Being a grant writer is one of the most rewarding, dynamic, and flexible careers out there. And getting started as a grant writer is a lot easier than you might think! 

I’ve been writing grants for 20 years—and have trained hundreds of successful grant writers. One of my passions is helping more people become grant writers. So in this article, I’m going to break down the basics of grant writing, what grant writers really do, and how to become a grant writer, even if you have no prior experience. 

What Is Grant Writing at the Core? 

In its simplest form, grant writing means using a framework—written grant proposals, numerical benchmarks, and relevant financial information—to connect mission and money. 

When I first started grant writing, I didn’t even know this was what I was doing—connecting mission and money using words and numbers. But as I built my grant writing career, I soon learned this connection is at the core of everything a grant writer does. And, once you understand this, it completely shifts how you approach writing grants and creating your grant writing career. 

How I Became a Grant Writer

Back in 2005, after the Asian Tsunami, I was working in Indonesia, where the tsunami did some of the most damage. I was hired by a very small, start-up Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) to help with after-school programs in the displaced tented area. 

After developing relationships in this region, people started telling me that they needed access to capital to rebuild their lost businesses. They approached me, as I was in the field, and asked if I could connect them with the larger United Nations offices that had money available—money local people couldn’t access because of the nuanced application procedures. 

I started writing grant applications to get people the money they needed to rebuild their lost businesses. I didn’t even realize I was writing grants at the time. But I loved that I was able to act as a liaison between these larger organizations that had money and the people who needed it. 

Still to this day, helping a friend get funding to restart her mobile shop is one of my favorite memories about writing grants.

That was my first entry into grant writing, connecting mission and money, and it has stuck with me to this day.

How You Can Become a Grant Writer

If you can imagine helping causes you care about to get funding, while you also make money, then grant writing is for you.

You don’t have to live in the United States, have a grant writing certification, be an excellent writer, have English as your first language, or be good at math, to be a great grant writer. 

From my experience, grant writing is the “woman in the chair” kind of job where all you need to be a grant writer is a computer, the internet, and training. 

In August 2025, we have more than 250 students in our grant writer training programs, the Freelance Grant Writer Academy and the Grant Professional Mentorship. 

Many of our students are: 

• stay at home moms
• retiring / leaving from nonprofit jobs
• former teachers, lawyers, politicians, social workers, etc. 
• still in college
• never went to college
• living outside of the United States
• have a different first language other than English
• failed their math classes in school
• didn’t do well in English class

What our students have in common though, is that:

• they are passionate about causes in the world
• they want flexibility in their schedules
• they want to work from home, if they prefer
• they want financial stability 

So how do they become a grant writer and what is it they do? Keep reading…

What Does a Grant Writer Do

At the most basic level, a grant writer is a specialist who focuses on writing grants—connecting mission to money using words and numbers. 

However, a good grant writer also does other things, such as:

• Staying on top of grant announcements
• Following the social, political, and economic activities within a nation as grants either drive decisions in these sectors, or are outcomes of decisions made in these sectors
• Understanding program management
• Learning how to write budgets and turn math into narrative
• Doing deep dive research on needs and problems and humanize statistics, research, and reports
• Checking and ensuring all required attachments are included with a grant proposal
• Reading through government lingo and foundation priorities
• Learning the art of grant prospecting
• Building partner relationships with aligned organizations
• Building relationships with funders

If this sounds overwhelming, don’t panic! 

With training and support, grant writers of every background learn how to do these activities naturally. In fact, these add-on activities beyond “writing a grant proposal” can be some of the most rewarding parts of the job of a grant writer. 

Sample Grant Writer Job Description

If you are inspired to become a grant writer, or looking to hire a grant writer, then you are probably curious about what a grant writer job description includes.

Here is what a week in the life of a grant writer could include:

• Prospecting for grants on Instrumentl, Candid, Grants.gov, or other places. 
• Going to a meeting with the organization’s executive team (you need decision-makers in the room) and discussing priority areas that need funding.
• Writing up a budget or working with the organization’s financial team to document the new and existing costs that need to be covered for each funding need. 
• Doing research and finding citations and sources to back up the need for projects or missions.
• Writing grant proposals (ideally, starting from a Master Grant Application Template).
• Attending webinars from funders about upcoming grant funding opportunities. 
• Talking to partners. 
• Following up with funding sources. 

Yes, there may be other smaller tasks—or variations of these tasks based on whether the organization you work with applies for federal, state, or foundation grants—but these are the core activities that a grant writer does. 

One big disclaimer though: If you see “All other duties as necessary” as a main description in a grant writer role, this is a red flag. For those who aren’t familiar with grant writing, this sort of wording suggests the role may also include other types of fundraising, such as individual donor fundraising or even events fundraising. 

As a job, grant writing is good for both introverts and extroverts. There is a fair amount you can do on your own, while also getting the opportunity to have conversations and build relationships.

Grant writing is also a great job that you can do as a freelancer since organizations do not necessarily need grant writers to be in-house. Grant writing is a job that was already often online pre-pandemic and has grown even more post-pandemic.

Is Grant Writing a Good Career

Grant writing is an excellent career choice because the barrier to entry is low and the results you can achieve are big!

To get started as a grant writer all you need is a computer, internet, and training on grant writing. You don’t need a grant writing degree or grant writing certification or 10,000 hours to learn grant writing. (In fact, people in our Freelance Grant Writer Academy often start writing grants for pay within XXX months of starting the program.)

You can also work as a grant writer from anywhere in the world. I have written grants while living in Indonesia, Washington D.C., Belgium, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Guam.

Additionally, the impact of writing grants is world-changing. From that first $500 grant I won that lliterally changed the life of my friend so she could restart her business—all the way to getting $6 million for a women’s nonprofit to serve survivors—my own grant writing career has helped so many people. 

When you learn the framework of writing and finding grant proposals (which I teach in our Academy), you will quickly start to see major changes happening in the world that you are directly contributing to. 

One of the co-coaches in our programs, Gwen, writes grants for her local municipalities. She says one of the most awesome things is when her friends and family come to her town in New Mexico. They drive around town and she points out all the infrastructure that she has helped get funding for. She tells them, “That bridge is there because of the grant I wrote.” 

I’ve even had people walk up to me at my local coffee shop and say, “Holly, I just want to thank you because I have a job because of that grant you wrote.”

Knowing grant writing can also help you get a promotion in your current job, shift laterally, or get a leadership position. 

Here are some students in our programs who have benefited from grant writing as a career:

• Jen was burned out in her corporate job and wanted more flexibility with her kids. She quit her corporate job, learned how to write grants, and then opened a freelance grant writing business. Within a year she had secured $73K in her business Within a Year, and Won Her First Grant all the Way to $260,000 in grant funding in a year.
• Deb tripled her rates and booked out clients by niching into performing arts grants
• In six months, Grace went from volunteering to landing a remote grant writing job with a $30K raise.
• In 12 months, Gabrielle quit her Job, had a baby, and built a $12K/Month grant writing business.
• Christina learned to write grants and earned $30K while working on her MFA.

How You Can Get Started as a Grant Writer

Grant writing is an amazing career for so many people because, beyond a computer and internet access, all you need is a handful of key skills and the opportunity to practice putting those skills to work. 

In this part of the article, we’re going to walk through what those skills are, how you can get them, and how you can get started as a grant writer regardless of your educational background or work history. 

Essential Grant Writing Skills

Your grant writing skills will be what separates you from everyone else. 

Unfortunately, there are a lot of grant writers out there who don’t have training, which often means they are not submitting the most competitive grants. Some people are using AI without knowing how to write grants, and that does not serve them well.

The good thing is that there is a framework to learn grant writing. In order to write a successful grant, you must learn:

1. How to look at grant applications and build a framework instead of starting from a blank page.
2. How to do grant research and design a problem statement.
3. How to write a Goal for your grant.
4. How to write SMART objectives.
5. How to create a Timeline Action Plan that delineates the grant.
6. How to write a Strategic Budget.

You can learn more about each of these elements in our free 45-minute GRANTS Formula training. 

Once you’re confident with these grant writing essentials, you then need to write grants. Yep. Writing grants will help you write better grants and increase your skills. 

Inside our Freelance Grant Writer Academy, we offer unlimited grant reviews. This means that every time you write a grant, you can send it to us to give you feedback before you submit it. 

Our students love this feedback loop system, and they start winning more grants because their grant writing skills improve with our combined 40+ years of grant writing expertise. 

How Long Does it Take to Become a Grant Writer

The good news is that it really doesn’t take that much time to become a grant writer! In our Academy, our 30-Day Master Grant Template program includes ten hours of training that provide all the basics you need to start writing grants. 

Then, it’s time to practice writing grants. This is what takes the most time when starting a grant writing career. 

You might wonder, “Where do I get experience writing grants if I’m new to grant writing?”

Here are some ways our Academy students get grant writing practice when they come in with no prior grant experience: 

1. They reach out to a nonprofit and offer to write a Master Grant Template. 
2. They write a grant for the current nonprofit they work for. 
3. They reach out to professors or universities and ask if they need help with a grant. 
4. They reach out to their church or local faith-based institutions and ask if they can write a grant.
5. They pitch their grant writing services and get a paying client. 
6. They write a “fictional” grant for a cause they are passionate about and submit it to us to review. 

Finding an organization that needs grant writing support really is not that difficult. As of 2023, there are more than 1.9 million nonprofits in the United States alone. There are nowhere near that many grant writers! 

Get the training. Write the grants. Get feedback. Become a grant writer. 

Some people go through this process within a month, while others take the training and practice more slowly.

Do I Need a Grant Writing Certification? 

You can become a certified grant writer, but you don’t have to have a grant writing certification to get clients. We do offer a grant certification within our Freelance Grant Writer Academy, and we offer education credits if people are taking the Grant Professional Institute Certification. 

However, many grant writing students in our programs are not certified and still have secured millions of dollars in grants and get nonprofit clients.

But some students want a grant writing certification for a few reasons:

1. The training for the certification helps them understand grant writing more.
2. They can put the grant certification on their resume, email signature, LinkedIn profile, etc.
3. When applying for jobs or getting clients as freelance grant writers they can say they have a certification.

Deciding whether to get a grant writing certification is more about what works for you—and what gives you the confidence to build a successful grant writing career. 

One point of caution, though. I’ve seen some people go down the certification rabbit hole instead of applying for jobs or pitching to clients. So be sure to have a specific goal for getting a certification and then move forward. Don’t get stuck in the certification spiral.

How to Become a Grant Writer With No Experience

Even if you have no grant writing experience, you can still become a grant writer.

We have a lot of students who come into our Academy program with zero grant writing experience—then quickly move on to secure millions of dollars in grant funding and set up grant writing businesses.

As shared above, you simply need to things: training and practice. Once you have training, you can get start getting grant writing experience right away by: 

• Reaching out to a nonprofit you love and offering to write 2-3 grants. Some new grant writers charge a fee and others do it pro bono to get the experience—while also making sure the client knows that, after these initial grants, they can discuss paid work going forward. 
• Reaching out to grant writing firms to see if they are hiring entry-level subcontract grant writers.
• Applying for grant writing jobs (with our grant writing certification on their resume) and putting Open for Work on your LinkedIn profile.
• Pitching your grant writing services to previous employers, friends, and family, and with nonprofit organizations.

Every grant you write—whether paid or pro bono—gives you more experience and confidence in writing grants. 

How to Become a Grant Writer Without a Degree

You don’t need a grant writing degree to be a grant writer. In fact, I don’t even know if any universities or colleges offer a specific grant writing degree. 

You can have ANY degree, or NO degree, to write grants. 

Remember, grant writing is a skill, and all you need to develop this skill is training and practice. 

You can develop your grant writing skills through online courses, training programs, or just writing grants and being in the trenches.

Many of the students in our Academy have no college degrees or have degrees in fields like journalism, humanities, social work, law, nonprofit administration, English, and so much more. 

Many of our students are moms who never even finished a degree. Now, after raising kids, they want to return to the workforce but can’t find work because of gaps in their resume. Learning the skills of grant writing has been a saving grace for them because they can immediately start making money as freelance grant writers and still have flexible hours. Plus, they don’t need to have a resume—they just need to have grant writing skills and experience. 

How to Become a GREAT Grant Writer

The difference between a great grant writer, a decent grant writer, and a poor grant writer is the training and feedback systems. 

Our programs, as of August 2025, have trained students to collectively secure $225Million in grant funding—an impressive accomplishment. Our students have achieved this because we provide two things: world-class training and expert feedback.

You might be a bad or decent grant writer if you watch some YouTube videos, do a one-day training, and learn a bit about how to use AI in grant writing. 

You can become a good grant writer if you actually go through a proven framework to learn grant writing, such as an extensive grant writing class at your local colleg, a certification like the GPCI, or an online intensive grant training program. 

To be an EXCELLENT grant writer, though, you need feedback on your grant writing. 

I’ve been a federal grant reviewer for more than a decade, and I can tell if you got your grant reviewed before submitting it or not. 

I can tell if different people wrote different sections, if they rushed the budget at the end, or if they really understood the assignment.

It’s important to set up a team of other grant writers and review each other’s work before you submit grants. 

Inside our Freelance Grant Writer Academy, we have unlimited grant reviews where we provide feedback on every grant you submit to us. This expert feedback is why our students secure so many grants!

Get Started With Our Free Grant Writing Course 

You can start your journey to becoming a grant writer TODAY with our Free Grant Class. 

The training takes only 45 minutes—and you’ll walk away with clarity on what it takes to start writing grants and launch yourself into one of the most rewarding careers available.

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