Our Services
GDS brings an entire team of grant professionals to your portfolio — writing and managing grants, building the systems that hold a growing portfolio together, measuring what your programs actually achieve, and teaching your staff to do the same.
What We Do
Seven services, offered together as a full-service engagement or à la carte.
Grant Writing & Grant Management Services
Whole-portfolio, year-round grant writing and management, run by a team focused only on your grants.
Read moreGrant Infrastructure Development
Custom grant management systems, SOPs, workflows, and staff training that make a growing portfolio sustainable.
Read moreProgram Evaluation, Outcome Tracking, & Impact Reporting
Data tracking built around your programs, your goals, and your clients — and reports that tell their story.
Read moreCoaching
Tailored, 1-on-1, 50-minute strategy sessions to problem solve, strategize, and support you.
Read moreCustom Funder Research
A fully-vetted list of aligned funders, matched to your organization and delivered ready to work.
Read moreGrant Review & Critique
A fresh, expert read of your proposal through a funder’s lens — verbal overview or line-by-line.
Read moreCustom Grant Trainings & Courses
Workshops, webinars, and courses built for your group’s needs, capacity, and availability.
Read moreGrant Writing & Grant Management Services
GDS offers whole-portfolio, comprehensive, year-round grant writing & grant management services supported by an entire team of professionals, focused only on your grants portfolio, so you can focus on your mission. GDS experts will work with your executive team to create a grant strategy with achievable benchmarks to elevate your grants portfolio (and revenues) in alignment with your organizational and programmatic goals.
At GDS, we walk that long road with you — or better yet, we'll drive. You tell us the destination, and we'll handle the rest. We'll fill the tank, keep the engine running, fix the dents, add a fresh coat of paint, keep it sparkling, and maybe even throw in a few dashboard decorations for good measure. All you have to do is buckle up, because we drive fast!
Grant writing is a marathon, not a sprint!
One grant cycle — from identifying a funder, writing and submitting a proposal, and waiting for the award notification, to getting and managing the award, closing it out and reporting to the funder — can typically be 24 months. It is a long-term revenue strategy that requires a long-term approach to create consistency, build trust with funders, and grow revenues over time.
24 months — one full grant cycle
Why hire a grant writer for only 3 or 6 months when a grant cycle is 24?
Why hire a grant writer to write 1 or 2 grants when you need to submit many to reach your funding goals?
Why separate out your writing and managing functions when a uniformed message and alignment between requests and reports is essential for long-term success?
A long-term approach requires a long-term commitment. GDS partners with clients through long-term grant writing engagements, typically for a minimum of 1 year, allowing us to build and execute a sustainable and successful grants strategy, rather than simply chase individual opportunities.
The results speak for themselves.
80%+
Typical grant success rate
Triple-digit
Return on investment
2×
Program or agency budget within three years
Clients who follow the GDS approach typically achieve grant success rates of more than 80%, realize triple-digit returns on investment, and, in most cases, double their program or agency budgets within three years.
Not ready to grant marry us? We can date first.
GDS offers new clients with long-term growth potential the opportunity to engage in a one-time, short-term contract so we can get to know each other. Ready to ask us out? Set up a free 30-minute conversation with our CEO to see if our stars align.
In very limited circumstances, GDS may be available to assist your organization with a one-off project. For more information, contact us to talk about your needs.
Contact usGrant Infrastructure Development
You can't scale without a system.
This is the foundational philosophy of the GDS approach… you can't build your grants portfolio without a foundation.
Every year, grantseeking organizations face the pressure to increase revenues. This means increasing your grants portfolio every year — more deadlines, more funder relationships to manage, more reports to write. It also means more stress for staff, more burnout, and more turnover.
What turnover costs a grants portfolio
- 14 months
- Average tenure of a staff grant writer
- 6 months
- Average gap between grant writers
- 2–4 people
- Can manage one portfolio from identification to close-out
Plus periods when no one is managing it at all. Every staff transition results in missed opportunities, missed deadlines, strained funder relationships and lost institutional knowledge.
Having a grant infrastructure in place is key to being able to manage an ever-growing grants portfolio without burn-out, being able to smoothly stay on top of deadlines and meet funding expectations, as well as preserve institutional memory.
The GDS team are experts in building customized grant management systems that make the entire grants process more organized, efficient, and sustainable. From SOPs, workflows, and build-out of historical documentation to tailored training for development, program, finance, and compliance staff, we help put the structure in place to keep your grants (and your team) running smoothly.
If this sounds like we're talking about you, we probably are! Contact us to talk about your needs.
Contact usProgram Evaluation, Outcome Tracking, & Impact Reporting
If you can't measure it; it didn't happen!
Are you great at what you do, but lost when it comes to evaluating your programs and reporting impact to funders and stakeholders?
Have you been using the same demographic data and outcomes for years?
Do your evaluation tools even measure what you say you are trying to accomplish?
Do you have a bunch of data points and don’t know how to make sense of them or organize them into an impactful report?
Are you only reporting data through your funders’ systems? What happens when they stop funding you?
Trying to force your unique programs and goals into an off-the-shelf evaluation tool? Anyone would be frustrated.
You need to own your data!
If you are writing and managing grants, you need data tracking systems designed around your programs, your goals, and your clients — not someone else's template. Your systems should capture what funders want to know, but just as importantly, what YOU need to know:
- Is the program working?
- Who are we reaching, and who are we missing?
- Where are the gaps?
- What new needs and opportunities are emerging?
What the right system gives you
The right system can help you understand your clients' demographic, geographic, socioeconomic, and program-specific data; identify service gaps and potential funding opportunities; measure meaningful outcomes; and, ultimately, demonstrate the impact your programs and services are having on people's lives.
We got you!
GDS Data Analysts and Content Creators are experts in program evaluations, social and economic impact analysis, development of custom-designed data tracking and compliance systems — from the affordable to the complex. Our services range from developing customized reporting frameworks to providing ongoing, retainer-based data analysis and report production for your agency, individual programs, specific grant awards, or funder requirements.
We can monitor and analyze your data, identify the story behind the numbers, and transform your results into polished, impactful reports that clearly demonstrate your work and outcomes.
You focus on serving your clients. We'll make sure your data tells the story. Contact us to talk about your needs.
Contact usCoaching
Coaching is included in all GDS full-service contracts. For those needing extra support but not looking for a full-service contract, stand-alone coaching is available.
Sessions are tailored, 1-on-1, 50-minute strategy sessions specifically focused to problem solve, strategize, and support you.
Sessions may be bi-weekly, weekly or more frequent if necessary.
Who we coach
- Nonprofit executives
- Grant writers
- Consultants
- Development staff
- Emerging grant consultants
- Small nonprofit organizations looking to grow
- Agencies undergoing transitional periods
What sessions cover
Coaching may cover topics related to any GDS services and skills, not limited to:
Need extra support without a full-service contract? Contact us to talk about your needs.
Contact usCustom Funder Research
Funder research is included in all GDS full-service contracts. For clients who may not be ready for a full-service contract with GDS, custom funder research may be just the tool they need to get their in-house grant strategy off the ground.
Depending on the organization's size and program scope, we develop a list of an appropriate number of aligned funders, matched based on a combination of geography, funding priority, client population size and profile, organizational budget, program outcomes, past funding history, and more.
All sources are fully-vetted and can be provided with deadlines pre-programmed in a GEMS account to facilitate application submissions at no additional charge.
How funders are matched
- Geography
- Funding priority
- Client population size and profile
- Organizational budget
- Program outcomes
- Past funding history
- …and more
We're happy to help you grow your funder portfolio. Contact us to talk about your needs.
Contact usGrant Review & Critique
R&C
Sometimes, you just need another set of eyes. Proposal review and critique is included in all GDS full-service contracts for proposals our clients choose to develop in-house. It's also available a la carte for those times when you could use a fresh, expert perspective: whether you're developing a proposal for a new program, tackling a federal application for the first time, newly responsible for grant writing, or are just looking to freshen up your messaging.
We'll review your proposal through a funder's lens, identify gaps and opportunities, strengthen your messaging, and help ensure your application makes the strongest case possible.
We offer two types of review and critique services
A verbal review of the proposal with general feedback, ideas, suggested strategies and recommendations.
Detailed line-by-line written feedback with suggested edits. Comprehensive R&C includes proofing services, as well as evaluation of content per scoring rubrics or solicitation guidelines, proposal alignment, and other content expectations.
| Proposal Type | Overview R&C | Comprehensive R&C |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation request up to $25,000 | $50 | $75 |
| Foundation request $25,001–$100,000 | $75 | $100 |
| Foundation request $100,000+ | $100 | $150 |
| Bank/Corporate Foundation requests up to $50,000 | $50 | $75 |
| Bank/Corporate Foundation request $50,000+ | $75 | $125 |
| Government (local/state/federal) up to $250,000 | $75 | $125 |
| Government $250,001–$2 million | $100 | $200 |
| Government $2 million+ | $125 | $250 |
Need support to review or critique something else? Contact us to talk about your needs.
Contact usCustom Grant Trainings & Courses
Want to build staff capacity instead of outsourcing?
Are you an association looking to offer meaningful professional development to your members?
Are you an accounting or nonprofit consulting firm looking to offer a value-added service for your clients?
We develop workshops, webinars and courses tailored to your group's needs, capacity and availability. You can learn more about the kinds of topics we offer by checking out our on-demand webinars here.
Who runs the trainings
The GDS team includes:
- Certified Fundraising Executives (CFRE)
- Experienced Resource Cultivators (CRE)
- Certified Grant Professionals (GPC)
- Grants Professional Association-approved trainers
We believe in the power of teaching people to fish. If your team is hungry to learn, contact us to talk about your needs.
Contact usLet’s See If Our Stars Align
Whether you are ready for a full-service engagement or just want to talk through one piece of your grants portfolio, the first conversation is free.
Start the conversation
Book 30 minutes with our CEO, or email us and tell us what you need.