Creative Edge Consulting, Baltimore, MD, Creative Writer, Grant Writer, Article Press, Screen Script, Ghostwriter

Creative Edge Consulting

Columbia, Maryland | United States

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Creative Edge Consulting (ID: 436714)

Specializing in Non-Profit Support

Samples:

	Writing, Editing & Translation
	Feedback: None Reviews: 0 Earnings (Year): $0

Summary

Member Since:

April 10, 2004 | 1 quotes in last 30 days | Last Signed in: May 12, 2012

Location:

Columbia, Maryland | United States

Would work on site:

Earnings (All Time):

Earnings by Skill (Year):

Writing, Editing & Translation	$0
Articles & Press Releases	$0
Creative Writing	$0
Ghost Writing & Books	$0
Grants & Proposals	$0
Screen & Script Writing	$0

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Rate:

Min. Rate: $75.00 | Min. Budget: $1,000.00

Work Terms

Industries:

Education, Government, Media & Entertainment, Non-Profits & Charities, Professional Services

Highlights

With 25 years of non-profit experience, Mary Costello of Creative Edge Consulting specializes in program development, organizational effectiveness, and the creation of a wide range of written materials for funding , marketing, and operational purposes. Services are provided to human services agencies throughout the United States, with a particular emphasis on new start-ups or the establishment of complex new projects for existing organizations.

As a former Social Work Administrator, Mary offers a different perspective than most grant writing consultants. She is not just a writer, but a demonstrated leader. She is a professional coach, a team player, and a change agent. Asking the right questions and posing the potential solutions to organizational barriers, Mary helps build stronger programs, better management teams and Boards, and more effective written materials.

Highest grant awards include a 2.8 million dollar contract with the State of Maryland for the organization she founded in 1992, Creative Options, Inc., and, more recently, she co-authored a proposal that resulted in an 11 million dollar, 7-year grant for a national organization in September of 2007. Since starting Creative Edge Consulting in 2005, she has served over 45 organizations. Most work involved start-ups or program expansions, creating the essential, interconnected frameworks for non-profit success. Amost 14 million in funding awards secured over the last two years alone.

Skills

Years of Experience:	25 year(s)
Highest degree:	Bachelor's Degree
Software Skills:	Microsoft Office applications; Word, Excel, Publisher, PowerPoint. Also proficient with Adobe Master Collection CS3 (which includes Acrobat, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.), Final Draft, Dreamweaver, and music recording software packages, such as Cakewalk, Sound Forge, Acid, and Cubase.
Additional Skills:	A former Social Work Administrator, I am an experienced grant writer whose successes include winning a 2.8 million dollar grant by the State of Maryland to start-up/operate the human services agency I founded in 1992, Creative Options, Inc. Prior to becoming a full-time independent consultant, I was a grant writer/fundraiser for an small school for children with learning differences and language delays/disorders. I currently offer a full array of consulting services for non-profit organizations from across the United States, specializing in comprehensive support to new start-ups. My professional history includes executive coaching, establishing a wide range of operating systems for multiple non-profits, as well as the development of policies & procedures, staff training materials, plans of correction, strategic plans, quality assurance protocols and evaluation tools, development strategies, marketing pieces, educational curricula, and, of course, funding applications.
Tested Skills:

The Freelancer has not taken any Skill Tests.

Work Terms

Every group is different.

I attempt to fully honor the individual work styles of the persons with which I collaborate. For some, emails are better than phone calls, while the exact opposite could be true for someone else.    Since the vast majority of my customers are from other states, most work is completed via phone, email, fax, and, for some aspects, snail mail.

My clients will attest to my continuous availability, which is usually well outside of "normal" work hours.   Communication is absolutely key, and my folks are never in the dark about "where we are" with projects.

Goals and targets are specific, and accomplishing tasks is certainly a team effort. Likewise, the degree to which I assume the leadership role is up to the organization and dependent on their own particular talents and skill sets.

I charge my customers $75 an hour, billable against a retainer in 15-minute increments. Accounting statements are provided each week with a list of dates, times, and associated tasks to each.   Further, all work arrangements are under a formal contract that specifies the parameters of the relationship, which is subject to cancellation at any time by either party. Any unused retainer monies will be promptly returned to the client.

A 5% surcharge is added to fees for use of Guru escrow or Paypal payments.