Grant Development & Funding Strategy
The grant is the last step. The project is the work.
Strong projects win — so before anything gets written, we build the project with your leadership team. Then we write, and we write to win.
What You Get (including, but not limited to):
Project development: the case for need, a defensible budget, evaluation plan, and sustainability argument — summarized for board approval before writing begins.
Funding structure: a written plan for which sources fit your project and in what order — grants, philanthropy, tax credits, loans, bonding, Congressionally Directed Spending.
Full application development: proposals, LOIs, budgets, attachments, submission, and follow-through — federal, state, and foundation.
Opportunity screening (retainer): targeted briefs matched to your priorities, each with a fit recommendation.
Regional & coalition development: partnership structures, shared governance, and the data instruments behind regional applications.
Data & organizational profile: the institutional data and documentation strong applications draw on — gathered once, kept current.
Registrations & readiness: SAM.gov, UEI, Grants.gov, and state systems handled.
Honest fit assessments: a straight answer on fundability, before you invest.
And a practical note for small teams: the division of labor is clean. You own the decisions and the facts only you have — priorities, institutional data, quotes, approvals. We do the development, structuring, and writing that turns them into a competitive application. Your team’s time is spent deciding, not drafting — because we know rural organizations don’t have a grants department to spare.
Every engagement runs at the client's pace — we adapt to you. But we arrive ready to work, and new clients receive real deliverables from the first weeks: a structured kickoff with your full administrative team — priorities, roles, opportunity routing. An entity and registration review — EINs, UEI, SAM.gov, Grants.gov, hospital-vs-foundation applicant routing — gaps found and fixed. A Grant Portfolio & Strategic Review: a written inventory of every active and pending award, plus the lessons in your past applications. A forward funding calendar built around your strategic priorities. And an internal grant request procedure and request form — one consistent path for every project idea in your building, from idea to funding decision. Within the first 90 days, you don't just have a grant writer — you have a grants operation.
One Project, Many Funding Sources
The best-funded rural projects are rarely funded by a single grant. A clinic, an ED renovation, a regional program — these get built by structuring several sources around one project, sequenced so each strengthens the case for the next. Designing that structure is a discipline in itself, and it’s at the heart of what we do. We’re deeply fluent in the current era of Kansas rural health funding — RHTP-era capital, regional partnership, and provider attraction programs — and in the federal, state, and foundation landscape rural organizations have always relied on.
Allowable Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Fundable
When an opportunity surfaces, the first question is whether your project is allowed under the rules — but the real question is whether it’s fundable there: what the funder is actually pressing for, whether your project matches that intent or needs reframing, and whether this program is the right home for it at all. Sometimes a program technically permits your capital project but is truly built for something else — and the right move is to aim the capital at the program designed for capital, and meet this funder with what they’re asking for. We make those calls with you, out loud, before you spend a dollar. The goal is never just funding options. It’s funding success.
Why Clients Stay on Retainer
On retainer, we function as part of your team — in your meetings, current on your plan, aware of what’s breaking and what’s launching. That compounds: we bring you opportunities you didn’t know existed (“a consultant who is proactive and brings me opportunities that I never know are available,” in one client’s words); your applications sharpen every year as institutional memory accumulates; and your standing with funders grows, because the second award is always easier than the first when the first is handled well. It’s why our client relationships are measured in years and decades, not projects — our longest now span 19 years. Retainers also smooth your budget. Per-project flat fees are available too — and in every arrangement, our fee is never a percentage of your award.
The Record
Since 2007: more than $25 million secured for rural Kansas organizations — hospitals, communities, and nonprofits in towns of a few hundred to a few thousand people — from $5,000 community grants to multi-million-dollar state and federal capital awards, including multiple seven-figure wins in the current funding era, and a $1.38M award establishing Southeast Kansas’s first collaborative healthcare governance structure. And while rural healthcare is our focus, we’ve delivered this same work for rural municipalities, law enforcement agencies, schools, and community organizations since 2007 — and still do.
When the award arrives, stewarding it well is what builds the next one — that’s our Grant Administration practice.
How Fees Are Structured
Every service carries one clear structure — quoted up front, agreed in writing, and priced with rural budgets in mind. Grant fees are never a percentage of your award, and you'll know exactly what an engagement costs before any work begins. The full breakdown, service by service, is one click away.
"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.