How Our Fees Work
Clear structures. No surprises. Rural budgets in mind.
Each of our services carries one clear fee structure, shaped by how that work actually unfolds — laid out below, service by service, with what each engagement buys and why it's built the way it is. And a standing rule before any structure: when we don't believe a project will succeed with a particular funder, we say so before you spend money pursuing it.
1 - Grant Development & Funding Strategy
Most Chosen: Annual retainer, billed monthly.
What It Buys: year-round opportunity screening matched to your priorities, projects developed from idea through submission, funding structures built across multiple sources, and your standing with funders growing award after award.
The retainer exists because this service isn't a transaction — it's your funding mechanism. The monthly amount is set at signing, sized to your organization and its ambitions; we're careful to scope it right the first time, and if your plans grow beyond it, we talk it through before anything changes.
A year is the minimum because funding runs on annual cycles, and the monthly structure spreads a heavy funding season evenly instead of one large bill when the big application lands.
On cost: a retainer typically runs well below the cost of staffing the position - often a fraction of that cost. You receive senior experience from day one, with no salary, fringe, or ramp-up time.
Facing one large, defining grant and just need that?
Single-grant engagements are available by request, at a flat fee. Never a percentage of your award.
2 - Grant Administration & Technical Assistance
Flat fee for the engagement, billed monthly across your award period.
What It Buys: procurement reviewed before money moves, budgets and records kept audit-ready, every report filed right and on time — and, if you choose, your own staff trained to run it all.
One price, set by the complexity of the award — never by its dollar size. Billed monthly because that's how the work happens: reviews, reports, and monitoring run continuously from kickoff to closeout, and the fee simply follows along. No invoice spike at reporting season.
Bring 19 years of experience with no audit flags to your team now.
3 - CHNA, Implementation Strategy & CHIP
One fixed fee for the complete CHNA/IS cycle. CHIP quoted separately.
What It Buys: the complete compliance cycle — surveys, data, committee facilitation, the board-ready assessment, and its adopted Implementation Strategy — built to feed your grants and strategy for three years.
The CHNA and the Implementation Strategy are one requirement, not two products — the IRS requires both, and we quote them as one complete cycle, one price, scheduled around your compliance deadline. If your assessment already exists, we can build the Implementation Strategy to it.
The CHIP — optional, community-wide planning for coalitions — is quoted separately for coalition engagements.
4 - Capital & Fundraising Campaigns
Flat fee for your campaign, phased with its stages.
What It Buys: feasibility assessed honestly, then the complete campaign machine — case for support, donor materials, strategy and sequencing, giving-vehicle structures, and your ask-makers coached and ready.
We scope what your campaign needs and quote one flat fee, typically paid in phases as the campaign moves. And a matter of principle: our campaign fees are not a percentage of what's raised. Dollars given to a campaign should go to the campaign.
Across Every Engagement:
Grant fees are never a percentage of your award.
Every engagement is quoted before work begins — in writing.
And when your goals grow, the engagement adjusts. Together.
5 - Foundation Development & Stewardship
Three engagement areas:
1 - Flat fee for Foundation Development.
2 - Flat fee for Endowment Architecture.
3 - Monthly retainer for Ongoing Stewardship.
What It Buys: the policies and governance that let your foundation hold money well, the complete endowment program built before the first gift arrives, and standing counsel that keeps it all strong.
Three separate engagements, each scoped and priced on its own — take one, two, or all three. The development and endowment builds are flat fees paid in installments as deliverables arrive; stewardship runs as a monthly retainer sized for foundation budgets. Clear prices, so your board sees exactly what each dollar does.
6 - Healthcare Strategy & Advisory
Flat fee per engagement, quoted after one conversation. Three primary areas:
1 - Service Line Analysis - Flat Fee.
2 - Business Plan Production - Flat Fee.
3 - Board Education Sessions - Quoted by format. Flat fee.
What It Buys: a service line analysis, a business plan, or board education sessions — real analysis for the decision in front of you, honest either way it points.
Each engagement is a defined piece of work, quoted once we understand the question. Board education sessions are quoted individually by format. And for retainer clients, standing executive counsel is usually already part of the relationship.
7 - Grant Training & Workshops
Flat session fee. One number, everything included.
What It Buys: your team trained by a working practitioner — including AI-augmented grant development — with the workbooks, templates, and materials they keep.
Choose the format that fits: a half-day workshop, a full-day intensive, an organization training series, board-meeting briefings, or association and conference sessions. Every quote covers the session, materials, and travel.
Grant Funds, Handled by the Book
One question comes up often: can grant funds pay for grant management? The honest answer is that each program's rules decide. Some allow grant funds to cover management or administration; many don't. Where it's allowable, we structure it transparently and in writing. Where it isn't, fees come from operating funds — period. Either way, every contract states exactly how fees are funded before anything begins. Compliant, legal, and ethical — it's the only way we work.
"The McLeod Group has helped my organization secure grants from small to large. We have worked together now for several years and his expertise in grant writing is exceptional. The best part of all is that Mr. [McLeod] knows our hospital well and has a local presence. It is nice to have a consultant who is proactive and brings me opportunities that I never know are available. You cannot go wrong when The McLeod Group is a part of your team!"
Rod Landrum, Executive Director, Labette Health Foundation (retired)
"We have had a great deal of success in working with Nick [McLeod] on grants . . . focused on improving lives in SEK and Kansas."
Brian Williams, CEO,
Labette Health
"The Pratt Health Foundation has retained the grant writing and administrative services of the McLeod consulting group. The principal, Nick [McLeod], understands the private and federal grant landscape as well as providing wise administrative assistance. He has written successful grant applications and provided excellent counsel for the Foundation. I would highly recommend his services."
DeWayne Bryan, Executive Director,
Pratt Health Foundation (retired)
"I have worked with Nick on three different grant proposals regarding Integrated Care through embedding a behaviorist into a primary care facility. Through Nick's effort and skill, we were successful in receiving a planning grant, an implementation grant, and a continuation grant. Nick is very thorough, thinks of great questions, anticipates questions from grant sources, writes skillfully, and is a pleasure to work with. I would recommend him and his services to anyone."
Matthew Atteberry,
Executive Director,
Labette Center for Mental Health Services
"Since having The McLeod Group come on board with us, the Pratt Police Department has received over $175,000 in funds from grants that Nick has found for us! The Pratt Police Department and the citizens of Pratt, KS are very fortunate to be able to have the McLeod Group helping the efforts of keeping this great community safe!"
Chief Nate Humble,
Pratt Police Department
(retired)
"Mr. [McLeod] put my vision for my school into a professional proposal from A to Z, no detail was left to chance. After multiple attempts on my own, Mr. [McLeod] was successful the first time in obtaining a $400,000 grant for my school, the largest to be awarded in our county to date."
Mikel Ward, Principal,
Service Valley Charter Academy (retired)
Testimonials
Book a Free Consultation
Since 2007
The first conversation is free — and it's an honest one. Bring your objectives, your questions, or the project you've been trying to fund. If we don't believe it's a go, we'll tell you right there — no engagement, no pressure, no charge. And if it is, we'll tell you exactly how we'd help.