"I think it will only keep growing as a field," says grant writer Colleen
Miron. "Most fund-raisers who already have jobs don't have the time to devote
to writing a grant, especially when it's a 40-page proposal with letters of
support and all sorts of things. Once people start realizing what's out there,
they're going to want to have somebody dedicated to doing it.
"Also, with the electronic age, there's a lot of work you could do from
home by telecommuting across the country, talking with organizations and foundations.
It's a field that fits right into that."
Grant writers can be paid in two ways. They may have a salaried position
within an organization, or they may charge clients an hourly rate for their
services. Private grant writers say this rate generally falls between $50
and $100 per hour.
A flat rate to write a grant can also be negotiated. These rates can be
in the thousands for an average-sized grant, which can take from two weeks
to several months to write.
"There can be someone like me who works for a college or school district
and isn't going to get paid as much as a company who does it privately," says
Miron.
Earnings and employment information from the U.S. Department of Labor is
not available for this field at this time.