This company is a scam, operating under the premise of providing grant writing services. I was first contacted by Felicia Bradley (202-618-6125) on October 14, who told me she was from the grant office in Washington D.C. Felicia told me they had received my request about grant information and were prepared to give me a government grant all I needed to do was find a grant writer to generate the proposal. I explained that I had already been working to find a grant writer and was not having much luck. Felicia was happy to look for a grant writer who had success writing the types of grants I was interested in, though she could not assist me on company time. Felicia instructed me to call her back on the next business day (a Monday as the day I was speaking with her was Friday) and she would have information about a grant writer for me. Felicia also gave me a case number B291110 and told me the proposal would need to be to the grant office by Nov 21, and that there currently wasn’t any money for my area but they expected funds to be released the middle of February. When I contacted Felicia on Monday October 17, she told me Florida State Financial Planners (954-678-0687) has a 97% success rate with the grant I am requesting and the company received an A rating with the Better Business Bureau.
I contacted Florida State Financial Planners and left a message with the case number I was given by Felicia Bradley from the grant office on October 17. Steven McDaniel from the Florida State Financial Planners promptly returned my call. He gave me some overview information about the grant: when it would be delivered, that I would need ID, and I could apply for $80,000; he also talked a little about writing process including: what type of paperwork they would need from me, the timeline, and the fee of $480. Steven told me the reason Florida State Financial was able to provide such an inexpensive fee was because all grant writing was contracted out and fees were to be paid directly to the grant writer, he then suggested I talk it over with my husband and if I was interested he needed to spend about 45 minutes on the phone with me getting the initial proposal information. I was instructed to call back the next day at 7am MST, and that I could reach him at extension 800.
I called Steven McDaniel from Florida State Financial Planners October 18 at 7am and reached an answering service. Mr. McDaniel returned my phone call around 715am and said he knew I had to work at 8 so if we needed to reschedule we could. I told him it would be fine to talk now, he asked several times if my husband wanted to be on the line as well so Steven could answer any questions that my husband may have. Steven asked more questions about my business plan and told me that he would be needing quotes in writing. He e-mailed me a contract including a money back guarantee in which I was to initial each page sign and send back with a check made out to the grant writer (who I was told was Rachell Francis). I was told to everything to mail Florida State Financial Planner’s accounting offices at 2250 NW 114th Ave Unit 1P, Miami, FL 33172. Steven also gave me a contract number PTY5186 and told me I would be receiving the draft nine page proposal between November seventh and 11th at which time I was to sign and return along with the quotes for the cost analysis. Steven instructed me to send a cashier’s check by certified mail and to call him with the tracking number so that he could get my file to the grant writer once he knew the $480 fee was on its way.
I mailed the cashers check on October 18. Steven McDaniel called me before I had a chance to call him with the tracking number which I gave to him 1pm MST October 18th. This was the last communication I had from Florida State Financial Planners. I did not receive the draft proposal; I have made numerous calls and left messages that have not been returned. The phone number for Florida State Financial Planners on the Better Business Bureau website is different than the number I have so I tried that number as well and left more messages. I also tried calling Felicia Bradley at the grant office in Washington D.C. To see what she thought I should do and if I could get an extension and find another grant writer. The phone number she provided is answered by the error message, “lines are temporarily busy, please try back.” After all this, my husband started to do more research and found numerous people who have paid their grant writing fees to Florida State Financial Planners and have not received grant proposals.
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