Do you guarantee we’ll win?
No, and anyone who does is selling you something. We guarantee a proposal a program officer can finish reading without checking the clock.
Grant writing for small nonprofits · Brooklyn, NY
We write grants at 255 Eastern Parkway for one flat fee.
Pennivo researches the funders, writes the application, and leaves you budget templates you’ll actually reuse. You pay per submitted proposal. The meter never runs, and neither do we.
By appointment — book a call · (646) 255-8727
01 · The reading
We read the fine print so your program director doesn’t have to.
Funder research is mostly reading things nobody wants to read. We find who funds work like yours, at what size, how warmly they treat first-timers, and which deadlines are real and which are polite fiction.
You get a ranked shortlist with one sentence on why each funder fits, and one on why it might not. Honest beats hopeful.
- Funder fit memoin every proposal
- Standalone funder scan$420
02 · The writing
Then we write it. In your voice, minus the word synergy.
You ramble at us for an hour about your pantry, your students, your tenants. We turn it into a statement of need, outcomes, an evaluation plan and a budget that a program officer can finish without sighing.
Revision rounds are inside the fee. So is the third rewrite, if it comes to that.
- Letter of inquiryfrom $685
- Full proposal$2,340
- Edit-only pass on your own draft$310
03 · The leftovers (the good kind)
Budget narratives you can reuse, like a good cast-iron pan.
Every proposal leaves something behind in your shared folder. Next year’s application starts with a head start instead of a blank page and a sigh.
The budget narrative
Every line explained in plain English, so the finance committee and the funder read the same story.
The boilerplate library
Mission, history, community, outcomes. Approved paragraphs you can paste without wincing.
The reporting template
Built at proposal time, so the report you owe in twelve months is already half-drafted.
House rule no. 1
“A funder’s guidelines are a love letter with a word limit. We reply accordingly.”
— Pinned above the desk at 255 Eastern Parkway
Before the first call
Questions people ask us, usually with a sigh.
We’ve never written a grant.
Wonderful. No bad habits yet. Start with a letter of inquiry at $685 and see how the funder responds.
Why a flat fee, not hourly?
Hourly billing rewards slow. You pay one number per submitted proposal, and a rewrite is our problem, not your invoice.
Do you do federal grants?
We work with foundation, city, state and corporate funders. For federal packages, call first and we’ll say plainly whether we’re the right fit.
What do you need from us?
Your program story, your latest budget, your 501(c)(3) letter, and one person who answers email by Thursday.
Do we keep the templates?
Yes. Budget narrative, boilerplate, reporting template: yours the day the invoice is paid.
How fast is fast?
It depends on the deadline and how quickly your numbers arrive. We set a calendar on the first call and then keep to it.
The shop
A small studio on Eastern Parkway with strong opinions about commas.
Written in Brooklyn, for the small ones.
Pennivo is a grant-writing consultancy at 255 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn. We work only with small nonprofits: the kind where the executive director also fixes the printer and the board chair brings the bagels.
One writer holds your file from first call to final template, so nobody has to re-explain your mission to a stranger in week three.
Read the whole story
We decline to
- Pad your word count
- Promise outcomes we can’t control
- Mail an invoice you didn’t expect
We write for
- Food pantries
- Youth arts programs
- Tenant associations
- Literacy projects
Come by, or don’t.
The door is at 255 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238. We meet by appointment, in person or by phone. Book a call and we’ll find a slot that suits your calendar.
Hours: By appointment — book a call
(646) 255-8727
255 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11238. Look for the building with the stack of binders in the window.
Find the doorFlat fees, printed in full
One price per proposal. The calculator stays in the drawer.
Pick the size of the ask. Every package includes funder research and your own named writer. Paid in two halves: one at kickoff, one on submission.
Letter of Inquiry
$685
flat fee · per submitted letter
- Funder fit check before we write a word
- Letter of inquiry, up to two pages, in your voice
- One round of your edits
- Delivered in about a week
Full Proposal
$2,340
flat fee · per submitted proposal
- Funder research and a one-page fit memo
- Narrative drafted from your interview
- Budget plus a plain-English budget narrative
- Two rounds of revisions, attachments checklist
- Portal-ready file, or we submit alongside you
Fundraising Calendar
$8,960
flat fee · four submissions across the year
- A year of deadlines mapped to your funders
- Four submissions written, letters or full proposals
- Reusable budget narrative and reporting templates
- A monthly check-in call, by appointment
Budget & reporting kit
Budget narrative, boilerplate library and a reporting template.
$1,185Get the kitBespoke scope? A multi-year ask or a consortium application? Request a quote and we’ll price it flat, too.
The funder shelf
Who we write to, and what each one secretly wants.
Community foundations
Local, loyal, and fond of a story with a zip code in it.
Family foundations
Often one inbox, one opinion. Tone matters.
NYC agency RFPs
Forms, forms, then a few more forms.
State arts & humanities councils
They love a clear public benefit.
Corporate giving
Neighborhood goodwill, measured quarterly.
Donor-advised funds
A little looser on format, a lot tighter on trust.
Faith-based funders
Mission alignment first, budget line second.
Federal portals
By referral call only. We’ll tell you honestly if it’s a fit.
By appointment
Book a call and we’ll find a time that suits your calendar, not just ours. Phone or in person at 255 Eastern Parkway.
The first call
The first call is free
For the first 30 minutes. Bring a funder name, a deadline, or just a vague sense of dread.
Book the callPrefer to talk now?
The route
From first hello to hit-submit.
Five stops on the line. The last one involves coffee.
- 1
The call
Thirty minutes, free. We hear your program, your deadline, your dread.
- 2
The scan
We read the guidelines and tell you which funders deserve your autumn.
- 3
The draft
You talk, we write. A first draft lands in your voice, not ours.
- 4
The polish
Your edits, our commas, and the budget checked twice by two different people.
- 5
Submit day
A portal-ready file, or we press the button beside you. Templates go in your folder.