AI Grant Writing: Revolutionize Your Funding Strategy with AI

AI is transforming how grant writers work. If you haven’t started using it already, it’s time to get on board because it isn’t going anywhere.

But, what is AI? And how can it support your grant writing efforts?

If you’re not familiar with the ins and outs of this technology yet, don’t panic! This article will explain:

• What AI is to a grant writer
• How AI can help your grant writing and fundraising efforts
• And which AI software tools you can use to boost your grant writing efforts

Let’s dive in!

You might be wondering, what exactly is AI?
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Simply put, Artificial Intelligence is a machine’s ability to perform cognitive functions just like the human brain. These functions include learning, interacting with an environment, solving problems, and even utilizing creativity.

Here’s what's crazy: AI systems get smarter the more they are utilized. With each successive interaction, the system is able to test and measure its outputs and develop expertise in the task that it’s been asked to accomplish.

This makes AI incredibly effective in any process that requires intelligent decision-making.

In short, AI is super powerful and turning industries like retail, banking, and manufacturing on their heads.

So, you’re wondering: “Can AI help me with grant writing?” it absolutely can.
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Artificial Intelligence is transforming the grant writing industry, and it has big implications for grant writers.

AI can assist with grant writing in a few key ways, including drafting text that is similar to what a human grant writer would produce. This means that AI can help you with:

• Writing grant proposal abstracts or summaries
• Writing specific sections of a grant proposal, such as a project timeline or an evaluation plan
• Providing inspiration or ideas for content to include in a grant proposal
• Editing and proofreading grant proposals

Sounds great, right? Keep reading, and we will dive into why AI grant writing is so important for you and your nonprofit. Let’s go!

Whether you’re a brand new grant writer or an experienced fundraiser, you most likely feel that there is never enough time—and never enough money—for you to successfully meet your fundraising goals.

Let’s talk about some of the common challenges that grant writers face and how using Artificial Intelligence can help you overcome those obstacles!

Shortcomings of the Traditional Approach

Arguably, grant writers’ biggest obstacle is time, or more specifically, the lack of it.

Grant writing can be tedious and repetitive.

How often have you answered the question:

“How will you plan for the sustainability of this project/program beyond the grant period?”

So many times, right?! Things like formatting and editing also take up a ton of time.
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These mundane tasks prevent many grant writers from having the time and energy to focus on more important aspects of the proposal.

Another common challenge that grant writers face is successfully weaving data into the grant narrative. A compelling case for support relies on a grant writer’s ability to tell a good story. The tricky part is finding accurate data points and weaving them throughout the narrative in a way that helps to demonstrate need and impact.

Here’s where AI grant writing becomes really important—it can help you with some of the day-to-day obstacles that you face in grant writing.

The AI Advantage

One of the biggest ways that Artificial Intelligence can help you with grant writing is by automating repetitive and mundane tasks.

This includes things like:

• Formatting
• Editing
• Or even drafting content.

As we mentioned above, grant proposals often ask the same questions, requiring you to rewrite similar answers over and over again. AI can automate this for you—saving you time and energy.

Similarly, AI tools are able to check for both spelling and grammatical errors, and can often identify inconsistencies in the proposal as well. The end result is a more polished proposal!
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AI can also streamline the grant writing process and enhance the quality of your proposals.

AI-powered tools can analyze the language and tone of a proposal to ensure it is persuasive and engaging to readers. AI can also provide feedback on the quality of proposals, which will help you improve and refine your work. All in all, AI tools can help you create compelling proposals that will capture your audience’s attention and secure funding for your nonprofit.

While all of this is very exciting, we want to offer a word of advice: Artificial Intelligence is not a replacement for human grant writers.

You will need to learn how to write your prompts for AI so that you get a well-crafted response. Depending on which tool you use, you might have to do more or less editing and reviewing. It’s important to be familiar with the AI tools that are available to you so you can leverage their advantages successfully.

Wondering where to begin? We’ve got you covered.

In the next section, we’re going to provide you with a snapshot of 5 of the most popular AI grant-writing tools on the market. Keep reading!

In this section, we’re going to guide you through some of the top tools in the AI grant writing space. We’ll walk you through what each tool is known for and what it excels at.

ChatGPT: To Get Started Quickly

ChatGPT can do a lot of things—and grant writing is one of them!

As with many AI tools, ChatGPT needs to “get to know you”. This might sound crazy, but it’s true! The more you use it, the better it will get at answering questions for you because it learns from its responses to your previous questions. Wild, right?

Here’s another tip about using ChatGPT: your prompts need to be super specific.

Instead of saying “Write a summary about [XYZ Organization’s] mission”, say “Describe {XYZ Organizations} mission, key programs, and services.” The more detailed you are in your prompt, the more accurate the response you will get.

ChatGPT can also provide structure to your proposal writing. You can use the prompt, “Give me an outline for a proposal for a youth mental health program held by XYZ Organization”, and it will generate an outlined response for you. This approach will still save you time and energy, but doesn’t require you to rely fully on AI for your proposals.

Here are some limitations of ChatGPT that you should be aware of:
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1. The word count is often inaccurate, which can be a big problem in the world of grant writing. If you’re using this tool, make sure to check your word count in another application before submitting.
2. ChatGPT may not always store your conversation, so always save helpful information to your own files so it does not become lost.
3. ChatGPT tends to include unnecessary “fluff” in its writing; you will likely need to edit the content and pare it down to only what is necessary.

Google Bard: Alternative To GPT

Google Bard is a brainchild of Google, another AI-powered bot that can be used to assist you in your grant writing efforts.
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The thing that sets Google Bard apart from other AI tools is its ability to provide more human-like responses that feel conversational versus technical.

This tool is also able to produce text in a few different styles, including news articles, letters, blogs, and creative writing, which will allow you to customize the feel of the content that it drafts for your grant proposals.

Because of its affiliation with Google, Google Bard is able to provide the latest and most up-to-date information in its results by extracting it from the web. Many other AI tools lack this feature, so this certainly makes this technology stand out!

A few challenges with Google Bard to be aware of include:

• It does not provide sources for its information, which means it cannot be used as a standalone tool for research purposes. If your grant proposal requires research or cited sources, you will need to use another tool.
• Another disadvantage to this tool is its limitations in creativity. Users report that Bard often produces repetitive and unoriginal responses to prompts. This is problematic for grant writing since the goal is to create a proposal that will stand out—not blend in.

Fundwriter.ai

Fundwriter.ai refers to itself as a ‘writing assistant for nonprofit professionals” that can help you write just about any kind of content.

Fundraiser has 35 models that you can choose from to customize your content, including thank you letters, donor emails, and annual appeals. It’s highly customizable, which means that the content generated will be unique, creative, and engaging to readers.

Of all the AI tools we are reviewing in this article, there was the least amount of information and reviews available for Fundraise.ai.

The Basic plan is $29 per month and gives you access to 20,000 words per month. The Professional plan is $89 per month and gives you access to unlimited words—plus early access to new models before they’re widely released.

Not ready to commit? That’s okay! Fundraiser offers a 14-day free trial so you can explore its functionality before choosing a plan.

Grant Genius

Grant Genius is a different type of platform; it offers a wide range of tools and resources that all strive to streamline the grant writing experience.

While these tools include AI-powered writing assistance, Grant Genius also offers:

• Support with the application process
• Comprehensive resources such as sample proposals, case studies, and funding databases
• Grant opportunity matching
• And opportunities for collaboration and feedback.

The pricing structure for this platform varies based on the level of assistance that you need. Grant Genius requires you to contact them via their website to discuss pricing in more detail.

Grantboost

Grantboost is another AI program designed specifically for nonprofit organizations. This platform uses algorithms that analyze the nonprofit client’s details and funding goals to generate proposal responses that are accurate and resonate with funders.

To achieve this, Grantboost users complete a brief survey to provide the AI bot with essential information about their organization, team, mission, and funding goals.

Not only does the AI use this to craft compelling proposals, but it also uses this information to identify potential grant opportunities.

As with any platform, there are some things to be aware of with Grantboost.

• Users report that this platform lacks some key features, such as the ability to collaborate among team members.
• Users also shared that Grantboost lacks advanced editing tools, meaning you will still need to spend time and effort editing for spelling, grammar, and formatting.
• Lastly, this AI tech has limited user customization, meaning that the content drafted may not be as unique as you would like it to be.

While there is a free version of Grantboost, you can access additional features such as unlimited template access, prioritized feature requests, and priority support by paying a monthly fee. Monthly plans begin at $19 per month.

Below are the top pros and cons that you should be aware of so that you can make an informed decision about when and how to use AI for your grant writing needs.

Pros:

Time Efficiency

One of the most obvious benefits of using AI to write grant proposals is the ability to save significant amounts of time. As we’ve discussed, AI tech can help you automate repetitive tasks, search for new funding opportunities, edit and format your proposals, and even create unique content for you.

Think about all the time you will get back without having to focus on those tasks!

Precision and Accuracy

Another benefit to using AI tools for grant writing is that they can help you improve the quality and accuracy of your writing by identifying spelling and grammar errors. Many AI tools can also provide you feedback on the consistency and readability of your proposals.

Data Handling

Some AI databases use predictive analytics, meaning that they can analyze large volumes of information and synthesize them for you. This means that AI can help analyze data from your program evaluations and help you weave those data points into your grant proposals and reports.

Consistency

AI tools can make sure that your writing is consistent across all your content— grant proposals, abstracts, donor mailings, etc. It can also help you maintain consistency in your style, tone, and formatting and ensure that your voice is clear, on-brand, and recognizable.

Tailored Proposals

Most AI tools have the ability to create unique proposals tailored to your organization’s needs.

If you give AI a detailed and specific prompt, it will generate a unique and customized proposal for you—each and every time. This means that you no longer need to recycle the same old stale boilerplate language that you’ve been using for years. Great news!

Cons:

Loss of Human Touch

Here’s the thing: AI is still learning how to be human.

We’ve all heard the saying that a good grant proposal should “pull on the reviewer’s heartstrings”, right? Well, AI hasn’t quite figured out how to do that yet. This is one of the most significant limitations of this technology; when it comes to human emotions, relationships, and genuine connection, AI just isn’t there yet.

Learning Curve

Successful grant writing requires an in-depth understanding of the organization’s mission, vision, values, and programs. AI technology does not have this knowledge.

As such, there will be a significant learning curve as you “teach” the technology about your organization and its needs. Until this learning happens, any AI tool you use will struggle to capture the essence of what your organization does—which will have a negative impact on any grant content that it produces for you.

Data Privacy Concerns

One of the biggest concerns about using AI in almost every industry is the potential for this technology to be used in a way that violates privacy.

AI systems require an incredible amount of data to be effective—data about your organization, its mission, values, programs, finances, etc. If this data falls into the wrong hands, it could be used for nefarious purposes and could damage the reputation of your nonprofit.

Over-Reliance

As with any tool, hack, or tip that makes our lives easier, there is a risk of becoming over-reliant on AI technology for your grant writing needs.

It’s important to consider AI as a tool to help you be successful, but it does not negate the need for a human grant writer at your organization. It’s a resource, not a replacement.

In summary, you should be aware of both the pros and cons to using AI technology to write your grant proposals so you can be sure to maximize this technology in a way that is useful for your organization.

By now you know what AI is, how it is impacting the world of grant writing, and some pros and cons of using this technology in your work.

You might feel like you’re ready to get your own AI journey started. But, before we leave you, we want to share with you some critical mistakes that you should avoid when you’re using AI technology in grant writing.

Blind Trust

As technology has developed in recent decades, we’ve become increasingly reliant on computer-generated information. We use our phones and devices for navigation, for news, for medical advice, and much more. With AI, however, blind trust can be dangerous.

As we’ve discussed, AI technology has a steep learning curve—both for the human user and the bot. Blindly trusting AI-generated information without taking time to edit, fact check, cite sources, and format is a recipe for disaster. We’ll say it again for the people in the back: AI is a resource, not a replacement for human knowledge.

Ignoring Specific Grantor Preferences

It’s no secret that many grantors have unique and very specific preferences when it comes to grant writing. Word count, page count, formatting, and even content requirements vary from grantor to grantor.

Do not ignore these requirements when using AI to help generate your grant proposals. Remember to be specific in the prompts you provide, and always fact check and proofread what is generated to make sure it matches what the potential funder is requiring. If you submit a proposal that doesn’t adhere to the preferences of the funder, you’ve just reduced your chances of securing funding significantly.

Data Mismanagement

AI relies heavily on data to fuel its processes and ensure accurate outputs.

If your organization’s donor data is not updated or accurate, no AI platform is going to be able to provide you with any useful analysis or information. It’s important to know your data, and to be sure that it is clean, updated, and correct before you input it to an AI system for analysis and feedback.

Avoiding Training

One of the biggest pitfalls to utilizing AI technology successfully is not training your human employees on how to use it.

Regardless of which AI platform you choose, there will be training content available for you and your team—make sure you use it. Again, AI is only as good as the human that is using it and the data that is feeding it.

Phew! We’ve made it to the end. Congratulations!

By now, you are well on your way to being a nonprofit grant-writing AI expert. But before we part, let’s recap:

• Artificial Intelligence is the wave of the future for many industries, including fundraising and grant writing.
• The traditional approach to grant writing is cumbersome, time-consuming, and highly repetitive.
• AI can help you save time and energy by automating some of the redundant tasks in grant writing, helping you to generate compelling content and even identifying new funding opportunities for you to pursue.
• There are countless AI platforms out there to choose from, some of which are designed specifically for nonprofit organizations.
• There are pros and cons to using AI for grant writing, as well as some critical AI utilization mistakes that you need to avoid.

Our best advice to you: make sure you are well-informed and well-trained before embarking on your AI grant writing journey. If you follow our advice, and avoid the mistakes we’ve outlined in this article, it’s very likely that AI can help your organization significantly!

Happy grant seeking!