About Colorado Grants
Colorado Grants is a full-service consulting firm that provides help to nonprofit and community agencies in obtaining grant funding. Since 1997, we have helped nonprofit and tax-exempt groups raise $100 million through more than 800 funded grants and awards. Since 2001, we have returned $143 for every dollar spent on our services. Thinking of a hiring a grant writer? Colorado Grants can usually develop all the proposals you need to submit at a fraction of the cost of hiring staff.
We provide not just grant proposal writing, but a holistic view of how your organization appears to a potential funder. We examine the strength of your program models, budget, evaluation, outcomes and collaboration. We craft a needs assessment that aligns with the work to be carried out. And we recognize that every organization is different. You require custom solutions to your needs.
We never take on any work without doing a preliminary assessment to identify strong potential that a grant application will succeed. Sometimes that means we turn away work.
Colorado Grants is pleased to offer the following services:
- Proposal writing and research
- Grant review and editing
- Start-to-finish services, including proposal writing, assembly and delivery
- Group or one-on-one trainings
Clients have included...
Aspen Valley Medical Foundation
Aurora Public Schools
Broadway Assistance Center
Cerebral Palsy of Colorado
City and County of Denver
Colorado State University Extension Service
Community Resource Center
The Delores Project
Denver Public Schools
JFK Partners/The Children's Hospital
Metro CareRing
Metro Community Provider Network
Mi Casa Resource Center for Women
St. Francis Center
The Senior Hub
Sheridan School District
State of Colorado Department of Human Services
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
The Urban League of Metropolitan Denver
Urban Children's Coalition
About Jay Katz, President
I began writing grant proposals for nonprofit organizations in 1990, and was intrigued by helping community groups raise money using my writing skills. During my college years at the University of Pittsburgh, I had been a door-to-door canvasser for Clean Water Action, believing in the cause but not enjoying the hard sell of bothering people in their own homes. When my boss at a community group said he was going to use me to help him fund-raise, I shuddered and thought he was going to send me out into the neighborhood with a tin can. Imagine my relief when all he did was set me up in front of a computer, and taught me how to write an effective grant proposal. That was the beginning of my new career nearly 20 years ago.
After informally providing proposal writing services for different nonprofits, I formed Grants West in 1995. I renamed it Colorado Grants in 2007. Over the years, I have always loved not just proposal writing, but being able to help nonprofit groups build capacity and better understand how to write a fundable grant proposal. Often that means helping them modify or even design a program, create evaluation criteria, adapt budgets and craft a needs assessment that truly matches up with the work to be carried out. I have learned that every nonprofit has a different culture, operating structure and approach for addressing their mission statements, and that has made my work interesting and exciting.
Beyond the track record I have in bringing in grant dollars, I know that my sample grant proposals have been used as examples of successful work, and I'm flattered by that. I also have been invited to present information and participate on panel discussions by several university classes studying nonprofit fund-raising. I also lead classes on behalf of Colorado Grants. Over the years, I have written articles on grant writing for the California Grants Guide, Colorado Grants Guide, Iowa Grants Guide and Ohio Grants Guide.
In addition to grant writing, I am actively involved as a volunteer with several projects. It provides me with the hands-on experience that grounds me as I write proposals -- not to mention it nurtures my soul! I am proud to have received two community service awards (CHUN Good Neighbor Award, Life on Capitol Hill's Man of the Year). I have volunteered as a youth mentor, adult literacy tutor, neighborhood group president, microlending consultant, and in many other roles. I also coordinate the Denver Spanish meetup group, organizing meetings and events for 1000+ people interested in learning Spanish.