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Frequently Asked Questions
Will you consider working with organizations whose operating budgets are under $500,000?
Yes, but there are stipulations. Please reach out to us to discuss your needs.
What is it like to work with Curtis-Carr Consulting?
Working with Curtis-Carr Consulting means partnering with a dedicated team that truly understands the challenges nonprofit leaders face. We focus on reducing your workload by providing clear, tailored strategies in grant management, development, and leadership coaching, so you can concentrate on what matters most: leading your mission.
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Our collaborative approach is supportive, flexible, and results-driven, helping you build confidence, secure funding, and strengthen your organization's impact. Think of us as your next temporary partner. We do all the heavy lifting, and you come in to refine.
Do you guarantee your work?
Retainer clients (one-year minimum) are eligible for a guarantee, which means our team will guarantee we will raise the amount of the fee, or we will continue to apply for new funding until we have done so.
Do you get paid a commission?
We do not take a commission on awarded grants; you must have the funds to pay for our services. A commission is considered unethical by the Grant Professional Association, and we abide by our industry's Code of Ethics.
May we pay you by the hour? We used to have a grant writer who let us pay by the hour depending on your projects.
We do not offer an hourly rate. So, what is the difference between a grant writer and what we do at Curtis-Carr Consulting?
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A grant writer solely focuses on crafting special proposals and applications and is usually fed research by a team leader, as well as funder information, and financials (including often being provided the project budget). Partnering with a grant writer will help reduce workload, but you are still often doing a lot of the backend work.
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In contrast, at Curtis-Carr Consulting, we integrate grant writers into our grant consulting (learn about some of our them in our Meet Our Team section. We take a broader, highly invested role by aligning grant opportunities with your organization's overall funding plan and capacity while also delivering the work (writing, editing, creating budgets, reporting, etc.).
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We also provide real-time grant readiness assessments, build funding calendars, take organizational budgets, and create project budgets from within, and support leadership with coaching and system development. Simply put, grant writers write grants, while grant consultants help develop, execute, and manage a sustainable grant strategy for long-term financial growth.
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Do you offer Development Plans, and what are they?
Yes, we offer in-depth Development Plan Consulting specifically for nonprofits. A Development Plan includes a thorough review of your fundraising strategies and a deep dive into your financial records to understand your organization's capacity and true funding needs.
We then create a strategic short-term roadmap (usually one per year) with clear goals, donor engagement plans, and provide resources to support sustainable growth and successful implementation.
These are in-depth and require hours of tailored research, but clients who have undertaken this process have found clarity in where and how they raise money and gained confidence in their fundraising strategy to drive sustainable growth.
Start-to-finish development plans take about two months to complete and require, on average, three to four meetings with staff and potential board members, and access to internal documents.
Do you offer Marketing Support Services?
Yes and No. We offer tailored Social Media Marketing services designed for mid-size nonprofits with limited staff. Because development and marketing go hand in hand, this package integrates fundraising strategy with a comprehensive social media plan, including content creation, community engagement, targeted campaigns, and ongoing performance monitoring. We also can provide one-on-one training and support to help your team amplify your mission online while maximizing fundraising impact through coordinated efforts.
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We do not offer comprehensive marketing services, such as website development, billboard ad creation/buying, or other marketing services. We recommend Kim Osborne at The Idea Genius if you are seeking this level of support. She is familiar with working with mid-size non-profits.​​
Do you offer Strategic Planning?
Curtis-Carr Consulting can help you clean up and refine your current strategic plans and lead focused, short-term workshops to address immediate needs. However, effective long-term strategic planning is a comprehensive process that typically takes several months and involves deep analysis, broad stakeholder engagement, and iterative development. At this time, we do not offer long-term strategic planning services, but we can support your organization with actionable short-term plans and capacity-building workshops to set you on the right path for long-term vision casting.
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Seeking a strategic planner? We recommend Eddy Smith Tharseo Group.
Will you help us with one grant application?
At this time, we are unable to assist with single applications.
Do you help with fundraising events?
We do not offer this service.
Do you use AI?
We occasionally use AI-powered tools behind the scenes to support tasks like outlining, editing, and idea generation. All strategy, grant content, and final language are developed and validated by our team, grounded in your organization's data, voice, and funder requirements, and we do not place sensitive or identifying client information into public AI systems.
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There are many "grant services" you may see on LinkedIn or other platforms that offer to write all your grant proposals, and although they can be helpful, they are not tailored enough to secure consistenrt grant funding.
I'd like to learn more about you and your team.
Please check out the Meet Our Team section.
All proposals come with an in-depth fact sheet about me as well as a reference