Improve funding success
across government and private sources by strengthening strategy and proposal quality.
Grantsmanship
Development and Support Services
Wellbeing in Action (WIA) helps organizations secure sustainable funding and build long-term grantsmanship capacity through tailored consulting and hands-on support. Whether the organization needs a one-time proposal partner, ongoing pipeline management, or multi-year capability-building, WIA meets you where you are—and helps you compete with confidence.
Menu of Services
Clients Engage WIA To:
Build internal or shared capacity
for ongoing grant development—not just one-off submissions.
Strengthen partnerships and cross-agency collaboration
to compete for larger, more complex awards.
Align funding pursuits with long-term strategic goals
to support sustainable growth and impact.
WIA stands behind its work.
WIA Team
The WIA team brings 60+ years of proposal writing and program implementation experience across all types of funders, layered with clinical, operational, budgeting, evaluation and system change expertise—so proposals are not only compelling, but technically sound, feasible to implement, and aligned with funder expectations.
WIA Promise
WIA stands behind its work. Across WIA's federal proposals, its team members have collectively supported proposals that secured $260M+ in competitive awards and achieved an ~80% success rate across their careers. We bring that same rigor — strategy, compliance, writing excellence, and submission discipline — to every client engagement. Because WIA believes its proposals are competitive, comprehensive engagements include no-cost revision/resubmission support if re-competition is available.
How WIA Works
Done-For-You
WIA draft/manage proposal process.
Driver-Assist
Organizations lead the proposal process while WIA provides real-time guidance, structure, and quality control.
Coaching & Capability-Building
WIA guides organizations with templates, work sessions, and feedback so it builds repeatable skills.
How WIA prices grantsmanship projects
WIA offers integrated services—available individually or in combination—to support the organization's funding journey.
Option A
Fixed-fee packages (best for one grant with a clear deadline)
Option B
Monthly retainers (best for ongoing pipeline + multiple submissions)
Option C
A la carte services (best for targeted help)
WIA's Heart for Small Organizations
WIA provides premium grantsmanship support to every client, regardless of size. What changes for smaller organizations isn't the quality—it's the pricing structure. WIA intentionally adjusts rates and package design so smaller community-based and emerging organizations can access the same high-standard support that larger organizations rely on, because WIA cares deeply about helping smaller organizations build the capability to compete.
Option A: Fixed-fee packages
1. Grant Readiness Sprint
Best for: organizations that need clarity before chasing funds that don't align with their vision, mission, and organizational strategy, and have strong internal proposal development capability.
Includes:
- 60–90-minute kickoff + working sessions
- Gap analysis (data, partnerships, budget, attachments)
- 90-day grant action plan + workback schedule
- Program/funder fit check and "go/no-go" recommendation
2. Targeted Proposal Support
Best for: organizations that have a funder identified and need to strengthen their submission and have good internal proposal development capability.
Includes:
- Submission checklist + compliance check
- Stakeholder interviews
- Outline + narrative drafting (or heavy edit of the draft)
- Logic model / theory of change (as needed)
- Basic budget alignment review (with the organization’s finance lead)
- Revision rounds
3. Full Proposal Development
Best for: organizations that need comprehensive, start-to-finish support to develop and submit a competitive proposal when internal capacity can’t carry the full workload.
Includes:
- Kickoff, workplan, submission checklist, and compliance matrix
- Stakeholder interviews through final narrative and attachments
- Logic model / theory of change and evaluation plan (as needed)
- Budget development support aligned with the organization’s finance lead
- Revision rounds and submission readiness through deadline
4. Complex/Collaborative Grants
Best for: multi-partner coalitions, complex federal proposals, or highly technical RFPs
Includes:
- Everything in Full Proposal Development, plus:
- Partnership development and coordination (MOUs, roles, letters)
- Multi-track workplan + meeting facilitation
- Expanded compliance management and version control
Option B: Monthly retainers (pipeline + submissions)
Pipeline Builder Retainer
Best for: building a repeatable grants process + 1–2 grant targets or submissions/month
Includes (monthly):
- Funder prospecting + monthly pipeline review
- Facilitate new relationships with funders
- Proposal support (edits, sections, attachments guidance)
- Hours tailored to your organization's needs
Grants Office Retainer (Fractional Development Team)
Best for: organizations seeking a "virtual grantsmanship department", retainers are ideal when the organization wants consistent grantsmanship capacity without hiring internally.
Includes (monthly):
- Pipeline + calendars + internal templates
- Proposal management + drafting capacity
- Establish and maintain funder relationships
- Team coaching + lightweight governance (who does what)
- Proposal volume tailored to your pipeline and goals
Option C: À la carte Menu (Targeted Assistance)
À la carte menu
An à la carte menu is charged hourly according to staff contributions and is good for organizations who just need "call a friend" support; the following information outlines general hourly ranges.
- Funder prospect list (10–15 opportunities)
- Grant calendar + workback plan (per opportunity)
- Compliance review (RFA/RFP checklist + risk flags)
- Narrative polish (light edit, up to ~10 pages)
- Heavy rewrite (up to ~15 pages)
- Logic model / theory of change
- Evaluation plan (light to moderate)
- Budget narrative support (with finance lead)
- Letters of support / partnership language
- Submission-day support (packaging + final checks)
Hourly support
Senior/Principal-level $250–$350/hr
Standard $150–$250/hr
Rates vary based on who provides the support—principal-level is billed at the higher end of the range, while non-principal proposal development support is billed at the lower end – while non-principal proposal development is peer-reviewed by principals.
We'll always recommend a fixed-fee when scope is predictable—it's usually cheaper for the organization and easier to manage.
Add-ons
Best for: competitive grants where story + evidence must be tight and compelling, and have weak existing proposal development capability.
Includes:
- Final assembly support + submission-ready package
- Rush fee (deadline <10 business days): +20-40%
- On-site/Travel: billed at cost + travel time (if applicable)
- Specialized SMEs / subcontractors: quoted as needed
- Graphics / layout for submission PDFs: quoted as needed
What's included from day one
What's included (standard)
- Clear scope + timeline + workback plan
- Version control and document management
- Defined review cycles (2–3 rounds depending on package)
- A submission-ready package aligned to funder requirements
What's not included (unless added)
- Helping set up registrations (SAM.gov, Grants.gov, etc.)
- Developing brand-new datasets from scratch
- Full finance facilitation and development of budgets (we align + support)
- Legal review of MOUs/agreements
Client responsibilities (so we can move fast)
Single point-of-contact assigned
Access to program/budget leads as needed
Timely reviews (typically 2–5 business days)
Prior proposals, program materials, and key data shared up front
Payment & Contracting
Fixed-fee packages:
Unless otherwise agreed upon, 50% to start and 50% after submission (fixed-fee full
development support only), all others 100% after submission.
Retainers:
monthly in advance
A la carte/hourly:
monthly invoicing, net 15-day submission.
Build the capacity your mission needs
Grantsmanship Mentorship
Best for:
organizations or consortia building durable, internal capability
WIA partners with your team over one to two years to embed grantsmanship expertise inside your organization. Your staff learn by doing — working on live proposals with WIA providing strategic direction, real-time coaching, and quality assurance — with a gradual transition from WIA-led to organization-led proposal development.
The Goal:
A functioning, sustainable grants operation that doesn't depend on one person or one consultant.
Grants Infrastructure Development
Best for:
organizations or multi-partner collaboratives that need a coordinated internal grants function but don't have one today.
WIA helps design and launch the people, processes, tools, and governance needed to coordinate, manage, and grow funding across your organization or consortium — from organizational design and staffing to pipeline systems, templates, and policies.
The Goal:
functioning, sustainable grants operation that doesn't depend on one person or one consultant.
Foundation Development
Best for:
organizations ready to diversify revenue beyond grants by establishing a dedicated fundraising foundation.
WIA guides organizations through the strategic, operational, and governance dimensions of launching a foundation — from feasibility assessment and board structure to donor strategy and launch planning — so it generates real revenue and aligns with the parent organization's mission.
The Goal:
A foundation with a clear reason to exist, a viable path to revenue, and the infrastructure to sustain itself.
Grantsmanship Training: Teaching Organizations to Tell Their Story
Grant proposals live or die on their ability to persuade—yet most grantsmanship training focuses on compliance, formatting, and checklists.
This isn't that training!
Two Modes of Persuasive Proposal Writing
1. Credibility-Driven Narrative
Rigorous, evidence-based writing that demonstrates need, capacity, and feasibility.
2. Strategic Storytelling
Clear, human-centered narrative that helps reviewers care, remember, and see the value of the organization's approach.
What Participants Walk Away With
Participants leave with a practical framework for structuring persuasive narratives, stronger alignment between evidence and story, revision habits that hold up under deadline pressure, and confidence presenting complex work to reviewers—ready to apply the same discipline to the next opportunity.
Skills That Reach Beyond the Proposal
These skills sharpen how teams communicate with boards, partners, and communities: tighter logic, clearer framing, and language that connects data to human stakes—wherever high-stakes decisions get made.
The principle is universal: people don't act on information alone — they act on what they feel and understand.
The habits that strengthen a competitive proposal are the same habits that strengthen board packets, partner briefings, and public-facing stories—clarity, credibility, and care for the reader's perspective.
Book a Call Today
WIA also offers this training periodically at per-person rates (dates and pricing available upon request).