Grant Writing as a Career: Median Salaries in 51 Cities in 2019

This new post explores what Grants/Proposal Writers are paid as compensation in terms of median salaries in major cities in all 50 states and in the nation’s capital. It presents data for mid-2019. Other posts for 2019 will explore hourly rates and flat fees, retainer fees, review and revision fees, and other aspects of the compensation of writers of grant proposals. All data will be for the United States of America.

 

Median Salaries for Grants/Proposal Writers

 

What Grants/Proposal Writers earn reflects many factors. Among them are years of experience, level of educational attainment, geographic location, and the nature of the employer.

 

As of mid 2019, Salary.com has reported that the median annual salary for “Grants/Proposal Writers” in 51 cities was $68,629. The middle 20 cities selected for exploration earned medians from $65,714 to $72,210; the bottom 10 selected cities earned medians of $65,159 or less; and the top 10 selected cities earned medians of $73,797 or more. Base salaries represented about 70% of total compensation; the other 30% of total compensation were fringe benefits and bonuses.

 

 

Calculated on a full 52-week year, the same median annual salary worked out to $1,319.79 per week, and the range for the 51 cities’ medians was $1,105.50 to $1,611.63 per week. Calculated over a 2,080-hour work-year, the same national median annual salary worked out to $32.99 per hour, and the range for the 51 cities became from $27.64 per hour to $40.29 per hour. The highest median salary was 145.8% of the lowest median salary.

 

Median Salaries By Selected Cities

 

As of mid 2019, “median annual salaries” in 51 selected cities searched on Salary.com ranged from $57,486 in Pierre, SD to $83,805 in New York City, NY. In mid 2019, 21 of the medians for the 51 cities fell in the range of $65,000 to $70,000.

 

Median Annual Salaries — 2019 Data Comparisons
	Salary.com Data	As % of 2019 Median for 51 Cities
Median	$68,629	100.00%
New England States
Hartford CT	$74,907	109.15%
Portland, ME	$69,191	100.82%
Boston, MA	$78,783	114.80%
Manchester, NH	$73,139	106.57%
Providence, RI	$73,346	106.87%
Burlington, VT	$68,360	99.61%
Mid-Atlantic States
Dover, DE	$73,797	107.53%
Washington, DC	$77,038	112.25%
Baltimore, MD	$71,199	103.74%
Newark, NJ	$79,095	115.25%
New York, NY	$83,805	122.11%
Philadelphia, PA	$74,524	108.59%
Charleston, WV	$63,089	91.93%
Midwestern States
Chicago, IL	$73,777	107.50%
Indianapolis, IN	$67,342	98.12%
Louisville, KY	$65,312	95.17%
Detroit, MI	$70,964	103.40%
Columbus, OH	$68,325	99.56%
Great Plains States
Des Moines, IA	$66,559	96.98%
Kansas City, KS	$68,078	99.20%
Minneapolis, MN	$73,762	107.48%
St. Louis, MO	$68,193	99.36%
Lincoln, NE	$65,042	94.77%
Bismarck, ND	$64,557	94.07%
Pierre, SD	$57,486	83.76%
Milwaukee, WI	$68,664	100.05%
Northwestern States
Anchorage, AK	$77,947	113.58%
Boise, ID	$65,714	95.75%
Great Falls, MT	$60,048	87.50%
Portland, OR	$72,391	105.48%
Seattle, WA	$76,002	110.74%
Casper, WY	$64,523	94.02%
Southeastern States
Birmingham, AL	$65,159	94.94%
Little Rock, AR	$64,372	93.80%
Jacksonville, FL	$66,458	96.84%
Atlanta, GA	$68,214	99.40%
New Orleans, LA	$68,757	100.19%
Jackson, MS	$61,634	89.81%
Charlotte, NC	$67,846	98.86%
Charleston, SC	$65,370	95.25%
Nashville, TN	$64,183	93.52%
Richmond, VA	$69,434	101.17%
Southwestern States
Phoenix, AZ	$68,629	100.00%
Los Angeles, CA	$78,332	114.14%
Denver, CO	$70,043	102.06%
Honolulu, HI	$72,210	105.22%
Las Vegas, NV	$72,030	104.96%
Albuquerque, NM	$64,689	94.26%
Okla. City, OK	$65,679	95.70%
Houston, TX	$70,992	103.44%
Salt Lake City, UT	$65,690	95.72%

 

As in previous years, the median annual salaries in mid 2019 were no more uniform within most states than they were around the country. Out of the 51 cities examined here, only 11 were within $1,000 (plus or minus) of the national median (for the selected cities).

 

 

 

Professional Associations for Grant Writers in 2019

Throughout the past decade, American grant writers have continued their efforts to distinguish, elevate, standardize, and formalize the training and professional status of their peers. Among the organizations at the forefront of such efforts are Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), American Grant Writers’ Association (AGWA), and Grant Professionals Association (GPA). This post is revised to reflect mid-2019. Reported information comes from the respective organizations’ websites.

 

Note: This post has been revised for 2020.

 

 

Association of Fundraising Professionals

The 31,000-member Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) was founded in 1960. Although grant writers count among AFP members, AFP is by no means only for grant writers. Its website is https://www.afpnet.org/. Annual regular individual professional membership is $250; separate annual chapter dues are $25 to $120. AFP also offers several other types of membership. AFP holds three-day annual conferences; its next conference will be March 29-31, 2020 in Baltimore, MD.

 

AFP offers a widely acclaimed Code of Ethics. Its continuous education-related services encompass webinars, an extensive bookstore, research and practice tools, and many members-only publications. Among networking resources, AFP offers discussion groups, a membership directory, a consultant directory, and a career center. AFP runs a three-day annual conference (plus a two-day preconference); it also runs a Leadership Academy. Its credentialing exams are the Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) and the Advanced Certified Fundraising Executive (ACFRE) programs.

 

American Grant Writers’ Association

The 1,200-member American Grant Writers’ Association (AGWA) was founded in 2002. AGWA individual membership is $119 for one year or $200 for two years. Business memberships are available for $179 for one year or $358 for two years. AGWA holds two-day annual conferences; its most recent conference was held July 18-19, 2019 in Austin, TX. The website is http://www.agwa.us/.

 

AGWA advances professionalization through professional standards and a code of ethics and access to professional liability insurance (E&O). It offers nine primary membership benefits. Among its networking resources are its two-day annual grant conference, a listing in a networking membership roster for certified grant writer consultants, and a members-only portal. AGWA offers continuous education-related services such as six online courses, a four-day grant researching and proposal writing workshop, a members-only newsletter, and the Certified Grant Writer® (CGW) Exam, which is its credentialing exam. Its employment-related services include sharing information about how to hire a grant writer and making members’ résumés available to prospective employers.

 

Grant Professionals Association

The 2,800⁺-member Grant Professionals Association (GPA) – formerly the American Association of Grant Professionals (AAGP) – was founded in 1998. Its website is http://grantprofessionals.org/. GPA regular individual professional membership is $220 per year, plus its 46 chapters’ dues of $10 to $25 per year; other types of membership are available. GPA runs four-day annual conferences; its next conference will happen November 6-9, 2019 in Washington, DC.

 

GPA advances professionalization through a Grant Professional Certification (GPC) program conducted through the Grant Professionals Certification Institute™ (GPCI). Its employment-related services include a Job Center with a searchable job postings database and a consultants listing for firms seeking to retain a grant-writing consultant. GPA offers a Consultant Mentoring Program; it also publishes a weekly online newsletter, a periodic Strategy Papers series, and an annual peer-reviewed journal. Its networking resources include a four-day annual conference and online access to more than 80 webinars.

 

 

Observations

The continuing professionalization of grant writing reflects an effort to establish it as an enterprise distinct from fundraising. All three leading professional associations that encompass grant writing have their own conferences, exams, credentials, codes of ethics, and literature about effective practices.

 

The costs of individual professional memberships vary by about 125%. The scope and quality of resources available to members vary widely as well. The fee structures and the extent of resources appear to reflect the size and longevity of the three associations and the narrowness or breadth of their missions.

 

Note

Discussion of the existence of the AFP, the AGWA, and the GPA is intended for informational purposes only. Endorsement or sanction of any of the associations is neither intended nor implied.