Elijah Mermin

I help organizations maximize their grant-seeking efforts by bringing savvy project management, strategy, and superior grantsmanship to secure significant grant awards.

Grant Consultant

“I worked with Elijah over a two-week period to pull together a Santa Cruz County government grant to support an arts education program for underserved youth. He was fast, effective, and easy to work with. I was impressed with Elijah’s ability to work with me in a highly collaborative manner to frame our case for support in a creative and compelling way. The County awarded us $108,000, and I would gladly work with him again!”
— Sarah Brothers, Arts Council Santa Cruz County

A History of Success

  • Secured over $43,400,000 in grant awards

  • Over 20 years of successful experience as a staff grant writer and grants consultant for government agencies and nonprofit organizations

  • Specializing in government grants for local units of government and nonprofit organizations

Services

  • Clarification of the objectives of your organization. Development of plans and tactics to pursue and secure grants to realize these objectives.

  • Collaboration to write concise and compelling proposals that showcase your organization’s vision.

  • Coaching to help make the daunting aspects of the grant-seeking process simple, more intuitive, and less intimidating.

  • Identification and qualification of funders whose giving priorities align with your organization’s mission and programs.

  • Communication with program officers to determine ways to frame grant proposals that align with a funder’s priorities.

About Me

As a staff and contract grant writer, I have served many nonprofit and government agencies, including museums, K-12 schools, libraries, universities, environmental groups, workforce development organizations, municipalities, and other institutions. I got my start in grant writing in 2005 as the principal grant writer for American Rivers, the nation’s largest river conservation organization. That experience of working on a highly-effective team of fund developers set me up for a successful career in grants development.

I have been especially successful in securing awards from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a federal agency that awards grants to museums and libraries. IMLS posted two of my awarded proposals on their website as illustrative models to the museum community.

I earned my B.A. in Environmental Studies from New College of Florida, my M.A. in Museum Studies from JFK University in 2002, and my MBA at Cal Poly State University - San Luis Obispo.

I live in Santa Cruz, California, with my wife and children, where I am an avid cyclist, beach volleyball player, and enthusiast of the amazing outdoors of California’s Central Coast.

Current & Previous Clients and Employers

Awarded Proposals

  • UC Santa Cruz

    National Science Foundation: Research Experiences for Undergraduates

    $228,000

    San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden

    Institute Museum Library Services: Museums for America

    $147,300

    National Steinbeck Center

    Institute Museum Library Services: Museums for America

    $139,587

    City of Milpitas

    Federal Emergency Management Agency: Emergency Food and Shelter Program

    $120,000 (total for two awards)

    San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum

    National Endowment of the Arts: American Rescue Plan Act

    $100,000

    City of Milpitas

    Bureau of Reclamation: WaterSmart Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects (SWEP)

    $31,000

  • San Lorenzo Valley Water District

    CA Department of Water Resources: Urban Community Drought Relief Program

    $4,500,000

    John Swett Unified School District

    California Department of Education: California Community Schools Partnership Program

    $2,612,500

    The Last Mile

    Board of State and Community Corrections: Adult Reentry Grant Program

    $1,426,194

    East Bay Regional Park District

    California State Coastal Conservancy: Coastal Access, Restoration, and Protection

    $700,000

    Goodwill of the San Francisco Bay

    AB 628: Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative

    $585,219

    Goodwill of the San Francisco Bay

    California Regional Initiative for Social Enterprise

    $500,000

    Sonoma Metro Chamber of Commerce

    NorCal Small Business Development Center

    $500,000

    City of Sunnyvale

    CA Public Utilities Commission: CA Advanced Services Fund (CASF)

    $313,500

    City of Palo Alto

    CA Dept of Parks and Recreation: Outdoor Environmental Education Facilities Grant Program

    $162,000

  • City of Milpitas

    Santa Clara Valley Transporation Authority: Innovative Transit Service Models Program

    $1,084,732

    Arts Council of Santa Cruz County

    County of Santa Cruz: Collective of Results and Evidence-based (CORE) Investments Program

    $108,000

  • Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness in Santa Barbara (Sponsored by County of Santa Barbara)

    Santa Barbara Foundation

    $225,000

    Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

    Hind Foundation

    $116,000

    Community Environmental Council

    Orfalea Foundation

    $40,000

    American Rivers

    Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund

    $80,000

What Clients Say

  • “Elijah’s patience, dedication, and excellent writing skills made him a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend his grant writing services.”

    Betsy Otto

    Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, American Rivers

  • “When I first joined American Rivers in 2005, I worked closely with Elijah on an important grant proposal to the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. The grant was funded for $35,000, providing me funds to work with local partners on restoration efforts for the Catawba-Wateree river in North and South Carolina. Elijah’s ability to talk with program officers, fine editorial skills, and easy going manner were key reasons why we worked well together to assemble our winning proposal.”

      Gerrit Jobsis

      Southeast Regional Director, American Rivers

  • “For two years, I worked with Elijah on a weekly basis, writing grant proposals for a wide range of projects. With his help, I was able to win grants to install our new irrigation system, purchase mechanical equipment, carry out habitat restoration work, and install new horticultural displays. His contributions are sorely missed, but it is my pleasure to give him an outstanding recommendation.”

    Andrew Wyatt

      Director of Horticulture, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

  • “Elijah has a proven track record as a dependable and detail-oriented grant writer. He was sensitive to my needs, and I found him to be an excellent writer and listener. He wrote two proposals for the Ten Year Plan, both of which were awarded.”

    Roger Heroux

      Former Project Coordinator, Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness in Santa Barbara

  • “We hired Elijah Mermin as a grant writing consultant and capital campaign advisor for our organization in 2007. He was not only a pleasure to work with, but he gave us intelligent and experienced guidance that brought in funding and moved our projects forward. I give him the highest recommendation.”

    Jan Smith

      Board Member, Quail Springs

  • “Elijah thinks like an IMLS grant reader, asking and answering all the questions that a grant reviewer might ask. He stays abreast of trends in the museum field so that he can gauge a proposal's likelihood for funding. Elijah worked well with our team and helped us to refine and strengthen our proposal. He made us follow a timeline of deliverables so that in very short order we were able to submit a proposal that would stand out from the pack.”

    Colleen Bailey

      Executive Director, National Steinbeck Center

  • “Elijah brought real leadership to our work at The Last Mile. He helped us secure our first government reentry grant, a $1.4 million award from the California BSCC Adult Reentry Grant program. Beyond crafting the narrative and work plan, he co-designed the program and collaborated with us on developing the project budget, drawing on his deep knowledge of reentry and of our organization. His expertise and partnership were essential to our success.”

    Kevin McCracken

    Executive Director, The Last Mile

 Let’s work together.