Educational Research Institute

What Educational Research Institute does

Educational Research Institute (ERI, dba ERI Grants) is a private, Harlingen, Texas-based professional services firm founded in 2001 by Linda Alaniz. The company provides grant writing, proposal development, budget planning, and post-award compliance support to school districts, charter schools, colleges and universities, medical institutions, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations across 28 U.S. states. ERI reports that its staff has secured over $700 million in funding for clients through 1,900+ grant submissions with a stated ~80% success rate over 25 years of operation. The firm is family-led, with Linda Alaniz as President, Lorenzo Alaniz as Vice President, and Alonzo Alaniz as Chief Operating Officer, and holds NY MWBE certification, Allied-States Cooperative membership, and Awarded Vendor status.

ERI's service platform covers the full grant lifecycle, from funding opportunity identification and proposal writing through submission, budget preparation, and post-award reporting. The firm maintains a comprehensive state-by-state funding resource directory covering all 50 states plus Washington D.C., and in 2025 integrated gbegrants.com (now a sub-brand) to expand its nonprofit and mission-driven client reach. Revenue is generated through three models: a contingency fee structure with no upfront client cost (payment only on successful award), a flat-fee model for clients with allocated internal funding, and unit-priced Evaluation Services priced at $4,000-$10,000 per engagement. There is no proprietary technology platform, software product, or disclosed AI/ML capability; service delivery is performed by a team of approximately 30 professionals including a Grant Director, Grant Specialists, a Technology/Marketing Director, and research analysts.

Name

Educational Research Institute

Legal name

Educational Research Institute

Website

https://erigrants.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Educational Research Institute (ERI Grants) is a Harlingen, Texas-based grant writing and consulting firm serving school districts, charter schools, universities, medical institutions, municipalities, and nonprofits across 28 U.S. states on contingency and flat-fee pricing models.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Grant Writing Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Grantmaking Agencies & Education Program Grants Administration (EDADAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Scholarships, Grants & Donor-Funded Awards Management (EDALAJAB)

Keywords

• Grant writing services
• Nonprofit consulting
• Federal grant funding
• Education grants
• Contingency fee grants

Headquarters

HQ city

Harlingen

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Contingency Grant Writing Services: The company operates primarily on a contingency fee model where no upfront payment is required from clients. Fees are only charged when grant funding is successfully secured. This model removes financial barriers for underfunded organizations and aligns company incentives with client success.
2. Flat Fee Grant Services: Organizations can choose a flat-rate option for grant submission services including application preparation, submission, budget preparation, and documentation. This model provides cost predictability for clients with allocated internal funding.
3. Evaluation Services: Comprehensive evaluation services including grant performance assessment, compliance verification, budget analysis, and documentation preparation. Fees range from $4,000 to $10,000 based on scope and complexity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Educational Research Institute provides professional grant writing and consulting services that help educational institutions, nonprofits, municipalities, and medical organizations identify funding opportunities and secure awards. The company manages the full grant lifecycle — from opportunity research, proposal development, and budget preparation through submission and post-award compliance — and offers clients a contingency-based pricing option with no upfront fees.

Product overview

Educational Research Institute (ERI) offers a suite of grant writing and consulting services operating as a unified service platform rather than a software product. The core offerings include Grant Writing Services and Evaluations for nonprofits, educational institutions, municipalities, and health organizations, supplemented by a State Funding Available resource directory covering all 50 states. ERI also incorporated GBE Grants as a sub-brand. The company operates on two pricing models: a risk-free Contingency Fee model where no payment is required unless funding is secured, and a Flat Fee model for organizations preferring predictable costs. The services span the entire grant lifecycle from consultation and proposal development through submission and post-award compliance monitoring.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Grant Writing Services
• Evaluations
• State Funding Available Resource Directory
• GBE Grants

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $700 million secured through successful grant applications for clients
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• GBE Grants (gbegrants.com)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGBE Grants, a trusted platform for nonprofits, educators, and mission-driven organizations seeking grant writing support, has merged with ERI Grants. This partnership combines gbegrants.com's dedication to personalized service with ERI's experience in building sustainable, results-focused funding strategies. Clients gain access to professional guidance, well-crafted proposals, and expanded support systems.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• La Piana Consulting: La Piana Consulting is a national nonprofit consulting firm advising charities on fundraising, strategy, and capacity building, comparable to ERI's advisory layer for grant-seeking organizations.
• GrantWatch: GrantWatch operates a grant opportunity database and research service used by nonprofits, schools, and municipalities to identify funding, overlapping with the discovery half of ERI's grant writing service stack.
• The Grantsmanship Center: The Grantsmanship Center is a long-standing grant writing training and consulting organization that helps nonprofits and agencies secure government and foundation funding, mirroring ERI's professional services model and target customer base.
• Foundant Technologies: Foundant Technologies provides grants management and scholarship software to foundations, nonprofits, and educational institutions, addressing the same funding lifecycle (application through award) that ERI supports via professional services.
• Instrumentl: Instrumentl is a SaaS platform that automates grant discovery, prospect research, and tracking for nonprofits and educational institutions, competing directly with ERI's manual grant research and writing workflow.
• Grant Hub: Grant Hub is a grants management SaaS platform for nonprofits, schools, and municipalities that streamlines the application, review, and reporting pipeline ERI handles manually for clients.

Broad incumbents

• Candid: Candid (formed from Foundation Center and GuideStar) is the established incumbent in philanthropy data and nonprofit research, serving many of the same funders, nonprofits, and grant-seekers that ERI supports.
• The Bridgespan Group: Bridgespan is a major nonprofit and philanthropic strategy consultancy that works alongside funders and nonprofits on capacity building and funding strategy, operating in the same broader advisory space as ERI.

Others

• Nonprofit Hub: Nonprofit Hub provides educational content, resources, and tools for nonprofit leaders, serving an overlapping audience to ERI with informational rather than grant-writing services.
• BoardSource: BoardSource is a national nonprofit focused on governance and leadership support for charitable organizations, adjacent to ERI's capacity-building work with grant-seeking institutions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/eri.grants
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/educational-research-insitute-eritexas

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Educational Research Institute