VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

JCDunn

Over the weekend, I was contacted by an individual who is in the process of applying for a grant. They're attempting to secure grant funds for an story-telling project, featuring a number of underprivileged or poverty stricken folks. The grant writer asked that I give them my rate for editing of 20 1-hour stories. The GW asked for a discount, an "in-kind" donation.

I submitted a quote for the project and the grant writer replied, asking for a deeper discount. Ugh! My proposal was already discounted by 50%.

I've never dealt with this before and wonder if there is anybody who can guide me a bit.
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J. Christopher
Your words deserve a clear voice.

Philip Banks · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:27 am Post subject:

Ask him how much he would be happy to include in his grant proposal. Don't play the "guess the budget" game. You're looking at about 60 hours tinkering with audio or in other words about 7 days work.

mcm · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:09 pm Post subject:

Having being a program director at a federal funding agency (as well as having been on the other side, writing proposals), I really don't understand why they're asking for discounts at this stage. We never expected people to nickel and dime their vendors - they certainly shouldn't be padding their budgets, which can be spotted a mile away - but ask a fair rate, for crying out loud.

todd ellis · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:50 pm Post subject:

to add to what mary said - they are APPLYING for the grant. they ain't got it yet.

1. they can build your asking price in to the grant
2. if they get partial funding, you can consider a discounted rate
3. i've done LOTS and LOTS of leg work for two separate grants that were never awarded. there will not be a third ... oh - i'll do a grant oriented job ... just let me know when the grant is APPROVED.
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JCDunn · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:52 pm Post subject:

Phillip- I asked her, nicely, what she thought my time was worth and then explained the process of editing an hour of finished audio. I haven't heard back from her.

Mary- I thought my proposal was fair when I submitted it the first time and feel the same submitting it a second time, this time better defining my time.

Thanks to both of you for your thoughts. Much appreciated.
_________________
J. Christopher
Your words deserve a clear voice.

JCDunn · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:57 pm Post subject:

Todd - That's good to know. I'm grant challenged and don't understand the process. It feels like the writer has a specific budget in mind.
_________________
J. Christopher
Your words deserve a clear voice.

Eddie Eagle · M&M Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 2393

The money for grants is usually there, so to speak. So, if the writer does quality work, rates are not an issue. They need to be realistic and not greedy when asking for collaborators.

Donna · Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 6:51 am Post subject:

I'm in the process of writing my very first grant proposal (non-VO related) and the first thing the organization wants to see on the budget page is labor costs. The particular grant your writer is going after may have a cap -- for example, the one I'm doing tops out between 6-18K -- but you still include all of the actual costs when submitting.
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JCDunn · Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 10:43 am Post subject:

I finally received a response last night from the grant writer and she's cool with the numbers. She was confused about the amount quoted and my "in-kind" donation.

Eddie and Donna - Thank you for the additional info about grants. The next one will be much easier.
_________________
J. Christopher
Your words deserve a clear voice.