Choosing the Right Grant Writing Training: 4 Factors

Choosing the Right Grant Writing Training: 4 Factors

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Any nonprofit can start securing more funding through grant writing. A little introductory know-how plus hands-on practice will start you off on the right foot and can generate your first wins.

However, to make grant writing a sustained (and high-ROI) revenue source for your programs and projects, you’ll need to devote time and resources to it.

Grant writing training gives you the background, skills, and advanced tips to approach grant writing more efficiently and confidently. Understanding how to choose and prioritize grants, write quickly but effectively, and keep your proposals organized will fuel long-term success.

For new grant seekers eager to win funding, navigating all available training options can feel like it eats up more time than it’s worth. We’ll explain the key factors that will help you quickly narrow down your search for the perfect training resources, including:

  • Price Point
  • Your Grant Writing Goals
  • Your Experience Level
  • Time Commitment

We’ll also recommend options and platforms to explore for each category from Learn Grant Writing’s roundup of top options. Note that the recommendations overlap between several sections but should give you a clearer sense of good spots to start your search.

Factor 1: Price Point

Grant writing training options span a full range of price points, from free to costly. This makes sense—grant writing is a highly diverse field, and grant writers come from different backgrounds and work for all kinds of organizations with different goals.

Your budget for training is the most fundamental factor to determine early in your research.

If you’re just getting started with grant writing and your organization isn’t ready for a significant commitment yet, then you need to dip your toes in with something free or inexpensive. If you already know that you want (or have been asked) to make grants a strategic and sustained funding source, a bigger investment in training makes more sense.

For free and inexpensive training resources, consider these options:

  • Introductory courses from specialized grant training providers
  • Free lessons and modules from fundraising and grant consulting firms
  • Online eLearning platforms like Coursera and Udemy
  • Previously published course materials from grant writing classes taught at higher education institutions

Factor 2: Your Grant Writing Goals

How and why are you learning to write grant proposals? Many new grant writers work for nonprofits and want to make grants a new strategic priority. Others may approach from a different direction—pivoting their career to work as freelance grant writers. Your background or purpose for grant writing will shape the goals of your training process.

Why does this matter? Because your training resources should include (at least some) material tailored to your needs.

For example, nonprofit professionals likely need more thorough training in grant management and financial management best practices to master post-award logistics. On the other hand, freelancers may greatly benefit from guidance on how to find clients and manage complex projects with external collaborators.

Here are a few top recommendations for grant writers with different learning goals:

  • The Global Grant Writers Collective, whether you are an in-house grant writer or an existing consultant, has a journey for you to double your impact without doubling the workload.
  • Courses from established grant writing consultants that cater to various audiences
  • Resources from associations like AGWA geared towards working grant writers
  • Ed2Go, an eLearning platform with several courses designed for nonprofit professionals

Factor 3: Your Experience Level

Don’t waste time or money on training resources misaligned with your experience level. If you know the lay of the grant writing landscape, you should avoid training that covers too much introductory material. If you’re brand new to the field, you don’t want training that skims over the fundamentals too quickly.

Think carefully about your experience level as you evaluate training options. Most online courses these days provide teaser content or curriculum outlines to help you confirm that they cover what you need without dwelling too much on what you don’t. If all else fails, reach out to the vendors to ask directly.

These are some top recommendations for grant writers of varying skill levels:

  • Next Level Grant Training, a running series of professional courses and seminars that cover advanced topics for established grant writers, like federal grant seeking, ethics, reporting, and more
  • The Global Grant Writers Collective (linked above), which covers a complete curriculum from introductory material to advanced tips and tricks
  • Online course platforms like Udemy and Coursera (both linked above), which include courses that span the full range of experience levels—just be sure to look closely at your options and compare reviews since course quality can vary greatly.

Factor 4: Time Commitment

Finally, how much time can you commit to grant writing training right now? This factor is crucial to determine early, and it will vary from person to person and organization to organization.

If you define a rough target of hours you can devote to grant training and writing each week, you’ll ensure that you don’t overspend on something you can’t realistically commit to. Plus, setting a goal will help you stay accountable and keep you moving forward to win funding and/or successfully launch your independent business.

Keep in mind that time commitment may be less of an immediate concern for some types of training since so much material is delivered asynchronously through on-demand content today. If you know you want a live class and/or real-time online interaction, time commitment will be a more central factor to consider. Either way, you’ll still benefit from setting a target goal for progressing at a steady but sustainable pace.

Check out these recommendations for high, medium, and low time commitments:

  • High commitment (several hours up to 10+ hours a week): Courses offered through continuing education programs and other real-time classes
  • Medium commitment (at least several hours a week or as much as you want): Complete curriculums and active training communities like the Global Grant Writers Collective
  • Low commitment (one or two hours a week): Asynchronous and inexpensive options among the various sources listed in previous sections

Just like buying a car, applying for a college program, or making a big purchase for your organization, choosing training for your grant writing needs brings several key considerations into play. After all, it’s a true investment—the right training suited to your budget, goals, experience level, and time commitment will best enable you to start generating new revenue for your nonprofit or freelance business.

However you weigh these factors is up to you, but the key is to think about them intentionally. You’ll be mastering new skills and winning funding in no time.