Our first county client, Niagara County, has been a great opportunity for us to search for and write a wide variety of grants that will assist many different departments within the county.
As I have looked around, it appears that counties will often ask for grant support department-by-department. Niagara County hired us to work across all the departments within this mid-sized municipality. From economic development to the Sheriff’s Department, from mental health to probation and IT needs to public health, among others, we have been instrumental in searching for and writing a variety of applications for state, federal and private dollar support.
It seems to me that this is a more efficient way for a county to engage the services of a grant writer. No matter who a department is working with, an outside grant writer is going to have to work alongside staff to get the details needed to pursue opportunities. But as we were able to do with the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department, by utilizing our contacts within the other departments, we were able to bring resources and grant potential that may not have been considered with a narrower focus.
We love working with Niagara County and hope to add other NY counties to our portfolio so that we can bring this collaborative funding approach to other municipalities around the state.