Insights
Can Grant Funds Pay for a Grant Writer or Grant Manager?
Usually yes for managing a grant, and sometimes for writing one. Grant administration, meaning tracking spending, writing reports, and closing out the award, is part of doing the funded work. Most funders let you budget for it, as a staff line, a consultant line, or through an overhead rate. Writing the application is different. It happens before there is any money, so most funders won’t pay for it from the award, and federal rules treat it as overhead. Fees that depend on winning can’t be charged to federal awards, and fundraising ethics codes rule them out.
| Funder | Managing the award | Writing the application |
|---|---|---|
| Private foundations and corporate funders | Usually, as project staff or consultant time in the budget, or through an overhead rate if the funder pays one | Rarely from a project grant. General operating support can pay for it, and some funders pay for fundraising help as capacity building |
| State and local governments | Set program by program. Check the agreement for an administrative or indirect cost limit | Often ineligible, or treated as overhead |
| Federal awards (2 CFR 200) | Allowable. Staff can be charged directly if three conditions are met; consultants if the fee is reasonable. Some programs cap administration | Normally an indirect cost. A few programs allow writing fees as a pre-award cost |
Can grant administration be a line item in the budget?
In most cases, yes. If someone has to run the award, track the money, and write the reports, that work is part of the project, and you can budget for it. There are three common ways to do it:
- A staff line. The share of a grants manager’s or finance person’s time spent on this award, with fringe benefits.
- A consultant line. A fixed scope and fee for an outside firm to handle reporting, compliance, or closeout.
- An overhead or indirect line. A percentage that covers shared costs such as finance, leadership, and rent. This isn’t tied to one person’s time.
Whichever you use, the same basics apply. The cost has to be for this award. It has to be reasonable for the work. You need records to back it up, such as time sheets or invoices. And you can’t charge the same cost twice, once as a direct line and again in your overhead rate.
Foundations and corporate funders. Most ask for a project budget with personnel lines. The staff time it takes to manage the project goes there like any other project staff. Many also pay overhead, and some publish a rate. The Ford Foundation pays a minimum indirect cost rate of 25% on eligible project grants made since January 1, 2023 (Ford Foundation). The MacArthur Foundation pays 29 percent of project costs on project grants, and it doesn’t ask you to itemize those costs (MacArthur indirect cost policy). Other funders cap overhead or exclude it, so read the guidelines. A general operating support grant isn’t tied to a project, so it can pay for administration of any kind.
State and local governments. Each program sets its own rules in the agreement or the agency’s manual. Look for a limit on administrative or indirect costs and for a list of ineligible costs. If the money started as a federal award, the federal rules below still apply, and the state or county can add its own.
Federal awards. Administrative salaries are normally indirect costs. You can charge them directly only if three things are true. The work is integral to the award. The people can be specifically identified with it. And the costs aren’t also recovered as indirect costs (2 CFR 200.413(c)). A grants manager who spends half their time on one large award often meets that test, with time records to back the charge; see our time and effort guide. A consultant’s fee is allowable when it is reasonable for the services and not contingent on winning (2 CFR 200.459). Some programs cap administration. HUD’s Community Development Block Grant, for example, limits planning and administrative costs to 20 percent of each year’s grant (24 CFR 570.200(g)).
Can I use grant money to pay a grant writer?
Usually not from the grant you’re applying for. The application is written before the award exists, and most funders only pay for work done during the grant. That leaves a few options, depending on the funder.
Foundations. A general operating support grant can pay a grant writer, because it isn’t restricted to a project. Project grants rarely do, and many guidelines exclude fundraising costs. Some foundations pay for fundraising help as capacity building. The Denver Foundation lists fund development as a technical assistance topic. It pays an outside consultant of your choice and asks you not to include your own staff time (Technical Assistance Program).
State and local governments. Rules vary widely:
| Funder | Grant writing or fundraising costs | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Texas state grants to local governments | Proposal costs normally treated as indirect, as in the federal rules | Texas Grant Management Standards, Appendix 7 |
| Washington Recreation and Conservation Office | Costs of preparing and presenting a grant application are ineligible | Manual 8, February 2025 |
| San Francisco Grants for the Arts | Grant writing staff, contractors, and fundraising consultants are ineligible | Eligible and ineligible expenses |
If the agreement and the agency’s manual don’t say, ask the program officer in writing and keep the answer. Our guide to state grants and contracts covers invoicing.
Federal awards. The cost of preparing applications, funded or not, “normally should be treated as indirect costs” (2 CFR 200.460). That means you recover it through your indirect cost rate, spread across all your federal awards, not as a line in the award it wins. If you have no negotiated rate, you can use a de minimis rate of up to 15 percent of modified total direct costs (2 CFR 200.414(f)); see our de minimis rate guide. Proposal costs from a past accounting period can’t be moved into the current one.
Which federal programs allow grant writer fees?
A few programs write in an exception. These are the ones we checked:
- FEMA SAFER. The FY 2025 notice allows up to $1,500 a year in grant writer fees as a pre-award cost, for recruitment and retention activities only, not hiring. The writer must be competitively sourced and listed in the application, and contingency fees aren’t eligible (FY 2025 SAFER notice, Appendix C).
- FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation. The FY 2026 notice lists grant writing fees as an allowable pre-award cost. Applicants who don’t receive a subaward aren’t reimbursed (FY 2026 notice, Section K).
- EPA. Recipients in a few programs, including Performance Partnership Grants, can charge proposal costs directly, up to 5 percent of the budget. EPA notes that the guidance is being updated (EPA cost guidance, item 6).
- HUD CDBG. Communities can use CDBG administration funds to prepare applications for other federal programs (24 CFR 570.206(f)).
To check your program, search the notice for “pre-award costs” and “grant writer.” Pre-award costs have to be costs that would be allowed after the start date, and some need the agency’s written approval (2 CFR 200.458). If there’s no award, you absorb the cost.
Can the person who wrote the grant be paid to manage it?
Often, but plan for it before you apply. With foundation and most local money, it comes down to the funder’s guidelines and your own purchasing policy. Write down why you chose the firm and what you’re paying for.
Federal money is stricter. Federal procurement rules keep a contractor who drafts specifications or requests for proposals from competing for that work. FEMA applies the same restriction to contractors who help prepare grant applications, project plans, or budgets. Federal funds can’t pay that contractor for the later work unless one contract, procured under the federal rules, covered both. FEMA says this applies to grant writer fees and to grant management fees (FY 2026 PDM notice, organizational conflict of interest). Other agencies may read the rule differently. If you want one firm to write the application and then manage the award, buy both together, in writing, and check the notice.
Price the management work at the firm’s usual rate. A management line set high to make up for a cheap application is a contingent fee in another form.
Can a grant writer be paid a percentage of the award?
Not with federal funds. Consultant costs are allowable only when they are “not contingent upon recovery of the costs from the Federal Government” (2 CFR 200.459(a)). FEMA’s SAFER notice says it directly: “Fees payable on a contingency basis are not an eligible expense.”
Outside federal awards, it depends on the funder. Some ban it, as San Francisco’s Grants for the Arts does for fundraising consultants, and many don’t say. Professional ethics codes rule it out. The Association of Fundraising Professionals code bars its members from pay based on a percentage of contributions, and from finder’s fees and contingent fees (AFP Code of Ethical Standards, Standard 21). Our post on what a grant writer costs covers fixed fees, hourly rates, and retainers.
How should I budget for grant writing and administration?
- Read the guidelines or notice for “administrative costs,” “indirect,” “overhead,” “fundraising,” “pre-award costs,” and “ineligible costs.”
- Put the people who will manage the award in the budget, as staff time or a consultant line, with a short justification.
- Add overhead at the rate the funder allows, and don’t charge the same cost again as a direct line.
- Pay for the application from unrestricted money or general operating support, unless the funder says the award can cover it.
- If one firm will write and manage, put both in the same agreement before you apply.
- Keep the contract, invoices, time records, and any approvals in the award file.
Frequently asked questions
Can grant administration be a line item?
Usually, yes. You can budget for the staff or consultant time it takes to manage the award, and many funders also pay overhead. On federal awards, administrative staff can be charged directly only when the work is integral to the award, the people are identified with it, and the cost isn’t also in your indirect rate (2 CFR 200.413(c)).
Can a foundation grant pay for a grant writer?
A general operating support grant can, because it isn’t tied to a project. Project grants rarely do. Some foundations pay for fundraising help as capacity building, such as the Denver Foundation’s technical assistance program.
Is grant writing an allowable cost on a federal grant?
Yes, but normally as an indirect cost. 2 CFR 200.460 says proposal costs normally should be treated as indirect costs and spread across all current activities. A few programs, such as some FEMA and EPA programs, allow them as direct or pre-award costs.
Can a grant writer work on contingency?
Not paid from federal funds. Consultant costs must not be contingent on recovering the costs from the federal government (2 CFR 200.459(a)). Other funders vary, and the AFP ethics code bars percentage and contingent fees for its members.
Is grant writing the same as fundraising?
Not in the federal rules. Organized fundraising is unallowable unless the agency approves it for program objectives (2 CFR 200.442), while proposal costs fall under 2 CFR 200.460. Many foundations and local funders group grant writing with fundraising and exclude both.
References: Ford Foundation indirect cost FAQ; MacArthur Foundation indirect cost policy (updated October 3, 2024); 2 CFR 200.413(c) and 200.459; 24 CFR 570.200(g); Denver Foundation Technical Assistance Program; FEMA FY 2025 SAFER notice, checked October 29, 2026. 2 CFR 200.414(f), 200.442, 200.458, and 200.460; 24 CFR 570.206; FEMA FY 2026 PDM notice; EPA RAIN-2018-G01-R; Texas Grant Management Standards v2.1; Washington RCO Manual 8; San Francisco Grants for the Arts; AFP Code of Ethical Standards, checked October 26, 2026.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax, or accounting advice.
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