Well, I told you in A
Few Ideas about Pursuing Federal Funding that it is almost always best
to develop your own "in-house" capacity for planning your grant application
and writing your proposal. But, there are always exceptions and sometimes you
may have to go "outside" for help.
There are a lot of people around
who will offer to step in save the day for you but before making your selection,
I advise that you do the same thing, follow the same process, as you would in
hiring a permanent employee or buying a car! Compare the "track records" of
potential consultants -- ask for their references, request and review samples
of their past work, call their past grant agency program officers for information.
You can obtain leads to available
proposal consultants by checking with your local college's Office of Sponsored
Research (or some similar name) or by contact your Regional Educational Laboratory.
My
suggestion is to steer away from grant consultants who offer to work on a "shared
risk" basis, taking no fee unless the proposal is funded and then taking a percentage
"off the top." Far better, in my opinion, is to bring in someone whose work
you know will be competitive and with whom you have come to an agreement as
to scope-of-work, timelines, and fees.
In my own case, while I occasionally "hire out" for a fee,negotiated individually, I make it very clear that all I am offering to do is: 1) "polish" the essential ideas supplied by the applicant's own personnel; and 2) put it in an application that will be competitive with others submitted for the grant awards being offered by the funding agency.
