Join the Free, Live Training, "Earn an Extra $10K in 90 Days Writing Grants at Home" on Tuesday, October 14th at 4 pm - 5:30 pm EST. Click here https://grantwritingandfunding.com/academy-webinar.
A lot of grant writers feel like they are in an impossible situation when asked about their ‘grant writing success rate’. As if the only measurement of your success as a grant writer is based on the grants you have won.
Some places on the internet state that there are ‘good’ percentage win rates for grant writers.
Honestly, ‘grant writer success rates’ are crap.
- If you are working with start-up nonprofits, chances are your wins could be less than working with larger, established nonprofits that already receive grant funding.
- If you are working with certain cause areas, it might not be as ‘sexy’ to fund the cause area during these times as funding another cause area.
- If you are working in certain geographic areas, it may not be as easy to win grants for that area vs. other areas.
There are so many reasons outside of a grant writer's control that make ‘grant success rates’ bogus.
Not convinced yet? Let’s flip it on its head.
Holly has only ever written one grant and it gets awarded for $500.
Jonathan wrote 100 grants and got 70 awarded for a total of $13 million.
Holly has a 100% grant success rate vs. Jonathan with a 70% grant success rate.
See how this can be flippant?
What is a better measurement of success are your deliverables.
1. Helping nonprofits develop and build relationships with funders
Because of the work that our students have done with helping their nonprofit clients develop relationships with funders, in 2025 those funders reached directly out to their clients and offered more money or unrestricted funding (without the nonprofit even asking).
One student said “My equity-focused client had a Foundation reach out to them to award an emergency $100K grant with NO action needed to receive it (no application!) just because of the political climate, recognizing that now is the time they need support.”
2. Developing Master Grant Templates that help the organization get clarity
When you are creating Master Grant Templates for your clients, this will help ground a visionary Executive Director and engage the board in more effective ways.
This is VERY valuable, even if you never write grants for the organization, because you help the organization stop mission drifting and burning everyone out.
The board also gets clear on what needs to get done, how much funding is actually needed (instead of ambiguous figures), and they become more involved.
3. Getting things organized to preserve institutional knowledge
What does this mean? Well, you get all the documents organized (or developed) that nonprofits need when submitting grants. I can’t tell you how many nonprofits don’t know where their IRS Tax Exemption letter is, haven’t developed a budget for a program, or have bios for their board members.
Even if they do, chances are it is all on one person’s computer, in folders only that one person can understand, and if that person leaves (or their old computer crashes) everything is lost.
4. Creating a grant prospecting calendar with aligned funders
Having a strategy to submit to 15-20 aligned funders over a period of time vs. 100 applications over a weekend is a surer strategy to get funding.
This is hugely valuable to know how to find funders that align and will be competitive to get funding.
5. Not burning out the entire Executive Director with (last minute) grant writing
Having a grant writer, actually write grants, instead of an Executive Director working an entire weekend is VERY valuable. Even if all of your grants don’t get awarded, you are doing the work so they don’t have to.
When you go into a Sales Call as a grant writer, you need to emphasize the other value of work (not just grant wins).
Remember, you are not just a grant writer. You are a grant strategist. Even if you never win a grant (which many organizations won’t get in their first year), you are building the capacity for grants, and other types of funding, for the nonprofit. They will be READY to receive any type of funding and be able to manage and implement it.
Find out more about the Freelance Grant Writer Academy: https://grantwritingandfunding.com/freelance-grant-writer-academy/
What is Grant Writing & Funding?
Quit your toxic nonprofit job and replace your full-time income while writing grants part-time, from home! Join our students in the Freelance Grant Writer Academy to create Financial Stability and Flexibility through writing grants for causes you are passionate about: https://grantwritingandfunding.com/freelance-grant-writer-academy
World-renowned grant writing expert and Amazon bestselling author Holly Rustick provides coaching that helps new and experienced grant writers replace their full-time income while writing grants part-time from home (or anywhere they want to live or travel in the world).
She coaches changemakers to master grant writing and start to grow 6-figure+ grant writing businesses on part-time hours via her signature group program, “Freelance Grant Writer Academy."
As an unapologetic feminist, Holly’s work in coaching female grant writers to master grant writing, find their cause-area niche, and navigate value-based pricing and nonprofit sales is breaking glass ceilings for women all over the world.
Every week, she coaches thousands of people through the top-ranking podcast, Grant Writing & Funding, books on grant writing, and inside the Freelance Grant Writer Academy.
Holly has 20 years of experience in grant writing, and began her freelance grant writing journey back in 2005. While teaching in Kuwait and Indonesia, and then earning a Master’s Degree in International Political Economy in Belgium, Holly saw the light of setting up a virtual-based business in grant writing back in the mid-2000s. Having secured more than $45 million of dollars for nonprofit organizations, and then setting up a multi 6-figure freelance business, Holly has a mission to help female grant writers break out of toxic nonprofit J-O-B-S and create high-level income while freelance grant writing.
Inside the Freelance Grant Writer Academy, students have secured more than $225+ million in grant funding and $4+ million in revenue in their grant writing businesses within two years.
To amplify this work, she is past-president of the Guam Women’s Chamber of Commerce and was appointed to the Guam Business Advisory Task Force as an advisor to the first female governor of Guam. Holly lives on the island of Guam with her beautiful daughter, Isabella.
If you are interested in replacing your full-time income while writing grants part-time from home (or from anywhere in the world!) join the Freelance Grant Writer Academy!
www.grantwritingandfunding.com.