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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!
Welcome to the Grant Writing and Funding Podcast where it's all about, you guessed it, grant writing and funding made easy so you can increase capacity, grow funding, and advance your nonprofit or freelance mission. Now, let's hand it over to your host, grants expert and author Holly Rustic, so you can increase your funding and drive impact.
Holly Rustick:Hello. Hello. Hello. It's Holly Rustic here with Grant Writing and Funding, and welcome to the podcast where I help you grow capacity, increase funding, and to advance mission that might be the mission of the nonprofit that you're working at or the many different missions of the nonprofits you work with if you're a consultant. Alright.
Holly Rustick:So this is for all you people out there that work at nonprofits or with nonprofits, and I have a great show for you today. Really excited about this one as I am going to go over the pros and cons of hiring a freelance grant writer versus a staff grant writer. So this is definitely for you guys to tune into if you're looking at hiring at your nonprofit or it's for you as a nonprofit consultant or freelance grant writer to listen to because this is a way you can educate your potential clients. Alright. So we definitely are gonna look at both the pros and the cons though, and then I'm gonna tell you what the overall status is, and we're gonna get into that in just a moment.
Holly Rustick:I also have all of the show notes today at grantwriting grantwritingandfunding.com/230seven. So you are definitely going to want to check that out as I have a lot of links, etc. While you're there at grantwritingandfunding.com, be sure to sign up for our free hub haven where we have a ton of grant writing and nonprofit and consultant resources available for you. We have, where you can dive in and look at the different podcasts. We also have some downloadables, some worksheets, some checklists, etcetera.
Holly Rustick:And every week, I send out our Hub Haven newsletter with a bunch of things that are coming up at grant writing and funding or curated resources that I found, across the internet that are hot and trending for the nonprofit and nonprofit consultant sector. So you're definitely gonna wanna join that and that is free at grantwritingandfunding.com. So do check that out. We also, of course, have our courses there. I have a bunch of courses that you can get online, including our most popular grant writing master course.
Holly Rustick:We also have our freelance grant writing master course. So these are on demand courses. You can check these out. We have our nonprofit strategic planning master course and so, so many more. So you're definitely gonna wanna check those out if you wanna increase your learning education and advance forward at your nonprofit or in your consultancy.
Holly Rustick:You can definitely grab those. And you can also check out our events coming up on our event page on our website. Alright. So let's go ahead and get into our topic today. And I had a lot of fun putting together this episode because it's something I'm really passionate about helping nonprofits really streamline their operations and and understanding too how grants are funded.
Holly Rustick:Right? How you can kind of play with the different grants. There's I mean, I love Voulet of nonprofit AF, how he's always talking about too, like, the revolution of grant writing really should be streamlined. And I totally agree with that because so many grants do not pay for staffing positions. It is crazy, But that's true at this point in time.
Holly Rustick:So these are some alternatives on how you can actually fund people and professionals to get work done for your nonprofit. Alright. So let's go ahead and get into it today. So if you've been thinking about starting or growing a freelance grant writing company or nonprofit consultancy, now is the time. Forbes recently wrote an article titled The Freelance Revolution is Just Getting Started, and that is absolutely correct.
Holly Rustick:In fact, I remember discussing the growth of the freelance grant writing sector with Rodney Walker back in 2019, before pandemic, right? Back then, it was projected that 50% of people would be freelancers by 2030 or 50% of working adults, I should say. But we have fast tracked this trend. In fact, Gen Z workers have already hit the 50% mark in being freelancers. That's crazy, right?
Holly Rustick:This freelance trend exponentially grew of course during Covid-nineteen, with technology becoming more accessible and more than that, not just technology becoming more accessible, but the work from home model normalized. Alright? This I remember, because I've been freelancing for like over a decade now and I remember back in the day, it's kind of that conversation of, oh, I could actually hire you and I don't have to hire someone who's staff. Right? This conversation has grown and it's become a lot more normalized because of the pandemic.
Holly Rustick:Right? Freelancing impacting nonprofit organizations. The growth of freelancing has also impacted organizations which make up 5.6% of The United States economy. So that's crazy. That's amazing.
Holly Rustick:Alright? So what the pandemic and the great resignation, or I like to call it the great redistribution, has taught many nonprofit organizations is that they needed to update their operational budgets. Does this sound familiar to you guys listening out there who may be executive directors? Staffing has been a line item that is constantly being analyzed, but even more now with a fine tooth comb. Grants oftentimes do not cover many staffing positions, as I mentioned before, or fringe benefits or so much more.
Holly Rustick:So an alternative has been to tap into the growing talent pool of freelancers. So it's kind of this compounded situation that we find, right? We have working from home being normalized, we have technology has been increased, and we have a growing talent pool of freelance grant writers and then we also have this entire great resignation, right? So we have non profits are screening and trying to find employees to hire. So this is a great alternative.
Holly Rustick:So freelance grant writers are not an exception to this pool with funding positions as a top priority for many nonprofits in 2022. Hiring a freelance grant writer is very, very desirable. Alright. So let's go into my five pros of hiring a freelance grant writer versus a staff grant writer. So from the point of view of a nonprofit organization, hiring a freelance grant writer can be very attractive.
Holly Rustick:And here are my five reasons. Number one, a freelance grant writer does not need to be kept forever on payroll. K? When navigating grants, donations, and other sources, being able to fit in a specific budget for a freelance grant writer is easy compared to forever payroll. Consultancy is not a staffing position that needs to be sustained long term, although it can be a long term situation.
Holly Rustick:A freelance grant writer will give the nonprofit a specific scope of work within a specific amount of time, I. E. These are deliverables. For example, so if you don't know what I'm talking about exactly, so for example, a freelance grant writer could find 10 grants and write five grants by the end of one year which will cost $30,000. Right?
Holly Rustick:Bam. So it's a specific thing that they're going to do, the deliverables, and they're going to do it in a specific amount of time and it's gonna cost a specific amount of money. This varies compared to a staff member who may not have those same types of very specific deliverables and a very specific time frame and only get paid for doing those things. Right? So that's easy to include what outputs and costs are for budgets then.
Holly Rustick:However, hire staff, they will also need to get funding to cover cover other non tangible work such as administrative meetings and, of course, quote unquote, any other work is needed. So this varies because you can say, I mean you don't have to do a year, course, you could do it sometimes it's a month, sometimes it's six weeks, sometimes it's three months, right? It's for whatever that specific deliverable is for a specific amount of time. So they do not have to be forever on payroll. Number two, a freelance grant writer does not need to be managed.
Holly Rustick:This is a big one. Alright? So they're not a staff member, so you don't have to micromanage their work. In fact, because you hire a professional, they will work together on a specific scope of work with you. That does not mean that you don't have meetings or communicate, but it does mean that you should not be keeping tabs on them throughout the day, having them punch in and out, actually you cannot do that, etcetera.
Holly Rustick:Having regular meetings with your hired freelance grant writer is important, but much of the time they will be running those meetings and asking you for items. In most cases, actually see freelance grant writers managing their point of contact at nonprofits. But don't fall into this trap on the other side of that where you're totally hands off. Remember, it is a mutual relationship where you work together. Just don't think that you hired a consultant that they will magically get everything done without ever speaking to you or without you giving them any documents.
Holly Rustick:You still need to do your part, but you're not micromanaging their work. Once again, it's specific deliverables and that can take a lot off. You don't have to do you don't have to deliver training to them, all of the things that go into managing a staff member. Number three, a freelance grant writer has specific skills. Here's the thing, most nonprofits do not have a full time in house grant writer on staff.
Holly Rustick:Most of the time that internal grant writer is also the executive director, program director, fundraiser, intern, or volunteer. You guys that are listening out there know what I'm talking about. Okay? It's like, oh, grant writing just kinda got thrown on your lap, tied into that ever popular quote all other things as needed and quote clause in the job description. Right?
Holly Rustick:So most of the time, the staff person has no idea how to write a grant or even if they do it's not their only or primary job responsibility. Therefore, much of the time grant writing isn't the expertise of someone on staff and it seemed more of a necessary evil, right? On the other hand, a freelance grant writer specializes in writing grants. It's what they do. To open a freelance grant writing business, they need to at least have some education and experience in writing grants.
Holly Rustick:Most freelance grant writers have extensive experience in securing funding and it's their zone of genius work. Sure. They also do marketing, admin work, and other items for their own business, but they are skilled at writing grants. That is huge. So just for comparison, if you your nonprofit wants to design an excellent website, you're probably gonna hire a web developer, not your 18 year old cousin who has never done it before.
Holly Rustick:Or if you want your accounting done, you're probably gonna hire a bookkeeper, a CPA, and not throw it at an intern who signed up to lead field trips in the forest for your nonprofit. Right? So hiring someone because of their specialty and then having those deliverables to get those done, that's amazing than just throwing a very skilled profession on the lap of somebody who maybe they're a good writer but they have no idea how to do grant writing and they have other things on their plate already. So number four, a freelance grant writer doesn't need an office. One of the beauties that nonprofits and business owners have experienced in this increasing freelance world is that you don't need to pay for office space, Internet, computers, utilities, and all the other things that staff require.
Holly Rustick:Real estate is an expensive market, especially these days, and so is technology and utilities. A freelance grant writer will work out of their own home or office and actually cannot work in your office and you cannot demand them to work certain hours, remember that! So you do not have to worry about those added expenses. This can be a huge consideration as this can be a huge savings to your nonprofit's budget. And number five, the last pro here, a freelance grant writer can actually save your nonprofit money.
Holly Rustick:Yes, a freelance grant writer is definitely going to have a different price tag compared to what you might pay an employee for an hourly wage. But remember, you don't need to pay for their taxes, an office, computer, training, or wasted time of an employee surfing online. So you cannot really compare apples to apples on this one. Maybe you would pay an internal grant writer employee $35 an hour. So when a freelance grant writer is charging $150 an hour, you might feel a little sick.
Holly Rustick:But here's the thing: they aren't going to be working two thousand and eighty hours per year, which is a full time salary position amount. You don't pay for all of the above including vacation time, sick leave, health benefits, etc. Really, most freelance grant writers average about twenty-forty hours per month of actual working time. This means that they will charge you for productive actual working time, even if they're charging packages or retainers. It's usually based somehow around hours or there's a cap in there so you will know what that is, which is amazing.
Holly Rustick:So if you add up all that, you're going to save big and you get top level expertise to focus on exactly what you need. Grant writing. Alright, so that is huge. So those are the pros of hiring a freelance grant writer versus a staff grant writer. Now let's go ahead to get into the cons now, which they're sort of cons.
Holly Rustick:Alright? So let's look at that. Now that we highlighted all the glory of hiring a freelance grant writer, let's consider some of the potential cons. Number one, Your nonprofit will not build up internal capacity. A freelance grant writer is not on staff, and that means you are outsourcing.
Holly Rustick:Sure, they can help build up your capacity secure grants, but at the end of the day, they are not necessarily a part of the culture of your nonprofit. Staff, on the other hand, are more involved in the culture of your organization as they are involved in team building, regular meetings, and more. And they have more skin in the game as this is their all of their eggs are in one basket. They are invested in your nonprofit, right? The only salary they get is from you.
Holly Rustick:But let's remember that's not all sunshine and roses either, as staff turnover is also real at a non profit and those you may have heavily invested in may pick up and leave quicker than a termination clause and a freelance contract. Alright, so this is kind of a con and it's kind of, but it's also kind of a muted con. Number two, your nonprofit can get detached from donor nurturing. By outsourcing grant writing or any other service, sometimes nonprofit staff feel like they can be very hands off. And we kind of touched on this like that's actually a pro in some ways, right?
Holly Rustick:Because you don't have to micromanage everything but sometimes that can lead to two hands off and that can definitely be a disservice to the nonprofit. Don't do that! But many do. With this fault, many nonprofit staff then rely on the freelance grant writer to develop relationships, on behalf of their organization of course, with funding sources. Because the nonprofit staff, they're not involved in the process, that relationship may end when the freelance grant writer no longer has a contract with your nonprofit.
Holly Rustick:Alright, so that's the thing with internal staff, they can keep those types of relationships longer term and they're more involved with communicating what those relationships are at your staff meetings, etc. Number three: your nonprofit may lose intellectual data. Here's the thing, I always send the final grant documents to the nonprofits I work with, but I don't have enough fingers to count the times that a year or two later, or more, nonprofit clients will come back to me and ask for copies of the grant documents. They may not they may have had turnover at their organization or just don't know where they put the files because they weren't the ones who built them out. Right?
Holly Rustick:Well, a freelance grant writer probably will not hold on to your documents after they deliver them to you. It's not because they don't have your back. It's because storing all of this for their clients can take up huge space that they pay for in Dropbox, Google Docs, or other places and they've already delivered the product to you. Their contract is over. The deliverables are done.
Holly Rustick:Now, even if you have internal staff writing your grants, this can also happen due to staff turnover, computers crashing, etc. Therefore, kind of like a side note on this, I do recommend you invest in grant management software at some point in your nonprofit journey. Okay. So the outcome, I have the five pros and the three sort of cons. Right?
Holly Rustick:The outcome, of course, is that it could be a huge pro to hiring a freelance grant writer for your nonprofit. All in all, in the age of the growing freelance revolution, hiring a freelance grant writer could be a huge advantage for your nonprofit. If this isn't something you have thought about before, then maybe it's time to rework your budget and see if it makes sense. But first, make sure that this hiring strategy fits the goals of your organization. If you are looking for freelance grant writers, you can also be sure to check out consultants we have vetted at Grant Writing and Funding and that we recommend.
Holly Rustick:You can definitely check out our link at grantwritingandfunding.com/23seven, and you can grab all of the show notes for today. I hope you enjoyed the pros and cons of hiring a freelance grant writer versus a staff grant writer, and that you consider this type of model for your nonprofit if it makes sense for you. I hope you enjoyed this episode today. And as always, if you love the Grant Writing and Funding podcast, which thousands of you do every single week, then please leave a review on your podcast player. I'm just gonna read this review real quick from Shannon who wrote, while many of Holly's podcast listeners come first for the grant writing expertise, it's her approach to the whole self of fundraisers that keep them coming back for more.
Holly Rustick:From budgets to policy, job market to sector trends, she curates an insightful lineup of topics and guests, and each episode offers something new. Thank you so much, Shannon, for that five star review on iTunes. Do love it. So if you guys also love it, please leave a review. It does help other people find the podcast and get some good golden nuggets to move their nonprofit or their consultancy further so we can serve more nonprofits to really meet their mission and extend all of the good in the world.
Holly Rustick:Alright, I'll see you guys next week. Have a great one.