Grants Consulting Client Testimonials

"It is my pleasure to recommend Emily Baldwin Wu as a non-profit consultant and grant writer.   I have known and worked with Emily for the past 10 years through her association with a non-profit I co-founded, VisionQuest 20/20 (formerly The Amblyopia Foundation of America). Emily has assisted VisionQuest 20/20 since our organization’s infancy. As with most start up organizations, founding staff members must juggle many roles and responsibilities. Emily has played an integral part in many areas of our organization’s successful development with regards to strategic planning, organizational infrastructure, board development, financial and reporting compliance, and day to day operations. With a background in banking and considerable non-profit experience, Emily is talented in many areas and even formerly served in exemplary fashion as CEO of VisionQuest 20/20. I can personally attest to Emily’s unwavering commitment, ethics, and selfless devotion to make a difference in the world. Of Emily’s many attributes, development of collaborative partnerships to tackle society’s ills is among her greatest passions. Emily does not simply write a grant. Emily invests upfront time and planning to strategically evaluate a problem, and when possible, leverages key partnerships to create a collaborative solution. This requires dialogue and relationship building not just with potential partner organizations, but also with the ultimate partner-the funding organization itself. The grant is simply the result of highly effective strategic planning. This dedicated and thoughtful approach explains why Emily has had a 97% success rate for the grants submitted on behalf of VisionQuest 20/20.  I wholeheartedly endorse her." James W. O'Neil, MD, Board Chairman

“Whoever wrote this grant really knows what they are doing.” 

Grants Review Committee Chair

"Emily and I have worked on several initiatives over the past fifteen years. Our consulting firms have sought and received significant funds for a variety of projects involving a wide range of issues including volunteerism, public health, community leadership, and justice. She has achieved an outstanding grants consulting success rate not only because of her clear and persuasive writing skills, but also due to the versatility of her mind, as she is able to understand virtually any organization, from small grassroots to sophisticated global organizations. She has conceptualized numerous programs, from direct service projects to major consortium events designed to facilitate consensus building and collaboration which have been instrumental to our organization success. In particular, she has a unique ability to design projects for replication, a strategy that is essential for making efficient and effective use of resources. Moreover, from her previous banking and finance experience, Emily has an uncommon ability to understand all aspects of operations including principles of sound financial management, budgeting and forecasting, operations, and nonprofit best practice standards. As a result, she is capable of writing effectively for virtually any organization seeking any type of support, whether corporate, foundation, or government grants. Emily is dedicated to using her grants consulting skills for solving social issues and I would highly recommend her to anyone seeking a top notch grant writer." 

Alison Rapping   

"I am an assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and the director of a proteomics laboratory. One of my job duties is to apply for grants to secure funds for new research instrumentation. Preparing grant applications requires a significant portion of one’s time. As this grant writing has to be balanced with research, service work, and teaching, I decided to seek outside help in preparing our next National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant application. I contacted Ms. Wu and asked her to help us prepare our grant application for the NIH Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) program. I was very impressed with her enthusiasm and willingness to take on such a technically challenging project so we hired her to help us prepare this grant application. Ms. Wu worked with me for a little over a month to prepare, proofread and edit the grant text, format the grant text as per NIH guidelines, and transfer to the text to NIH Adobe pdf format documents. Ms. Wu was very adept at understanding the grant structure and my research field. I was very impressed with her willingness to put up with my hectic work schedule and long hours. Without Ms. Wu’s help, I do not think we would have been successful in submitting this 50+ page grant application for the $500k funds from NIH to buy the requested research instrumentation. If we apply for the another NIH grant I will be sure to engage Ms. Wu’s services again and would highly recommend her to others seeking help in writing and preparing their grant applications."

John P. DeGnore, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Director of Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry, Dept. of Physiology

"Emily Baldwin Wu has provided excellent and effective grant writing services to VisionQuest 20/20 for several years. Her writing skills are admirable as is her ability to tailor the request for the appropriate audience and opportunity. Her attention to detail means the organization for whom she is writing the grant can feel confident that every important aspect of the proposal is effectively presented. Her efforts have resulted in significant and meaningful awards for VisionQuest 20/20."

Elizabeth Reich, CEO