Services & Pricing

Grants Consulting

We provide comprehensive, customized grants services for nonprofit organizations of all sizes and missions. Services include:

  • Outcomes-based program design

  • Program budget development

  • Preparation of grant  reports and stewardship materials

  • Integration of grants program into overall development strategy and organizational strategic plan

  • Internal communication strategy around grants

  • Assistance to staff in managing grants-funded programs, program evaluation, and data analysis

  • Staff trainings, including integrating grants into your development plan

  • One-on-one coaching for development staff in operating a grants program

  • Assessment of existing grants program

  • Grants prospect research

  • Long-range grants planning

  • Proposal preparation

 

Fundraising Strategy

In addition to grants services, we provide strategic assistance for overall fundraising efforts, including (but not limited to):

  • “Filling in” in a variety of development tasks during development staff leave or transitions

  • Development of cases for support and case statements

  • Web content related to fundraising

  • Social media content related to fundraising

  • Staff coaching in fundraising

  • Board of Directors or other volunteer training on fundraising topics

  • Strategic development planning

  • Donor database / record clean-up or set-up

  • Strategy for building donor bases for new organizations

Structure

Our services are generally structured in one of two ways:

Mobile Grants Office (Retainer) – We lead an organization’s development and program teams in all aspects of planning and executing an annual grants strategy, including all of the tasks listed above. This structure allows many organizations to add deeper grants expertise to their team than they could through staff hire, at a more cost effective rate, while eliminating their vulnerability to staff turnover and freeing development staff to focus more of their time on other areas of fundraising such as major gifts or capital campaigns. This is by far the most efficient and effective way in which we help organizations to grow over time.

Ad Hoc Services – We provide any of the services listed above to organizations on a short-term basis to fill a specific gap or need. This option can be an ideal solution for organizations experiencing turnover in their development staff, parental or other temporary leave of their development staff, a short-term “crunch” with multiple proposals due at the same time, a particular funding challenge in need of a strategic fundraising response, an opportunity to strengthen the skills of their development staff, or other situations leading to the need for fundraising support.

Flat Fee Services

M. Palmer Consulting works for a flat fee based on the scope of the work, complexity of the organization’s grants program, and the timelines for proposals, reports, or other fundraising deliverables. This flat fee enables frequent and free-flowing communication between organization staff and M. Palmer Consulting, which is critical to developing strong proposals, fundraising strategies, and grant-funded programs.

Retainer fees (“Mobile Grants Office”) are flat fees based upon the number of proposals, reports, trainings, or other deliverables in the retainer contract and all of the factors listed above. Retainer fees are divided monthly over the period of the contract.

Our fees are always tailored to the unique needs of our clients. Please contact Melanie to discuss your grants needs and obtain a quote.

Unethical Forms of Compensation

M. Palmer Consulting never works on a commission, uses contingency-based fees (dependent upon whether a grant is funded), takes “finder’s fees,”  or accepts compensation as a percentage of grant monies awarded. These practices are considered unethical by the Grant Professionals Association Code of Ethics.

Compensation for M. Palmer Consulting is never included in proposed grant budgets because funders, laws, and regulations generally prohibit this. Also, M. Palmer Consulting adheres to the Association of Fundraising Professional’s Code of Ethical Standards and the Donor Bill of Rights – the latter of which states that donors have the right to “be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.”