[Q&A series] Should I hire a freelancer to write my grant applications?

[Q&A SERIES]

SHOULD I HIRE A FREELANCER TO WRITE MY GRANT APPLICATIONS? 

As with most fundraising decisions, knowing when to invest and what you need to invest in, requires careful thought. At the basic level you’ll want to know your numbers – how much it’s going to cost you and what the return on your investment might be (if you want to read more about ROI take a look at this blog post). However, there are usually other questions you need to ask yourself so that you can make an informed decision about whether now is the right time to hire in a freelancer to help with your trust fundraising.

Here are five scenarios when investing in a freelancer might be the right decision for you:

1.  I don’t have the capacity

Most of us these days feel like we have too much to do. If you’ve been successful with some grant applications in the past (and therefore have the basic information you need for applications such as a good case for support, a project outline and budgets) but you’re getting to the point where you just don’t have enough time to manage your current grants as well as sending out new applications, then you might want to consider bringing in a freelancer. An extra pair of hands to make sure you’re getting the applications out that you need to. This works best when you have existing documents to give to a freelancer and they can adapt as necessary to send out new applications.  Think of this as the ‘do it for you’ version of a freelancer / charity relationship.

2. I don’t have the technical expertise

There are two scenarios worth mentioning here:

 - The first is where your charity is brand new to trust fundraising and you want someone to help you learn how to write great applications by taking you through the process. This is the ‘do it with you’ version where a freelancer writes the application, but shares their learning with you along the way. They might show you what sources they use to find prospects, how they go about researching and prioritising those prospects, what information they collate in preparation for writing an application and how they put a budget together.

 - The second scenario is where you might be branching out into a different type of grant application – let’s say a European funding programme or statutory opportunity. If you’re not familiar with the funder or type of funding, then it can really pay off to work with someone who has experience and knows exactly what information is needed and how best to present it. You might be able to work it out yourself, but it would take you a lot longer than paying someone who knows exactly what they’re doing.

3. I can’t afford a permanent member of staff

Investing in fundraising, particularly in staff, should always bring you a return on investment, but perhaps your grant fundraising is only a small part of your overall income mix, and you only need someone to work on a very part-time basis. So it might not be practical to hire a permanent member of staff just for a few days a month and a freelancer might be a better option. Or you might have other organisational reasons for not wanting to recruit a permanent member of staff and hiring a freelancer instead gives you more flexibility. You might find that by hiring a freelancer you can also gain the expertise of someone far more experienced than you could afford to pay as a permanent member of staff.

4. My Trustees want to test whether trust fundraising is right for us

If your charity is new to trust fundraising, it’s understandable that you might want to see if investing long-term is worthwhile. So hiring a freelancer to write some applications will help you to test out whether your case for support is strong enough, whether there are enough grant opportunities out there and whether trust fundraising is worth pursuing in the future.

5. Our trust fundraiser has left the charity

This one is probably the most common scenario I see as a freelancer. Your trust fundraiser has left the organisation and you haven’t managed to recruit someone else yet so you need some external help to keep things going whilst you find the perfect replacement. In this scenario, you’ll most likely have previous bids for a freelancer to ‘recycle’, systems in place and a pipeline of prospects you want to apply to – but you need someone to make sure key reports and applications get sent out whilst you’re recruiting.

If you find yourself in any of these scenarios, it might be that working with a freelancer is the right decision for you as an organisation. What’s really important here is to remember that a freelancer can only work with the information you give them so if you’ve got a project idea but haven’t worked out the details like specific activities, what it will cost or the difference it will make, then the freelancer will need to work with you to work out this information.

If you’re looking for a freelancer, here are a few resources that might help:

• Word of mouth – by far the best way to find a bid writer or freelancer is word of mouth. Ask other organisations and in your networks and you should get some trusted recommendations

•  Fundraising consultants and freelancers Facebook group – you don’t have to join the group but can message the admins who will post an advert on your behalf.

•  Chartered Institute of Fundraising Consultants Directory – Consultants and freelancers can pay to be listed in this directory.

•  The Charity Excellence Framework Freelancer Register – free to access but you do need to sign up.