Trustur AI
Sign in →
Done for you in 5 minutes.
Get a professional, customized contract agreement for hiring a grant writer. This document clearly defines deliverables, hourly or flat-fee compensation, intellectual property ownership, and confidentiality.
5 minutes · Get one month for $19.99 · Already have an account? Sign in ›
For NGOs and civic organizations, securing funding is the lifeblood of your mission, making the relationship with your grant writer incredibly important. A Grant Writer Contract Agreement is the foundational document that protects both your organization and the writer you hire. You need this agreement the moment you decide to collaborate with an external grant writer, whether for a single local community grant or a massive federal funding campaign. A great agreement does more than just outline pay; it establishes clear timelines, defines ownership of the research and narrative assets, and secures strict confidentiality for your organization's sensitive financial data. By laying out clear expectations from day one, you build a partnership rooted in mutual respect, allowing your writer to focus on telling your story and securing the vital resources your community relies on.
No, paying commission or percentage-based fees is considered unethical by professional fundraising associations, including the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Most grant makers explicitly prohibit grant funds from being used to pay writing fees retroactively. You must pay your writer a flat fee or hourly rate regardless of the funding outcome.
Your organization owns all work completed up to the point of termination, provided you have paid the writer for their completed hours. A strong contract explicitly states that all proprietary research, data, and drafted narratives transfer to your organization upon payment. This allows you to hand the project over to another writer without starting from scratch.
Your agreement should include a clause that outlines how post-submission requests for information or revisions are billed. Typically, these are handled either under a separate hourly rate or as a pre-negotiated addendum to the original flat fee. Clarifying this upfront prevents project stalling when a funder asks for quick clarifications on tight turnaround times.
The contract should contain a performance clause stating that the writer is liable for breach of contract if they fail to deliver materials by agreed-upon milestone dates. While you cannot easily recover the lost funding opportunity, you can include terms that reduce the final payment or terminate the agreement immediately without further compensation. Setting internal milestones at least two weeks before the funder's hard deadline is the best way to prevent this outcome.
Start this skill and Trustur handles the rest, start to finish.
Start this skill