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Grant Writer resume example

Development directors hiring a grant writer look first for money awarded, the funder types you write for and whether you can carry an application from prospect research to the final report. Separate federal, foundation and corporate wins, give award totals and funded rates, and name the budgets and logic models you built.

Updated

Harriet Bellweather

Grant Writer | Federal & Foundation Funding | $6.8M awarded since 2017

  • Portland, OR
  • harriet.bellweather@example.com
  • +1 (503) 555-0142
  • linkedin.com/in/your-name

Summary

Grant writer with nine years in health and housing nonprofits, carrying federal, state and foundation applications from prospect call to final report. Secured $6.8M in awards, including three multi-year federal grants, with a 55% funded rate on new proposals. Grant Professional Certified and comfortable owning budgets alongside finance.

Work Experience

Senior Grant Writer

Jun 2021 – Present

Cascadia Housing Partners · Portland, OR

  • Wrote narratives and budgets for 3 HUD and HHS applications, winning $3.1M over five years for supportive housing and case management.
  • Managed a 35-proposal annual calendar in Salesforce and raised the funded rate on new foundation requests from 41% to 57%.
  • Set up post-award reporting with finance, delivering 48 funder reports on time with zero audit findings.

Grant Writer

Sep 2017 – May 2021

Willamette Community Health Alliance · Salem, OR

  • Secured $2.6M from 22 foundations and 3 state programs for dental, behavioral health and outreach services.
  • Researched 60+ new prospects in Foundation Directory and converted 11 into first-time funders.
  • Co-wrote logic models with program leads that the clinic adopted for every grant and board report.

Development Assistant

Jul 2015 – Aug 2017

Fernhill Arts Collective · Eugene, OR

  • Drafted 25 LOIs and small-grant applications, bringing in $180K for youth arts classes.
  • Kept the grants calendar and gift records in Raiser's Edge with no missed deadlines in two years.

Education

Bachelor of Arts, English

2011 – 2015

University of Oregon

Skills

Core competencies

  • Federal Grant Applications
  • Budget Justification
  • Prospect Research

Funding & compliance

  • Grants.gov
  • SAM.gov
  • 2 CFR 200
  • Logic Models
  • Evaluation Plans
  • Foundation Directory

Tools

  • Salesforce NPSP
  • Instrumentl
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Smartsheet

Certifications

  • Grant Professional Certified (GPC) · Grant Professionals Certification Institute, 2022

Memberships & Affiliations

  • Grant Professionals Association · Member

Languages

  • English · Native
  • French · Professional working proficiency

The full sample as text. Rendered in the Vellum template, a layout applicant tracking systems read in order.

Fictional person: the name and contact details are invented. Any resemblance to a real person is coincidental.

Grant Writer resume summary examples

Pick the one closest to your level and replace the specifics with your own.

  • Entry level

    Grant writer with two years as development coordinator at a community health nonprofit. Drafted 18 foundation proposals and LOIs, helped assemble a first HRSA application and wrote interim reports for 11 active grants. Researches new prospects in Candid's Foundation Directory and keeps every deadline in Salesforce. Holds a university certificate in grant writing and is ready for a full-time writer role.

  • Mid level

    Grant writer with six years writing for youth development and workforce nonprofits, managing a calendar of about 40 applications a year. Secured $2.4M across foundation, corporate and state awards, with a 58% funded rate on new proposals. Builds program budgets and justifications with finance, writes logic models with program staff and owns all funder reporting.

  • Senior

    Grants director and GPC with twelve years running federal and private grant strategy for a regional human services agency with a $30M budget. Built a team of three writers and a post-award compliance function, won five multi-year awards from HHS and the Department of Labor, and grew institutional giving from $4M to $9.5M a year with no single audit findings.

  • Journalist to grants

    Former newspaper reporter moving into grant writing after eight years covering local government and schools. Writes clean copy on a hard deadline, reads budgets and public records closely and interviews program staff the way a reporter works a source. Finished a grant writing certificate and drafted two funded foundation proposals as a volunteer for a regional food bank.

Grant Writer resume objective examples

An objective fits when you have no direct experience in the role yet. Name the role, the proof you already have and what you will bring to the team.

  • Graduate

    English graduate who wrote three foundation proposals during an internship with a literacy nonprofit, one funded for $25,000. Trained in Foundation Directory searches and basic budget building. Applying for a grants assistant or junior grant writer role at a human services agency.

  • Teacher

    Middle school teacher of nine years who wrote and won four classroom and district grants, including a state STEM equipment award. Comfortable with outcome data and fixed deadlines. Seeking an entry grant writer position with an education or youth nonprofit.

Common mistakes on a grant writer resume

  • Lumping every funder together

    Fix: Federal agencies, private foundations and corporate giving programs ask for different things. Federal work means following a funding announcement, keeping SAM.gov current and submitting through Grants.gov or an agency portal. Foundations want a short case and a relationship. Corporate funders care about community visibility. Split your bullets by funder type.

  • Giving a lifetime total with no context

    Fix: One big number tells a reader little. Break it out by year, funder type and new versus renewal money. Winning a small agency's first federal award is a different story from renewing steady foundation support, and both are worth telling.

  • Leaving the budget work off the page

    Fix: Hiring managers want to know whether you can build a line-item budget, write the budget justification and work with finance on indirect costs, match and cost share. If you did that work, say so and name the forms, such as the SF-424A.

  • Hiding the post-award work

    Fix: The job does not end at the award letter. Interim and final reports, budget modifications, outcome data and 2 CFR 200 compliance for federal funds are part of many grant roles. List the reports you wrote and the renewals they supported. A clean reporting history earns the next award.

What should a grant writer resume include?

A grant writer resume should open with a two or three line summary of your focus, then show each role as results rather than duties. Name the skills the posting asks for, such as Grant Proposals, Letters of Inquiry and Case for Support. Start bullets with verbs like Secured, Drafted and Researched, and give each one a number where you honestly have one. If you hold a credential such as Grant Professional Certified (GPC), Grant Professionals Certification Institute, list it in its own section.

Proposal development

  • Grant Proposals
  • Letters of Inquiry
  • Case for Support
  • Project Narrative
  • Statement of Need
  • SMART Objectives
  • Evaluation Plan

Federal funding

  • Grants.gov
  • SAM.gov / UEI
  • NOFO Review
  • SF-424 Forms
  • 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance)
  • Indirect Cost Rate
  • Cost Share / Match

Foundation & corporate

  • Prospect Research
  • Foundation Directory
  • Form 990-PF Review
  • Funder Cultivation
  • Corporate Giving
  • Renewal Proposals
  • Site Visits

Budgets & reporting

  • Line-Item Budget
  • Budget Justification
  • Interim Reports
  • Final Reports
  • Outcome Data
  • Budget Modifications

Tools

  • Salesforce NPSP
  • Raiser's Edge NXT
  • Instrumentl
  • Submittable
  • Smartsheet
  • Microsoft Excel

Action verbs

  • Secured
  • Drafted
  • Researched
  • Submitted
  • Budgeted
  • Renewed

Certifications

  • Grant Professional Certified (GPC), Grant Professionals Certification Institute
  • Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), CFRE International
  • Certified Grants Management Specialist (CGMS), National Grants Management Association

Match these against the job posting you are applying to: the free resume checker shows which keywords your resume is missing.

Skills to put on a grant writer resume

List the hard skills the posting names in your skills section. Soft skills belong in your bullets, shown through something you did.

Hard skills

  • NOFO and RFP compliance checklists
  • Need statements built from Census data
  • SF-424 family forms and the SF-424A budget
  • Indirect cost and match calculations
  • Theory of change and logic models
  • Funder research in 990-PF filings
  • Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) reporting rules
  • Grants pipeline tracking in a donor CRM

Soft skills

  • Getting program staff to hand over data days before the deadline
  • Cutting a narrative to a five-page limit without losing the argument
  • Calling a program officer before applying to test whether the project fits
  • Telling the executive director when a funder is a poor match

Grant Writer keywords recruiters scan for

Use the wording of the posting itself, and back each term with a line that proves it.

Grants.gov
Name the federal applications you submitted and your role, such as Authorized Organization Representative.
SAM.gov
If you kept the entity registration and UEI active, say so in the job where you did it.
Federal grants
List agencies by name, such as HHS, HUD or ED, with the award amounts in your experience bullets.
Foundation Directory
Pair the tool with prospects researched and new funders converted in one bullet.
Budget justification
Mention the funder type and who in finance you built it with.
Logic model
Point to a program where your model became the basis for outcome tracking.
Grant reporting
Give the number of reports you delivered and the renewals they supported.
Funded rate
State proposals submitted and funded for a defined period in your summary or first job.

Grant Writer resume bullet examples

The numbers are illustrative. Keep the structure (verb, action, measurable result) and use figures you can back up.

  • Wrote and submitted 46 foundation and corporate proposals in one fiscal year, securing $1.9M in new and renewed support for after-school programs.
  • Won a $1.2M, five-year Department of Labor workforce grant by mapping the narrative and evaluation plan to every scoring criterion in the NOFO.
  • Built a 30-funder prospect list from Foundation Directory and 990-PF research, turning 9 foundations into first-time funders within 18 months.
  • Prepared SF-424A budgets and justifications for 7 federal applications, working with the CFO on the negotiated indirect rate and a 25% cost match.
  • Co-wrote logic models with program directors for 4 initiatives, giving the agency shared outcome measures it now reuses in proposals and reports.
  • Delivered 60 interim and final funder reports on schedule over three years, supporting an 85% renewal rate among existing foundation partners.
  • Turned a declined state application into a funded $340K resubmission by answering each reviewer comment and adding stronger outcome data.
  • Moved grant tracking from spreadsheets into Salesforce NPSP, bringing missed internal deadlines to zero and giving leadership a monthly pipeline view.

How to stand out as a grant writer applicant

Tailor every application to the posting: the resume, the cover letter and the answers you prepare for the interview.

  • Match the funder mix in the posting

    A hospital foundation, a university research office and a small arts group want different grant writers. Read each posting for funder types, award sizes and systems, then move the matching awards to the top of each job. Mostly federal work calls for compliance and budgets first; mostly foundation work calls for relationships and renewals. Tailor your resume to this funder mix

  • Write the letter like a short proposal

    Open with a statement of need about the employer: a program they run and a funding gap you can help close. Then give one award you won for similar work and the section you wrote. Keep it to one page and follow any instructions exactly. The letter is your first writing sample. Draft a grant writer cover letter

  • Expect a timed writing exercise

    Grant writer interviews often include a writing test, such as a statement of need or a one-page LOI drafted from a program fact sheet in an hour or two. Practice with a real funding announcement. Be ready to discuss a declined proposal and how you split budget work with finance. Practice grant writer interview questions

  • Prepare redacted writing samples

    Choose two samples: one short LOI or foundation proposal and one longer narrative, ideally federal. Remove client stories that could identify anyone, salary lines and anything marked confidential, and ask past employers for permission. Send them as separate PDFs unless the posting asks for one file. Check your grant writer resume first

Grant Writer resume questions

Should I mention proposals that were declined?

Not one by one. Give totals instead: applications submitted in a year, how many were funded and the dollars awarded. That is honest and lets the reader judge your hit rate. A declined proposal you rewrote and won on resubmission deserves its own bullet.

How do I claim a grant I wrote with a team?

Say exactly what you owned. A federal application may involve a program lead, finance staff and an evaluator, so write "wrote the project narrative and evaluation plan" or "built the SF-424A budget and justification" instead of claiming the whole award alone. Interviewers will ask about your part.

Do I need the GPC to get hired?

No. Postings usually list it as preferred, not required, and plenty of writers are hired on their funded work alone. The Grant Professional Certified credential asks for a mix of experience, education and professional development before you can sit for the exam. If you hold it, add it after your name.

How do I list freelance or contract grant work?

Use one entry under your business name or "Independent Grant Writer" with dates, then a line on the clients you served, such as rural clinics or small arts groups. Add bullets for the most relevant awards and name clients only with permission. Describe fees as flat or hourly; the GPA code of ethics rules out pay based on a percentage of the award.

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