I was talking to Sarah, who runs a small animal rescue in Portland, about why she never hired me for their website updates. She said straight up "your $75 an hour feels risky when I don't know if it'll take 2 hours or 10." That hit me different because I always thought hourly was the safest for both sides. She mentioned she pays her graphic designer a flat $300 for each newsletter layout and it works perfect for her budget planning. Now I'm testing flat rates for specific deliverables like a 3-page site edit for $150 or a full homepage redesign for $600. Has anyone else switched from hourly to project-based pricing with nonprofits and seen better response rates?
I was at The Daily Grind on 3rd Street last Tuesday and this grant writer named Sarah told me she never sends the same proposal twice even if the org is similar. She said every nonprofit has a different story about why they need funding and copying templates makes you sound lazy. Made me realize I've been recycling my pitches to local arts groups and probably missing the mark. Has anyone else had a convo that just kinda made you rethink how you talk to clients?
I signed up for this online course about event planning for charities because I thought it would help me land gigs. It cost me $200 and it was just basic tips like 'send thank you emails' and 'arrive early.' I want to know if anyone else has paid for a training that was totally useless and regretted it. Should I stick to free YouTube videos instead or is there actually a good paid resource out there?
I volunteered for a small youth program in Denver and thought I was helping by writing super detailed proposals. After six months of no wins, the board chair sat me down and said, "You're burying the ask under too much fluff." She showed me where funders stop reading after the first page. Now I cut everything down to two pages max with a bold dollar figure up front. Has anyone else gotten harsh feedback that actually improved their hit rate?
I found a listing on a popular free board for a grant writing gig with a small Houston charity, spent Saturday putting together a proposal, and then never heard back - turned out the posting was 8 months old and the org had already filled the role. Anyone else run into stale listings on those free sites?