Starling GRANT PARTNERS

Services & pricing

Clear scope. Clear fees. No contingency, ever.

Every engagement is fee-for-service — hourly, flat-fee, or retainer — consistent with the Grant Professionals Association Code of Ethics and the procurement rules of most public funders. Ranges below are typical; your written proposal will name an exact figure before anything is signed.

Flat fees for defined projects — quoted before work begins
$75–$150/hr for ad-hoc consulting
Monthly retainers for ongoing grants management

Before you apply

Grant Readiness & Strategy

An honest look at whether your organization is positioned to compete — and a plan to get there. Ideal first engagement for organizations new to government funding.

  • Readiness assessment: capacity, financial systems, past performance and audit history
  • SAM.gov and Unique Entity ID (UEI) registration assistance
  • Grants.gov Workspace setup and navigation training
  • 12–24 month funding strategy and grant calendar, diversified across government, foundation, and corporate sources

Typical fees

Grant readiness assessment$750 – $1,500
Strategy & registration supportHourly or flat quote

Flat fee, quoted after a discovery call.

Finding the fit

Prospect Research

Opportunity research matched to your mission and eligibility — using modern grant-intelligence platforms alongside public award data, with a candid competitiveness read before anyone commits writing time to a long shot.

  • State and federal opportunity research via Grants.gov, agency portals, and state e-grant systems
  • Foundation and corporate prospect research
  • Eligibility and competitiveness analysis for each recommended opportunity

Typical fees

Prospect research package$500 – $1,500

Scoped by number of opportunities and depth of analysis.

Making the case

Proposal & Application Development

Full proposal development — or editing-only support for in-house drafts. Every submission runs through a compliance checklist against funder guidelines, because technical non-compliance, not weak writing, is the leading cause of rejection.

  • Narrative writing: needs statement, logic model, goals and objectives, evaluation plan
  • Budgets and budget narratives aligned to funder and Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) requirements
  • Letters of intent, pre-applications, and concept papers
  • Assurances, certifications, organizational charts, and letters of support

Typical fees

Small / local grant proposal$1,000 – $2,500
Standard state grant proposal$2,500 – $5,000
Complex federal proposal$5,000 – $8,500+

Flat fee per proposal, based on complexity and page count.

After the award

Post-Award Management & Compliance

Winning is half the work. Keeping the award — reporting on time, drawing down correctly, surviving monitoring — is the other half.

  • Award negotiation and terms review
  • Compliance calendars: reporting deadlines, drawdowns, deliverables
  • Federal financial and performance reports (e.g., SF-425 and program-specific reports)
  • Subrecipient monitoring policy support and audit / monitoring-visit preparation

Typical fees

Hourly consulting$75 – $150/hr
Ongoing compliance supportRetainer (below)

Scoped per award; often bundled into a retainer.

Ongoing

Capacity Building & Training

Build the skill in-house so your team needs less outside help over time. When a client outgrows the need for a consultant, that's the engagement working exactly as it should.

  • Grant-writing workshops and staff training
  • Board and leadership training on grant funding realities and roles
  • Templates and toolkits: needs statement library, logic models, boilerplate organizational language

Typical fees

Training workshop (half-day)$750 – $2,000

Custom curricula quoted separately.

Ongoing

Fractional Grants Management

An outsourced grants director on retainer: pipeline management, multiple submissions per year, funder relationship support, and reporting — for organizations not ready to hire a full-time grants professional (roughly $90,000–$100,000+ a year with benefits).

  • Ongoing pipeline and grant calendar management
  • Multiple proposal submissions per year
  • Funder relationship and reporting support
  • Priority scheduling over project-based clients

Typical fees

Monthly retainer$2,000 – $6,000/mo

Scoped by submission volume and compliance load; billed monthly in advance.

Engagement terms

How fees work.

Never contingent

No fee is ever contingent on winning an award — a GPA Code of Ethics commitment, and a requirement of most public funders and nonprofit boards.

Quoted in writing first

Every engagement starts with a written proposal naming the exact scope, fee, and timeline — and a realistic view of your competitive odds.

Simple payment terms

Flat-fee projects take a 50% deposit to begin; retainers are billed monthly in advance. No surprise invoices.

Not sure where to start?

That's what the free discovery call is for — 30 minutes, no obligation, and an honest read on whether grant funding is even the right move for you right now.

Request a discovery call →