Grant writers

[jmd2323]

Do any of your departments use professional grant writers for you AFG grants? Are there companies out there that write specifically for fire departments? And do you tend to use local writers or more national companies? I'm trying to get the department to go with this idea because of the success of some grant writers and that fact that no one in our department has the time or know-how to write what FEMA may be looking for. I have taken a few grant writing classes myself and wrote our AFG grant last year with no success and the other people that used to write our grants have since moved out of the area and are no longer with us.

Any and all help is appreciated.

[LVFD301]

Wow.

Kurt Bradley and Brian Vickers are two of the premier grant writers, both specializing in Fire Departments, and both right here on Firehouse.

Check them out just a few lines down here in the forums,

http://www.firehouse.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=355

Have you sold your engine 125?

[jmd2323]

As of recently i believe its still for sale

[LVFD301]

Can you drop me an email about it? You have PM's turned off. [email protected]

[fire49]

You can Also volunteer to review grants, at NFA
This let's you see how they are evaluated and what they look for

[islandfire03]

Both Kurt & Brian offer one & two day grant writing classes at various places around the country.
Cost for both are very reasonable
That is the best way to learn about the inside info that make AFG grant writing successful.
They're in the middle of class season right now.

[Catch22]

Get with Kurt or Brian. At the same time, spend some time in the grant forums. Even better, get to one of their seminars (or one of both of their seminars).

There's honestly no reason to pay someone to write your grant. A lot of guys have gotten help that made them successful just through the networking in the forums, even more have done so by attending seminars.

Half of the battle is learning how they want it wrote and knowing what they're looking for to get in the award bracket.

[onebugle]

The following are the webistes for Brian and Kurt. Their websites provide seminar locations, pricing for various grant writng services etc.

Brian Vickers:

http://www.vickersconsultingservices.com

Kurt Bradley:

http://firstrespondergrants.com/

The key to being successful with AFG grants is to have an understanding of the process, the program guidance and the priorities of the program. By aligning your needs to the priorities the better the chances of being successful.

Another great source for help is the Funding & Grants forums. You can ask questions and recieve very reliable info from the folks that post there.