Getting Started in Grant Writing: 4 Tips for Launching Your Career

Whether you’re a recent graduate or exploring a career change, grant writing might be on your radar. If you’re passionate about the work of nonprofits and have strong writing skills, this path can offer meaningful, impactful work. But how do you break into the field?

Here are four ways to get started:

1. Understand what a grant writer’s day-to-day looks like

The responsibilities of a grant writer can vary depending on the setting.

If you work in-house at a nonprofit, you’ll likely focus exclusively on that organization’s fundraising strategy—often managing everything from prospect research to proposal writing to reporting. You may be the go-to person for all things foundation funding.

If you work at a consulting firm, like Elevate, you might juggle a portfolio of nonprofit clients across different issue areas. Your day could include writing proposals, meeting with clients to discuss grant opportunities and collect info, collaborating with colleagues, and adapting your voice and strategy to fit each client.

If you are a freelance grant writer, you may spend time “selling” your services – identifying organizations in need of writing support, and building relationships with them so they come back to you for multiple projects. You’ll work largely independently to prepare and submit grants for your clients.

Want to get a clearer picture of what these roles entail? Check out job postings on:

2. Build your technical grant writing skills

Grant writing is its own distinct form of writing—different from creative writing, academic work, or journalism. To be successful, you’ll need to learn how to make a clear, compelling case for funding within the structure and constraints of a foundation’s guidelines.

There are a number of free and low-cost resources to help you learn:

Candid offers live and on-demand training on everything from proposal basics to advanced topics like collaboration and funder relationships.
Elevate’s free webinars, led by our team of experts, walk you through key grant writing principles and offer practical tools to strengthen your fundraising.
You might also check out Elevate’s blog post on our favorite grant writing books.

3. Get hands-on experience

Once you’ve learned the basics, put your skills to work.

Volunteering is a great way to get practical experience and build your portfolio. Many nonprofits—especially smaller ones—need support with grant writing and may be open to volunteer help. Try searching platforms like VolunteerMatch for virtual or local opportunities.

If you already work for a nonprofit, but not in a grant writing capacity, express your interest in learning about grants. Ask the development team if you might help with grant preparation, in order to build your skills while writing about a topic and organization you’re already familiar with. Many Elevate staff made their way into grantwriting through other nonprofit roles!