When I first launched my grant writing business, I charged by the hour—like many freelancers do. It was a great way to start. Tracking time helped me understand exactly how long it took me to write different parts of a proposal, research funders, or complete a report. It gave me structure, clarity, and a sense of fairness. I was learning the craft, and I was being paid to learn.
But over time, something changed.
I got faster. A lot faster.
And while my speed improved, the value I delivered to my clients didn’t shrink—it grew. I was submitting stronger proposals in less time, identifying better-fit funders, and catching errors before they became problems. But I was still being paid the same amount… or even less, because I was so efficient. I had hit the classic freelancer’s dilemma: I was being penalized for getting better at my job.
Why Hourly Work Has a Shelf Life
Hourly billing makes sense at the beginning of your journey. It can be especially helpful if you’re:
Learning how long different grant tasks take you
Working with clients on a short-term basis
Unsure what your total workload will be month to month
But as your expertise grows, hourly billing starts to hold you back. You hit a ceiling. You’re limited by time, not talent. And unless you raise your rate every six months (most freelancers don’t), you start to lose ground.
This is the moment when many grant writers shift toward retainer-based work.
How I Transitioned to Monthly Retainers
The first big shift I made was offering monthly 'retainer' packages. Instead of charging hourly, I offered a bundled model: a set number of hours each month for writing grants, researching prospects, and completing grant reports. Clients appreciated the predictability. They knew exactly what they’d pay each month, could plan accordingly, and could follow our progress through a clear, shared work plan.
I appreciated it too. It brought stability to my income and allowed for more consistent, long-term relationships with the organizations I served.
That said, it wasn’t a retainer in the traditional sense—because I was never “on standby.” I was always actively working. It was my responsibility to make sure the work plan matched the hours I was contracted for, and if I occasionally went over, I’d simply balance it out the following month. That built-in flexibility kept things fair without needing to invoice for every extra hour.
Eventually, I realized I didn’t need to track time at all—and that opened the door to an even better model.
Moving to a Deliverable-Based Model
The second shift I made was even more transformative: I stopped tracking hours altogether.
Instead, I offered clients a deliverable-based model. A typical arrangement looked like this:
2–3 grant submissions per month
Ongoing prospect research
Support reviewing grant reports or materials
Clients paid a flat monthly fee for this scope of work. It was simple, predictable, and results-focused. If I wrote a grant in four hours instead of ten, that was a win for me—I could work more efficiently, stay energized, and spend more time on strategy or creative thinking without being tied to a clock. My clients didn’t want an hourly invoice—they wanted progress.
What Worked—and What I Learned
Here’s what I loved about moving away from hourly work:
No more time tracking – I gained back mental space and administrative time.
Freedom to work efficiently – I could focus on quality and momentum.
Built-in flexibility – I could plan my month more easily and carve out time for rest or creativity.
Most importantly, I created a business model that could grow with me—one that valued outcomes over inputs and honored the expertise I’ve spent years building. That said, there are challenges in this scenario too. Since clients weren’t seeing a tracking of my hours worked, some clients—though not all—began checking in more frequently. I’d even get occasional questions like, “How can we get a million dollars in grants this year?” from clients who weren’t anywhere near that level of readiness. It reminded me how important it is to communicate scope clearly and set realistic expectations upfront.
Using Instrumentl
One major thing that changed between my early career as a freelancer and more recently is the advent of Instrumentl. This is a prospect research database and a grants management tool. We could create a work plan inside of Instrumentl that allowed us to create task lists and get reminders of deadlines. We could save documents right inside the database, including communication with grantmakers and drafts of proposals. The work plan allowed for post-award management too. Instrumentl recently made a new change so you can allow your clients to view the work plan in Instrumentl as well, without giving them access to your other clients' work and plans.
This was a critical improvement for client communication. In the past, clients might feel unsure about progress unless they were updated manually. But by giving them real-time visibility into the work plan, tasks, and upcoming deadlines, Instrumentl made it easier to maintain transparency without extra admin work. Clients could log in and see what had been completed, what was upcoming, and how their grants were being managed—building trust and reinforcing the value of your services.
Want to try Instrumentl? Use the code SPARKTHEFIRE50 to get $50 off your first month after a 3-week free trial.
Thinking About Making the Shift?
If you’re still billing by the hour, there’s no shame in it—especially if you’re just starting out. But if you’re feeling the squeeze, it might be time to explore:
Project-based pricing – Charge for specific proposals or research packages.
Monthly retainers – Offer bundled services clients can plan around.
Deliverable-based contracts – Anchor your work in outcomes, not hours.
The work you do matters. And how you get paid for it should reflect the value, not just the time.
