When Free Nonprofit Labor Isn’t Justice: Volunteer Grant Writing

 Notes from the Nonprofit Underground | By Lauren Watson

You’ve probably seen the pitch: “Our grant writers are volunteers, we help small nonprofits access funding for free.” It sounds generous. Noble, even. But let’s be clear: free labor in grant development isn’t justice, it’s exploitation dressed up in progressive language.

The people most likely to offer or promote free grant writing often come from a place of good intention, but not from an understanding of what sustainable, ethical development work actually requires. What’s being offered isn’t a gift; it’s a setup. A shortcut that skips the infrastructure a nonprofit actually needs in place to win (and manage) grants.

Because writing a grant isn’t just about filling in a form. It’s about:

• Aligning strategy with funder priorities

• Building a budget that reflects real costs

• Designing programs with measurable outcomes

• Tracking compliance and evaluation protocols

These are not clerical tasks. They’re executive-level functions that require experience, strategy, and deep contextual understanding. Offering them for free, or expecting others to, doesn’t close equity gaps. It widens them.

When grant writing is treated like charity, not strategy, here’s what happens:

• Underprepared organizations submit poor-quality applications

• Funders receive half-baked proposals and lose trust in the sector

• Skilled professionals burn out or exit the field

• And the cycle of scarcity gets reinforced under the guise of help

Worse still? Many of these “free writing collectives” are staffed by early-career folks who are being trained to believe their labor has no value; or who are being used to prop up someone else’s version of progress.

Equity doesn’t mean nobody gets paid. Equity means everyone has what they need to build something real.

If we want a nonprofit sector that’s just, accountable, and sustainable, we have to stop calling unpaid labor a solution. It’s a symptom. One we’ve mistaken for virtue for far too long.

Stay tuned for the next installment: “Why Offering Free Grant Writing Isn’t a Solution: It’s a Symptom.”

Lauren Watson is a nonprofit strategist, grant consultant, and founder of Notes from the Nonprofit Underground, a project dedicated to telling the truth about this sector, and building what comes next.