How long does it take to write a grant application?
How long it takes to write a grant depends on a great many factors. These include the type of grant (government or foundation), the client’s past grant experience and preparedness, and the grant writer’s familiarity with the organization. Let’s take a deeper look into each of these factors.
Factors that affect grant writing time
Type of grant
Foundation grants usually have shorter applications with fewer attachments, while federal grants tend to be much longer and require detailed narrative responses, budget justifications, and multiple forms. This is a key difference that determines how long the process will take.
Client’s grant experience and preparedness
When clients have written grants before, or already have proposal drafts or content from previous applications, the writing process tends to go faster. In contrast, new clients may not have certain documents ready, which adds to the overall timeline. A client who is available, responsive, and clear with their goals can help speed up the process.
Grant writer’s familiarity with the organization
Returning clients benefit from having already shared their background, programs, and outcomes with their grant writer. This familiarity allows writers to get started faster and spend less time digging through documents. New clients may require more onboarding, including phone calls, document collection, and program review.
How long does it take to write a foundation grant?
Foundations grants, as a whole, are more straightforward than government grants, especially federal grants. That’s because they have fewer requirements, and the applications are shorter. If the client has past applications and/or is fairly organized and prepared to deliver pieces of content to the grant writer, the process will go more quickly.
On the faster end, foundation grants may only take a handful of hours to complete. If the grant is more complex, or if it’s the client’s first grant application, these applications may take 20 to 30 hours to write and package for submission.
Key time-savers for foundation grants
Clients who can share previous proposals, program descriptions, budgets, and evaluations early in the process help save significant time. Another effective approach is reusing polished language from earlier submissions. A grant writer familiar with your programs and impact can often adapt previous content, reducing both the time and cost involved.
How about a federal grant?
Federal grants are often massive lifts, on both the client’s part and the grant writer’s. There is some variation among these grants, and you will definitely find that some are more straightforward than others. But in general, they involve guidelines (sometimes called a Notice of Funding Opportunity, or a Funding Opportunity Announcement) that can be up to 100 pages long. Just reading that document will take hours, with even more time required to digest it and understand all the components and requirements. The writing process is a concerted effort among multiple parties, all of whom will need to dedicate significant amounts of time. For the grant writer’s part, shorter federal grants may only take 20-30 hours, but longer ones will need 50, 60, 80, or 100 hours.
Collaborative writing and internal review
Federal grant writing involves multiple stakeholders within the organization. This includes program leads, finance staff, and executive leadership. A typical writing process includes internal drafts, multiple review cycles, gathering attachments, final editing, and preparing the submission package. All of these steps contribute to how long it takes to write a grant application for federal funding.
What is an average turnaround time for a grant?
Turnaround time varies, too, based on the type of grant and the other projects the grant writer is working on at the time. Squeezing in a federal grant, with an estimate of 100 hours, into anything less than a month is going to be a challenge. That’s true even for a full-time grant writer. But a grant writer may be able to turn around a foundation grant, with an estimate of 10 hours, in a week or less. We typically ask for two weeks’ lead time for a foundation grant, and 30 to 45 days for a federal grant, though often that timeframe will change once we have more context. If the client is prepared and willing to hustle, grant writers can work on shorter timeframes.
Realistic expectations and planning ahead
It’s important for nonprofits to understand that turnaround time does not only depend on how long it takes to write a grant application. It also depends on how much support the client can offer in collecting needed documents and data. Planning ahead by reaching out weeks before a deadline increases the chances of a strong, timely submission.
Final takeaway: Plan ahead for efficient grant writing
Writing a competitive grant takes research, data collection, budget coordination, and time to refine messaging. For organizations wondering how long does it take to write a grant application, the answer is, it depends, but starting early always helps.
Whether you’re preparing a foundation proposal or tackling a major federal opportunity, setting realistic timelines and working with an experienced grant writer can make the process far less stressful. Strong planning, client readiness, and clear communication are key factors in getting it right.
Want to stay ahead of deadlines and submit your strongest possible proposal? Reach out to Professional Grant Writers today to discuss your grant calendar and how we can support your upcoming applications.
Learn more about our grant writing services here.
No Comments