Quick Tips
Let’s Chat About AI and Federal Grants
AI won’t replace your role as a grant writer. But it can be an amazing tool to help you save time and work smarter. From drafting boilerplate to spotting logical gaps before reviewers do, AI can be a practical partner that helps reclaim capacity, strengthen collaboration, and keep the heart of the work where it belongs: with you.
From Heart to Head: Preparing Your Narrative for Federal Grants
Transitioning from foundation grants to federal grant writing requires more than minor adjustments—it demands a fundamental mindset shift. While foundation proposals often lean on compelling stories and flexible formats, federal grants require structured, evidence-based narratives rooted in data, measurable objectives, and strict compliance with RFP guidelines. This blog outlines key differences in tone, structure, and expectations, and offers practical exercises to help writers adapt—from reframing emotional appeals with data, to aligning narratives with federal evaluation criteria. Whether or not you pursue federal funding, these skills will elevate the rigor and credibility of all your grant proposals.
Seven Reasons Why AI Won’t Replace Grant Writers
I believe that grant writing is more than a deliverable. While AI may support parts of the process, it will never understand the call to serve, to advocate, and to lead through language.
Federal grants are not won by shortcuts or chance. They are won through clarity, alignment, storytelling, and trust. These are all things that begin and end with people. So if you’re wondering whether the rise of AI means the fall of professional grant writers, rest easy.
As long as grants are written for humans, by humans, the craft will remain in human hands.
What My Cycle Taught Me About Writing Better Grants
Let’s talk about something that doesn’t usually come up in grant writing circles: menstrual cycles. For years, I’ve tracked it for the usual reasons—physical health, mood, energy. But lately, I’ve noticed something else: it’s a powerful creative tool.
The Great Indirect Cost Debate
Let’s talk about something that sounds boring but actually shapes everything: indirect costs.
It isn’t just about fairness. It’s about capacity. Sustainability. Whether organizations can say yes to funding without hurting themselves in the process.
Building Your Federal Grant Muscles
Right now, federal grants things are weird. But you don’t need a live opportunity to start preparing for future opportunities. Here are several things I recommend doing while you wait for opportunities to reappear.
The Elephant in the Room: Are Federal Grants Really Coming Back?
Federal grants are back—but with strings attached.
While billions in funding are available through 2025, new compliance rules, tighter oversight, and political shifts are changing the game. For nonprofits—especially those serving underresourced communities—it's a moment of both opportunity and risk. Learn how to navigate this new landscape.
Why We Can’t Afford to Sit Out
Lately, I’ve been hearing more and more organizations ask, “Should we even bother applying for federal grants right now?”
I get it. It feels uncertain. But your community work is worth the investment. Our communities are worth the paperwork. And showing up, even when it’s messy, is a form of advocacy. Which means we need to stay in the game and get smarter about how we play.
F#ck AI and the Horse It Rode In On: 5 Ways AI Is Destructive to Grant Work
Guest blog by Melody Hernandez
We ultimately don't agree with the conclusion of this post, but we do agree that AI is being misused and that the misuse often hurts all of us. This blog includes many cautionary tales about AI being used as if it can think and make decisions independently.
AI Tools That Are Changing the Game for Grant Writers
AI, when used well, can actually expand your power as a grant writer and equip you with tools that give you a head start, offer clarity, and free up your brain for the strategic decisions only you can make. In this Quick Tips post, I introduce you to three CustomGPTs—field-tested assistants I’ve built for the reality of small, capacity-strapped nonprofits who are doing this work without a full grant team.
Threads: The Key to Successful Grant Writing
Grant writing isn’t just about crafting compelling answers to specific prompts – it’s about making sure that every piece of the puzzle fits together. At the core of successful grant applications are threads: the essential connections between the need, the intervention, and the impact. Without strong threads, federal grant proposals can become disconnected, unfocused, and ultimately unsuccessful.
Why Grant Writers Shouldn’t Fear Federal Grants
If you’re a grant writer, you already have most of the skills needed to tackle federal grants. Yes, Federal RFPs are longer (ok, MUCH longer), with more complex requirements and online systems that can test your patience. But if you can write grants, you can write federal grants. It’s just about learning the quirks, adapting your existing skills, and learning how to navigate the hidden challenges.
Dirty Words, a Sordid Past, But a More Accessible Pathway to Federal Dollars?
It’s earmark season! Is your organization looking for alternative pathways to funding? If so, you may want to consider pursuing earmarked funding. The process starts this month!
Guest Blog: Learning the Hidden Rules of Federal Grants
Elaine Schmidt is a Grant Professional who is concurrently pursuing her MSW. In today’s guest blog, she shares a bit about what she’s learned in her time grant writing with Jezreel Consulting.
Federal Grants Readiness
Why do grant writings teams need to seek this broad support before writing federal grants? Here’s a cautionary story for you…
Finding Our Way Through
Preserving and Directing our Energy with Self-Awareness and Intentionality
Federal Grants in 2025
Federal awards will look different in 2025 than they did in 2024. That feels like a safe bet. But just how different is a bit harder to predict.
