Start a grant writing practice for nonprofits
A niche and two funder types learned deeply, a proposal library built from reusable components, pricing set as a flat fee per proposal plus a monthly retainer, and 12 proposals submitted with a documented win rate you can quote to the next client.
Free preview: 4 of 25 steps
Work through them in the real run view, exactly as a buyer does. No account, no payment, nothing saved.
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Included with every copy
- Your own copy — keep it forever
- Gets better over time — free updates included
- Run it on web and mobile
- Invite a partner to go through it with you — you share the same progress
- Make it your own — a private copy you can edit to fit your situation
- The playbook's community — ask questions, get additions, and see how other buyers improve it, right on the step
Who it's for
Writers with nonprofit, academic, or public-sector experience who can produce clear, structured documents under deadline and want a services business with essentially zero startup cost. Best for someone who has seen how nonprofits work from the inside, can hold a sales conversation, and can tolerate months of slow, lumpy income while the first clients land. Not for someone who wants to avoid talking to strangers or who expects grant writing to be a passive side income.
About this playbook
Turn strong writing into a services business that costs almost nothing to start: a grant writing practice for small nonprofits, priced as a flat fee per proposal plus a monthly retainer for grant calendar management and reporting. The path begins with proof, not paperwork — interviews and one discounted founding-client sale before you spend a dollar — and the fees are set under the professional ethics rule that bars commission or percentage-of-award pay. From there it runs the numbers in four tables, forms the single-member LLC, sorts out taxes and licenses, and lands the first ten clients, then builds the reusable proposal library that makes the fifth proposal take a third of the time of the first. It ends past opening day with the 90-day reckoning: your documented win rate read against the plan and the go-or-no-go decision agreed in advance. It does not cover deep prospect-research technique, full federal proposal writing beyond the basic tier, or fundraising strategy for the nonprofits themselves.
What you'll do, step by stepFree preview
Only a sample is open: 4 of 25 steps can be read in full. The rest unlock when you buy.
Phase 1: Prove that someone will pay
3 stepsPhase 2: Shape the offer and set the price
3 stepsPhase 3: Run the numbers
4 stepsPhase 4: Make it legal: LLC, tax, and licenses
3 stepsPhase 5: Pay for the start
3 stepsPhase 6: Land the first ten clients
3 stepsPhase 7: Run the practice week by week
3 stepsPhase 8: Take the day-90 decision
3 steps
Details
What you need first
Strong writing and editing skills in English; a computer, internet connection, and a phone; 300–2,000 USD of own cash to start; availability for six short interviews with nonprofit staff in your first week; and no current employment agreement that would bar a side business. Experience reading or writing grant applications helps but is not required — the plan teaches the format through the two funder types you choose.
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