Zebraquill finds the funders worth your time, then writes, edits, and submits the whole application — narrative, budget justification, compliance review — for one flat fee per package. Federal, state, or foundation. You keep running the food pantry.
From $1,380 per package · Weekdays 9am–6pm · (845) 323-9558
01 / 04 Packages
one deadline, one flat fee, one finished package.
Small organizations rarely lose grants on merit. They lose them to a missing attachment, a budget that won’t reconcile with the narrative, or a draft finished at 11:52 p.m. on deadline night. Each package is priced before we begin and holds everything a reviewer will open — so your board approves one number, once.
Package A · Foundations
foundation proposal
$1,380per application, one funder
For community, family, and corporate foundations — a letter of inquiry or a full proposal written in the funder’s own vocabulary, not a recycled boilerplate.
Lead time3 weeks
Fit check against the funder’s last three years of giving
Letter of inquiry or full narrative, up to 10 pages
Program budget and budget narrative
Attachments assembled: 990, board list, determination letter
For New York State agency RFPs filed through the Statewide Financial System — the work plan, objectives, and line-item budget the scoring rubric actually weighs.
Lead time4 weeks
Nonprofit prequalification status checked before drafting
Program narrative mapped to the RFP’s scoring rubric
Work plan with objectives, tasks, and performance measures
For USDA Rural Development, HHS, and other programs posted to Grants.gov — the most exacting format there is, and the one where compliance decides who gets read at all.
Lead time6 weeks
SAM.gov registration and UEI confirmed before a word is written
Project narrative built on the notice’s evaluation criteria
Logic model and evaluation plan
SF-424 family forms and budget justification
Two full compliance passes against the notice
Grants.gov submission, tracked through agency validation
Not sure which funders are worth the effort? A funding prospect scan — twelve vetted opportunities, each with its deadline and a candid fit note — is $585, credited in full to your first package. Ask for a scan
02 / 04 The compliance read
reviewers read the rules before they read your story.
Federal and state agencies screen applications for format before a reviewer scores a single word — a page over the limit, a missing signature, a budget total that differs by eleven dollars between two forms. So the last week of every Zebraquill package belongs to a slow, line-by-line read against the funder’s own guidelines, checklist in hand.
2
full passes against the funding notice
48h
early — our submission target, never the wire
$640
standalone read, for drafts you wrote yourself
03 / 04 Questions
what a board asks before it signs the engagement letter.
The one everyone asks
can you promise we’ll be funded?
No — and be wary of anyone who does. Funding decisions rest with reviewers, budgets, and priorities none of us control. What we can promise is narrower and more useful: an application that is eligible, complete, on time, and written so a tired reviewer near the bottom of a long stack understands exactly what your organization will do with the money, and for whom.
When a proposal is declined, we request the reviewer comments wherever the funder releases them, and fold them into the next cycle.
The kind of building this work keeps lit
why a flat fee, not a percentage?
Professional codes for grant writers discourage contingency pay, and most federal awards won’t let you pay a writer from the grant itself. A flat fee keeps the incentive honest: we’re paid to write it well, not to chase only the large awards.
how far ahead should we call?
Three weeks for a foundation, four for the State, six for federal. Shorter is sometimes possible; on the first call we’ll tell you plainly if it isn’t.
what if the funder amends the guidelines mid-draft?
Amendments happen, especially on federal notices. Revising the application to match a published amendment is part of the package — no change order, no second invoice.
A funding notice open on your desk?
send us the link and the deadline.
Within one business day you’ll hear whether it fits, which package it needs, and the fixed price — before anyone commits to anything.
The desk is in Nanuet, but most of the work happens by phone and shared folder. Rural organizations far from here are a large part of what we write for.
and after the award?
Interim and final reports are $420 each, written against the objectives we promised — so year two reads like a continuation, not a confession.
04 / 04 Your first call
what to bring to the first conversation.
The first call is free and runs about forty minutes. Have these four things within reach and we can usually name your package and its fixed price before we hang up.
01
your determination letter
The IRS letter confirming your 501(c)(3) status — or, if you operate under a fiscal sponsor, the sponsorship agreement. Nearly every funder asks for it first.
02
your registration numbers
For federal work: your UEI and the date your SAM.gov registration expires. Renewals can take weeks, so we check this before writing a single sentence.
03
last year’s numbers
Your most recent Form 990 and a current operating budget. The budget justification has to reconcile with both, to the dollar.
04
the person who signs
An executive director or board officer who can approve the scope. Applications move at the speed of their slowest signature.
Each package is invoiced at its fixed price. We accept ACH, check, and these cards:
or begin in writing.
Tell us the funder, the deadline, and what your organization does, in a sentence or two. A link to the funding notice helps more than a long description.
