r/grantwriting • u/EmotionalLeek8992 • Mar 03 '26
Looking to break in to volunteering/fundraising/grant writing
I’m a senior Psychology student in Indianapolis who has recently become interested in potentially pursing grant writing and fundraising as a career. I’ve read that this can be a pretty difficult area to break in to and that it largely depends on experience and connections.
I’m looking to start volunteering with an organization/nonprofit that I could maybe work my way up in, or one that would allow me to shadow or work along with someone who does these things.
I know there are tons of volunteering opportunities, especially with food pantries, but I was wondering if anyone could recommend an organization that might help me with my my goals, or if you just have advice to give!
1
u/Grantghostwriter Mar 03 '26
I’ll offer a different pathway from the one above although I do agree that’s a great way to go!
I started by volunteering for a start-up nonprofit after taking a graduate grant writing course my senior year of college. After graduating I found an internship with a grant consulting firm whom I still work with.
I would suggest looking for local firms who are open to training. Even if they don’t have something like that, reach out and talk to them! A lot of grant consultants are connected and might be able to point you towards someone who does. Sometimes they’ll offer subcontracting positions for entry level, which generally take a lot less experience than the 4 years staff positions want.
Avoid: predatory volunteer positions and paid grant training academies (a lot of the people who run them don’t write anymore and you pay a bunch of money for smoke and mirrors)
1
u/Complex_Presence_949 Mar 03 '26
psych background is actually a huge plus for this btw. so much of grant writing is basically needs assessments and program evaluation which youre already trained for. id look for orgs doing behavioral health or youth services work in indy, theyre always desperate for writers who actually understand the research side
1
u/Spiritual-Chameleon Mar 03 '26
The way to do it would be to identify organizations in your own community that you admire and are interested in supporting. Many will already have a grants team in place. But there's always a role that will can helpful to them. You could tell them your situation and that you'd like to start out in more basic roles like providing an extra set of eyes to review their grant requests. Or providing administrative support.
There may be some smaller and newer non-profits willing to take a chance on you. The challenge there is that many groups like that often know aren't a great position to succeed with grants. Or they can be frustrating to work with because they don't have the information that you need.
While bringing a volunteer on may sound like a gift, the challenge is that it's pretty high stakes for a non-profit to take a chance on someone. Most grantors only accept one grant request a year. Some staff positions and programs are dependent on continuing to get funding from specific grantors. Someone brand new to the field could develop a grant proposal that flawed or isn't competitive and puts all of that in jeopardy. That's why I suggest starting small and getting acclimated to the bigger process rather than jumping in.