The Grant Writing Certificate Program that Gives You Experience

As a grant writer for 20+ years who has trained over 1,000 other grant writers, I know firsthand what it takes to become a skilled and successful grant writer. Yes, training and certifications help, but the reality is that doing the work — writing the grants — is where you learn. 

But some clients or employers do want to see certifications. The key is making sure you’re getting a certification that will help you excel in grant writing, rather than just checking a box on your resume. 

That’s why Grant Writing and Funding offers two dedicated certifications in our Freelance Grant Writer Academy and Grant Professional Mentorship programs. 

Our grant writer certification programs go beyond training. We teach you grant research, strategy, management, and more. And then we provide real-time feedback on your work until you build that critical confidence to excel as a grant writer. 

In this article, I’ll share more about our programs and also walk you through the realities of grant writing certificates: what’s worth doing, what’s a waste of money, and what will actually get you the results you want in your career. 

What certifications do you need to be a grant writer? 

Many current and aspiring grant writers ask me this question: Do I need a grant writing certification to become a grant writer? 

Here’s the truth most certificate programs will not tell you: 

You do NOT need a grant writing certification to become a grant writer. In fact, some of the most successful grant writers I know have no formal training. But many new grant writers benefit from obtaining a certificate if the program is designed to help them improve their skills and increase their confidence. 

That’s the key distinction: Will the certification program give you skills that last beyond the training itself? 

A grant writing credential will not serve you if you can’t back it up with high-quality work. That’s the bar we use when evaluating grant writing certificate programs, and I encourage you to do the same. Grant writers in our programs have already raised $330M in grant funding. 

What makes our grant writing certificate uniquely valuable 

Inside the Freelance Grant Writer Academy, we offer a Grant Writer and Consultant Certification. 

We think of it as a grant writing certificate PLUS. To help you stand out from the crowd, you’ll learn the ins and outs of grant writing, plus how to earn money as a freelance or consultant grant writer. You’ll gain skills while also expanding your career opportunities. 

For those interested in only a grant writer certification, we also partner with the Grant Professionals Certification Institute. Inside our programs, you can earn Education Credits toward their GPC certification as well. 

External considerations for a grant writing certificate

While a certification isn’t mandatory for grant writers, it CAN provide multiple benefits. If you are starting a freelance grant writing business or exploring a grant writing career, a certificate provides EXTERNAL validation of your credentials for clients. 

Imagine a nonprofit asks if you have a grant writing certificate during an interview or discovery call. 

• Really, they are asking how experienced you are. If you have a grant writing certification, your answer is an easy “yes.” 

• If you do not have a certification, you’ll need to educate the nonprofit a bit. You can let them know that there is no industry requirement for grant writers to have a certification. Instead, let them know how many grants you have written, how much grant funding you have secured, and other grant experience you have. 

Yes, the certification can make the conversation with a nonprofit easier. It can get you in the door and validate your credentials, especially if you are new to grant writing. You can even put the name of your certification on your resume, website, LinkedIn profile, or business card. 

But the reality is that most nonprofits that ask about grant writing certifications do not understand the difference between the various trainings and programs available today. 

They don’t know the difference between a one-day course that gives you a certificate vs an intensive training program certification that gives you lasting skills and real-time feedback, like we offer inside the Freelance Grant Writer Academy. 

So it’s up to you to choose a program that will set you up to succeed as a grant writer. 

Internal considerations for a grant writing certificate

The process of getting a grant writing certification can help improve your skills, knowledge, and confidence in writing grants. This boost may be exactly what you need to build a successful grant writing career or freelance business. 

But the reality is that it will only serve you well if the certification program provides actual grant writing practice. 

What does grant writing practice look like? 

Inside Freelance Grant Writer Academy, we offer a Grant Writer and Consultant Certification that provides both grant training and business training. Our grant training includes our 30-day Master Grant Application Template program that teaches you to write a grant in 30 days. 

Then, you submit your grant template to our expert grant writers and receive a personalized review with feedback!

This means that even if you aren’t working inside a nonprofit or don't have a current nonprofit client, you get real grant writing experience. We show you how to develop a “fictional” nonprofit client and create a grant template for them. Your grant template can then serve as a writing sample for future grant writing clients! 

For the Consultancy side of the certification, we offer specific modules (and a feedback loop) about developing your offer, pricing, marketing, and sales process. 

This is one of the most unique certifications because it prepares you as a grant writer and as a grant consultant. 

So, yes, a grant writing certification can benefit your resume and improve your skills. But actually going through the process of writing an entire grant template and getting feedback is what gives you the kind of skills and experience that enable you to write successful grants. 

Is a grant writing certificate worth it? 

A grant writing certificate can help you learn to write grants, improve your grant writing skills, and validate your grant credentials for potential clients or employers. 

For the grant writers I train and work with, a grant writing certificate is worth it if it helps them: 

• Learn to write grants. 
• Become better grant writers. 
• Gain hands-on experience writing grants. 
• Create grant writing samples to share with employers or clients. 
• Build confidence in their own grant writing skills. 

How to get a grant writing certificate

If you’ve decided that a grant writing certification program is for you, then you’ve come to the right place. 

Here at Grant Writing and Funding, we offer two intensive certification programs that are completed 100% online: 

Inside our Freelance Grant Writer Academy, we offer a Grant Writer and Consulting Certification. 

Inside our Grant Professional Mentorship, we offer a Grant Strategist and Grant Trainer Certification. 

It’s worth noting that the certifications we offer all require intensive training and ensure you gain the skills and practice you need to succeed as a grant writer. We don’t offer generic training or courses. 

Grant writing classes vs training vs certification: Understanding the difference

Today, grant writing training programs come in many different varieties. There are online courses offered by universities, in-person trainings offered by experienced grant writers, and the credit- and exam-based Grant Professional Certificate (GPC).

These programs can all be beneficial, depending on your needs. For example, our own grant writing programs supply Education Credits for students to transfer over to GPC.  But not everyone wants to take an exam or pay an annual credentialing fee. 

We recommend seeking out grant writing programs that: 

• Include grant writing practice.
• Provide expert feedback on your grant writing (so you can improve your skills).
• Include education and training on essential areas that go beyond writing, such as grant strategy, prospecting, and consulting. 
• Go beyond pre-recorded sessions. To learn grant writing, you need to DO grant writing with support from real-life experts. 
• Provide ongoing support as you put your skills into practice. 

The reality is that there are few certification programs out there that teach you to become a grant writer, grant consultant, grant trainer, and grant strategist, while also offering support as you put these skills into practice as a grant professional. 

That’s why Grant Writing and Funding created our own certification programs. 

Our Grant Writing Certification Programs

Grant Writing and Funding offers two distinct certificate programs: 

• Our Grant Writer and Consulting Certification (available inside our Academy) empowers you with training, coaching, and real-life practice writing quality grants, while also preparing you to run your own freelance grant writing business. This certification is ideal for new grant writers who are just getting started. 

• Our Grant Strategist and Grant Trainer Certification (available inside our Mentorship) empowers you with the skills to work at a higher level with organizations, train other grant writers in your business, and become certified as a grant trainer. The designation of grant trainer alone can open up positions for you to bid on within the government. 

What’s included in our grant writing certificate programs? 

Unlike other programs out there, our grant writing certifications are about so much more than grant writing. They’re designed to give you hands-on experience, real-time feedback, and skills that go beyond completing grant applications. 

Inside our programs, you learn to find and evaluate grant prospects, write every element of a grant proposal, manage additional application materials, and understand the ins and outs of grants management. Plus, you get the business side of putting together a business, offers that sell, pricing on value, marketing without feeling salesy, and selling ethically.

Our grant certification programs are 100% online, taught by expert grant writers, provide long-term support (rather than one-day sessions that can be quickly forgotten), and connect you with a community of grant writer and freelance grant writer peers. 

Grant Writer and Consultant Certification

Inside the Freelance Grant Writer Academy, our Grant Writer and Consultant Certification includes the 30-day Master Grant Training, where you build out a Grant Template and get it reviewed by our team. We give you feedback on areas to improve, strengths that we see, and how certain sections work or need to be improved. 

For the Consultant portion of the certification, you actually work through our specialized trainings on how to: 

1. Set up a grant writing business. 
2. Put together a grant writing offer (package and retainer) that makes sense for your goals and clients.
3. Ethically price your offers.
4. Put together a marketing plan and pitch deck.
5. Plan your sales calls process. 

As you work through the program, everything you create gets reviewed by our experts, providing real human feedback. 

Grant Strategist and Grant Trainer Certification

Inside the Grant Professional Mentorship, our Grant Strategist and Grant Trainer Certification includes three main focus areas: 

1. Optimize your business: You’ll learn to refine your offers and pricing, and create a 90-day marketing plan. This leans into real strategy with your clients, giving you skills to guide clients through any situation with grants and funding. 
2. Become a Grant Trainer: You’ll learn how to create, facilitate, and sell a grant training (in-person or online). You will get all the resources to make sure it aligns with your niche offering value, and to sell out your training year after year. You will confidently be able to deliver a grant training webinar or a 6-week grant training or anything in between. From creating the actual curriculum to a registration sales page, you will be ready. 
3. Grow an agency or scale an online business: If you want to hire grant writers and grow a grant writer agency, you will gain all the tools you need to hire, delegate, and manage a team while balancing your time. Or you may choose to grow an online grant business or grant software. In that case, you will learn how to put together your offer and market this offer to sell it at scale. 

For each of these modules, you’ll submit specific items for our Mentorship team to review and give feedback on before getting the certification.

Start your grant writing certificate today

If you’re ready to turn grant writing into a career you love, our programs offer open enrollment several times each year. You can learn more about our approach, the differences between our two programs, and join upcoming free trainings by visiting the Academy and the Mentorship.