Tender Writing
Bid and tender writing for charities
Experienced bid writers for charities bidding for government and NHS contracts and statutory grants, with the number of days agreed before we start.
Money Tree Fundraising is a UK fundraising consultancy. Our bid and tender writing is led by Rachal Minchinton, our New Business Manager.
A tender has just come out
You need to know quickly whether you can bid, and bid well.
The deadline is fixed, the specification runs to dozens of pages, and your team still has a service to run.
Evaluators score only what is on the page, so a strong service with rushed answers can lose to a weaker one.
What our bid writing involves
We read the specification with you, plan the response, write and edit the answers, and check everything before you submit. You bring what you know about your service, and we turn it into answers that score against the criteria.
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Reading the specification.
We read the specification, evaluation criteria and contract terms, and give you a straight view on fit, risks and what a strong bid will need.
Writing.
We interview your service leads and write the quality, method statement and social value answers in your voice, using your outcomes and case studies.
Checks before submission.
Every question answered, word counts met, mandatory documents in place, and the answers consistent with your pricing schedule.
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Planning the response.
Every question mapped to its word limit, scoring weight and the evidence it needs, with who supplies what and by when.
Editing.
Draft and review rounds with you, tightening every answer against the scoring criteria and the word limits.
What it costs
£500 a day plus VAT
One rate for every type of bid.
Type of bid
Editing your own draft
Days agreed in writing
Before we start, so you know the total.
Typical days
Typical cost
Statutory grant
Smaller contract
Larger government or NHS contract
1 to 2
2 to 3
4 to 5
8 to 10
£500 to £1,000
£1,000 to £1,500
£2,000 to £2,500
£4,000 to £5,000
All plus VAT. Remote. A named writer throughout. We confirm the days once we have read your specification.
Who it is for
Charities bidding for government and NHS contracts and statutory grants in: homelessness, domestic abuse, substance misuse, criminal justice, employment support, children and families, and heritage.
It suits you if you have no bid writer, or a team too stretched to write to a deadline.
What it is not
A guarantee of winning, or pricing your contract. Your price and the final decision to bid stay with you. If a tender is not a good fit, we will say so on the first call.
What we ask of you
Bids are won on evidence only you have. We will ask you to:
share your outcomes data, policies and case studies
make your service leads available for interviews
name one person to sign off answers
turn drafts round quickly
We agree your team's time alongside the days.
Who you will work with
Rachal Minchinton, New Business Manager
Rachal has delivered winning bids with commissioners from councils and health boards, and the Welsh and UK governments. In her consultancy career she has generated around £20 million for clients, including £3.3 million from the Getting Ahead Dormant Account funding and more than £1 million from the Big Lottery ESF Life Skills Programme. In one year she was personally responsible for more than £6 million.
Money Tree Fundraising
199
contracts delivered since 2018
76%
of our work comes from returning clients and personal recommendation
Experience of winning bids in homelessness, domestic abuse, care leavers, education, substance misuse and criminal justice.
Questions about bid and tender writing
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Our rate is £500 a day plus VAT for every type of bid. Most bids take between one and ten days: one or two to edit your own draft, two or three for a statutory grant, four or five for a smaller contract and eight to ten for a larger government or NHS tender. We confirm the days in writing once we have read the specification.
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Usually two weeks from agreeing to work together. That gives time for contracting and preparation. Tender deadlines are fixed, so get in touch the day a tender is published, or before if you know one is coming. On the first call we will tell you whether the days your bid needs fit before the deadline.
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A bid writer turns what your service does into answers that score against a commissioner's or funder's criteria. We read the specification, plan the response, interview your service leads, write and edit the answers, and check the bid against the buyer's instructions before you submit.
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Yes. A statutory grant usually takes two to three days. The process is the same: read the guidance, plan, write, edit and check.
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No. Your price and the decision to bid stay with you. We check that the written answers are consistent with your pricing schedule.
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No one can. We make sure every answer is written to the scoring criteria, and we tell you on the first call if a tender is not a good fit.
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Yes. We work remotely, with commissioners from councils and health boards across the UK, and the Welsh and UK governments.
Seen a tender and want to know if we can help?
Book a free 30-minute call with Rachal. Tell us the deadline and send the specification, and we will tell you whether we can help and how many days it will take.
More on trust fundraising: Trust fundraising and bid writing