over the week before the deadline.

  1. 01_Narrative_Final.docx

    The full narrative under the funder’s headings, with a word and character count for each section the portal limits.

    Editable · tracked history kept

    Yours to keep

  2. 02_Budget_and_Justification.xlsx

    Line items with live formulas, plus the justification on its own tab. Totals tie to every dollar figure quoted in the narrative.

    Editable · formulas left in

  3. 03_Logic_Model

    Inputs through outcomes in the format the funder prefers, with the source file so you can update it for the report.

    Editable · print version

  4. 04_Attachment_Checklist.pdf

    Every attachment the RFP lists, in its order, each marked present, file-named, and within any size limit.

    Checked against the RFP

    Ticked twice

  5. 05_Submission_Notes.pdf

    The portal steps, field by field, with what to paste where. Written so whoever presses submit doesn’t need us on the line — though we will be.

    One page · plain steps

  6. 06_Packet_Submission_Ready.pdf

    The whole application as one paginated file, for funders who want a single upload and for your board’s records.

    Paginated · bookmarked

Quote request

Answered within one business day. Paste the RFP or NOFO link in the message if you have one.

One number back

05 — Quotes

Ask for a flat quote.

Tell us the funder, the deadline, and the engagement you think it is. We read the solicitation, then reply with a written price. If it turns out to be a different engagement, we’ll say which one, and why.

Invoiced
Half at kickoff, half at submission
Paid by
Check, ACH, Visa, Mastercard or Amex
Hours
By appointment — book a call
Directions to the Southbury desk