Grants are gifts made by a charitable-giving foundation or the government, most often to a nonprofit organization; that is, an organization designated a 501(c)(3) by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Grants are most often made to support the operations, special projects, or other activities of a nonprofit organization for a specific period of time. Grant proposals are submitted as requests for grant funding. Proposals include a narrative, forms, and attachments. It is the grant writer's responsibility to create, complete, and compile these documents.

While some individuals, such as inventors, and some businesses — particularly those in product development, research, defense, and construction — apply for grants, nonprofit organizations account for the majority of grant seekers.

That's because nearly all nonprofit organizations must seek grants to develop new programs or sustain operations. In smaller nonprofit agencies, the work of grant seeking and grant writing is often assigned to the executive director. Larger organizations often hire a fund development officer to do those jobs. On occasion, you'll find program directors assigned responsibility for seeking grants to support the organization's programs or ideas. Sometimes, a nonprofit's board of directors requests that staff pursue a specified number of grants or raise a specific amount of money through grant writing in any given year.

As executive directors of nonprofits have become busier and busier, the need for professional grant-writing services has grown consistently in the past several years, and shows no sign of slowing. That's where you come in.

Whether you're already a freelance writer and want to develop a new market for your work, grant writing is one of your job responsibilities, or you simply want to assist a favorite charity in a unique way, writing grant proposals can compensate you in two ways. You'll not only earn a living, but you'll also feel good about the contribution you make to improving your community and the lives of the people in it. And for many grant writers, that's almost as satisfying as the money itself.

Some individuals and businesses write grants, but your primary market is the nonprofit sector. Among those applying for grants are the following groups: