u/Instant-Mix-2088

First, I'm not very knowledgeable about grant writing so excuse my ignorance. I generally understand the concept though.

For those writing grant applications, do you play any role in evaluating whether the nonprofit has the capacity to deliver on the scope being proposed (staff, expertise, infrastructure, etc.)?

Or if a project seems larger than the organization's current capabilities, do you typically advise on that (e.g. capacity building), or is your role mainly to document the organization's plans and needs rather than assess readiness?

I ask because I'm interested in helping nonprofits build capacity and it was suggested to partner with other consultants. And if this is something that occurs, I'd wonder how to reach out to grant writers and make myself available to them?

Thank you

I left a career in tech and want to help nonprofits - not complete volunteer (the Techsoup or other volunteer approaches are not what I'm looking for) but also not looking for a high paid consulting gig. So I can work for a low/fair price that I think would be affordable.

My skills are in the area of CIO/CTO. I can help with a broad range of tech stuff (and have hands on experience so it isn't just nebulous "strategy". I'm not interested in doing day-to-day maintenance (like websites or databases) but can pinch hit in this area. This likely eliminates a lot of small nonprofits but I'm open to it if they were - I do have a target criteria but am also flexible.

But the question is how to connect with nonprofits that need this work. I've got some ideas and have already tested some (reaching out through my network for example), but a lot of it has been a bust. Most people who want to connect me with a nonprofit end up ghosting me and a few experiences with nonprofits show that it's a slow process (which is fine). I've thought of cold-calling but that seems like a dicey path - I suspect there are a lot of sharks trying to syphon big $$ from this group. If I were at a nonprofit I'd likely have my auto reject button constantly getting pushed.

It seems like there is a large need for this (for one thing to avoid getting burned and having their data held for ransom), but if not I can come to grips with giving up on the dream. I saw one post about a person looking to do something similar for CFO and that was semi-helpful but I'd like to get opinions on the more technical C-roles.