About Mercer Row · 788 Columbus Avenue

Meet the people who’ll write your ask.

Name: Mercer Row
Address: 788 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY, 10025, US
Telephone: (212) 762-9195

A small shop on the Upper West Side that writes grants for nonprofits with a real program and too few hours. Here’s how we work, what we won’t do, and what a week with us looks like.

Call (212) 762-9195 What we turn down

A writer’s desk covered in marked-up proposal pages and a wall calendar — Tuesday, 2pm. Page 7 is getting cut.

The short history

Most grant shops sell hope. We sell drafts.

Mercer Row exists because small nonprofits keep getting two bad offers: a freelancer who disappears after the first draft, or an agency that bills a percentage of an award nobody can promise. Neither one fits an executive director who is also the bookkeeper.

So we do it the dull, reliable way. We read what a funder actually paid for in recent years. We write the application in your voice, because you’re the one signing it. We bill a flat number you can put in a budget line before we start.

We’re small on purpose. We take a handful of packages at a time, and when we’re full we say “not this quarter” instead of rushing your draft. That costs us work. It keeps the work we do take decent.

Everything we write for you ends up in your own library, so the next application, written by us or by your new hire, starts further along than the last one did.

Rather hear it than read it? We pick up weekdays, 11am to 4pm.

Ring the shop

Things we say no to

Five jobs we’ll turn down, out loud

Work paid as a cut of the award
Percentage fees push a writer toward big, flashy asks instead of the right ones. We charge flat, so our advice can’t be bent by the payout.
Guaranteed wins
Anyone promising one is guessing or lying. We can raise your odds. We can’t call a program officer’s mind.
Grants that don’t fit you
If a funder’s last three award lists don’t look like you, we’ll say so before you pay for a draft. That check is built into every letter of inquiry.
Copy-paste applications
Boilerplate belongs in your library. The ask itself gets written fresh for each funder, or it doesn’t go out.
Rush jobs without room to edit
Two edit rounds are in every package. A deadline three days out with no time for either is a conversation, not an automatic yes.

What a full application looks like

Fifteen business days, laid out flat

The full-application package runs three weeks. Here’s where your time goes and ours.

Days 1–2

Scope call

Thirty minutes, free. You bring the last proposal and the deadline list. We bring questions.

Days 3–5

Funder reading

Award lists, guidelines, past grantees. We report back with a yes, a no, or a “wait.”

Days 6–10

Draft and budget

Narrative and budget narrative written together so they tell one story.

Days 11–13

Your edits

You mark it up. We rewrite. Two rounds are included; a third is $180.

Days 14–15

Final read

Attachments checklist, last proofread, and the file handed back ready to submit.

What this costs you

A few hours of your time up front, files within three days of any request, and honest feedback in the edit rounds. Slow replies are the number one reason drafts slip.

What you keep

The finished application, the research notes on the funder, and every reusable paragraph filed into your proposal library when we’re done.

If that sounds like the kind of shop you’ve been looking for, say hello.

Write to us

Where to find us

Columbus Avenue, by appointment

788 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10025

Weekdays 11am–4pm. Visits are by appointment so we’re in and the desk is clear. Call first.

(212) 762-9195 · hello@mercergrant.com

Book the free call See what’s included

Deadline closing in? Tell us the date. We’ll tell you if it’s doable.

Dial (212) 762-9195