Questions boards ask.
The fee, the fine print, and how it works, answered plainly. Anything we have not covered, bring it to your consultation and we will answer it live.
The partnership and the fee
How does GrantLedger get paid?
77.5 cents of every dollar we win goes to your mission. 22.5% is the GrantLedger success fee. There is no retainer, no hourly billing, and no per-application charge. We invoice only after the cash is in your account. And if a funder ever rescinds or claws back an award through no fault of yours, we refund our share of the fee within 30 days.
Is the 22.5% a one-time fee or on every grant?
It applies to each grant we win for you. For a multi-year award, our fee is calculated on the total committed amount and invoiced proportionally as each installment arrives. If a grant arrives as equipment, software, or other in-kind support with no cash, our fee does not apply at all. We pursue in-kind grants pro bono. For mixed awards, the fee applies only to the cash portion.
What happens if we don't win anything?
You owe us nothing. That is the whole model: the Losing-Costs-Nothing Guarantee. We cannot guarantee wins; no one can. We are compensated only when you win. Your organization contributes time for onboarding, gathering documents, and reviewing applications. See the time estimate under Working together.
What if a funder makes an award and we decide to decline it?
The agreement has a good-faith refusal protection. If you decline an award because of a genuine, documented conflict (restrictions your programs cannot accommodate, or funder issues you could not have known before we submitted), the fee does not apply. You document the reason in writing within 30 days. What does not qualify is changing your mind about a funder after the award, or declining to avoid the fee. You also have a veto before we ever submit, so this is rare by design.
Does the 22.5% reduce the funding our programs receive?
No. The fee is recorded as a fundraising and administrative expense on your books, the same category as a grant writer’s salary, and paid from your operating funds after a grant is received. Every dollar a funder designates for your programs stays with your programs. That program-dollars rule is written into the agreement.
Why 22.5%? That sounds high for grant writing.
Most grant writers charge $2,000 to $5,000 per application, paid up front, win or lose, and that is before the hours it takes to find and qualify each funder. A 30-application portfolio at market rates runs $60,000 to $150,000 just for the writing. Ours is the whole machine at one number (research, writing, portals, and funder correspondence), with nothing owed until you receive your funding, and you keep more than three quarters of it.
What happens when a funder renews a grant you won for us?
Our fee applies to renewals and continuations of grants we won, for up to 24 months after the original award, even if you file the renewal paperwork yourselves. The reason is simple: we built the relationship that made the renewal possible. After 24 months, renewals are yours free and clear.
What we do
What exactly do you do for us?
Everything from research to submission and reporting. We research the foundations and corporate funders that fit your mission, write the applications in your voice (including the narrative and budget), manage the funder portals, and handle the back-and-forth with funder staff on your behalf. Every application goes through our Pre-Flight Review before filing, and you have the option to veto during it. For anything that requires your signature or commits you financially, we need your explicit sign-off before filing. For everything else our default is to proceed unless you tell us not to, so tight funder deadlines never bottleneck on a busy week.
Will the applications actually sound like our organization?
Yes, because the words are yours. In the onboarding interview we map out the questions funders will ask and then ask them to you efficiently. Every application is voice-matched: we use your words, your framing, and your tone.
What kinds of grants do you pursue?
Private foundation grants and corporate giving programs. We do not pursue federal grants or federal pass-through funds, and we do not work on individual donors, major gifts, or capital campaigns. We focus where our data gives you the best odds.
How do you find the foundations?
We built our research engine on the complete public giving record: more than 11 million IRS grant records across 177,000+ foundations and corporate giving programs. We match the funders that actually give to work like yours, then score every opportunity on how likely we are to win it, so we put our effort where the funding is. This is our own data, not a directory subscription.
You're a young company. Why should we believe you can do this?
Because the method does not depend on tenure, it depends on data. Every grant a foundation makes is public record. We analyze who actually funds work like yours, at what size, in your geography, and we score every opportunity before we spend a minute writing. And the nonprofit-first model keeps us honest: we carry every cost until you are paid, so there is no risk for your organization.
What do you guarantee?
We can’t guarantee a funder’s decision. We do guarantee that your organization won’t owe grantwriting fees for unsuccessful applications. No upfront grantwriting fees. We’re compensated only after your organization receives covered grant funding.
Do you use AI?
Yes, we use software to achieve the best fundraising outcomes we can for our clients. Every grant is worked on and reviewed by a GrantLedger specialist, and you can veto any grant before submission.
Working together
Is our organization eligible?
We work with 501(c)(3) nonprofits with established programs, at least one year of operations, and a filed Form 990. The introductory conversation helps us assess your funding needs and fit for private foundation and corporate grants.
We already have a grant writer or a grant committee. Does this replace them?
No, it augments them. GrantLedger operates under an additive-only rule: we only add funding, we never touch the relationships you have built. Within 10 business days of starting, you send us the list of funders your organization already has a relationship with (a prior award, a pending application, a board connection, even future plans to apply), and those funders are carved out of the agreement entirely. No fee, no restrictions, and we do not pursue them.
What if there are foundations we want to manage ourselves?
That is exactly what the reserved funders list (Schedule A) is for. Your organization lists the funders it wants to keep managing directly, and those funders are carved out of the agreement entirely: no fee, no restrictions, and we do not approach them.
What if there are foundations we would not accept funding from?
Add them to Schedule A as well, and GrantLedger will not approach them. The list is yours to define. And as a second layer of protection, you see every application before it goes out and can veto any submission, so nothing ever reaches a funder your organization is not comfortable with.
Will funders mind that an outside firm wrote the application?
They should not. Bringing in outside help is common practice. The application reads as your organization, and the grant goes directly to you.
How much of our time will this take?
Plan for about 6 hours across 30 applications: one 2-hour onboarding interview, about 1 hour gathering documents, and about 6 minutes reviewing each application. Actual time varies by application. We schedule submissions around funder deadlines.
When will applications be submitted?
We schedule applications around funder deadlines and requirements. The roughly 30-application example is a planning estimate, not a guaranteed count or a promise that every application will be submitted at once. The opportunities that fit your organization determine the portfolio.
Do we own the applications you write?
You get copies of everything we file on your behalf, on request, for your records, funder compliance, and any legal review. The facts in them about your organization (your programs, financials, and outcomes) are yours and always will be. What the agreement restricts is handing our applications to another grant writer or reusing them as templates, because the research strategy and framing inside them is what we invest in before we are ever paid.
Trust and terms
This sounds too good to be true. What is the catch?
There is no catch in the fee: you really do pay nothing unless we win. What you agree to is two things. First, we choose which grants are worth pursuing, using our win-probability model, because that selectivity is what makes the economics work. Second, there are research protection windows: funders we identify for you are covered for 24 months, and funders we win for you are covered for 36 months. During those windows, if a covered funder awards you a grant through another writer, our fee still applies. This covers only funders we bring to the table. Everything your organization already had is excluded from day one via Schedule A.
Is percentage-based grant writing ethical?
A fair question, and we answer it directly. The short version: nonprofits deserve a choice between paying up front and paying only on success, and our model is built to protect the organization: the grant dollars never pass through us, and our fee is an operating expense, not taken from the grant.
Are we locked into a long contract?
There is no minimum and no fixed term. Either side can end the engagement on 30 days’ notice. Three things survive an exit: the fee on any application we already submitted or substantially prepared, if it lands within 12 months; the renewal fee described above, within its 24-month window; and the research protection windows, which run from when they were triggered. Our terms are open-book, and we are glad to walk your board through every one of them before you sign.
Can we talk to your other clients?
Ask us during your consultation what client-approved examples are available to review. We share client information only with permission. We can also walk your board through our research, application process, and agreement before you decide.
What happens to our records if we part ways?
Within 30 days of your request after termination, we delete all your data.
Who is GrantLedger?
We started as a foundation-research firm, selling prospect lists to nonprofits doing their own grant writing. The executive directors we served kept asking the same thing: apply for the grants for us, and take your fee out of what you win. We built GrantLedgerto be that yes. Read our story →
Getting started
How do we move forward?
Book a consultation. We already have your filings, so we run your numbers ahead of time, and if we see a great fit we will show you the foundation portfolio we have mapped for your organization. If it helps your board decide, we are glad to join the board call to answer questions live.