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Grant proposals are an ideal type of writing for AI to assist with. I know that’s not what some grant writers want to hear, but it’s important to recognize this fact. AI will play an increasingly important role in creating all kinds of consistently formatted writing, from news articles to restaurant reviews to grant proposals. But this doesn’t mean AI will replace professional grant writers. It could increase the need for their skills and help to make the grant funding landscape more equitable by expanding access to the application process.
Sew on and sew forth
Consider another technological marvel, which in its time was both heralded and feared for its promise of unimaginable efficiency at the touch of a button — the sewing machine.
According to History Today, a competent seamstress in the mid-19th century sewed at a rate of approximately 35 stitches per minute. This means an average shirt containing approximately 20,000 stitches required between 10 and 14 hours to make. Isaac Singer’s first commercially available sewing machine produced 3,000 stitches per minute, which meant a shirt could now be produced in under an hour.
A roughly comparable leap of efficiency in grant writing is now possible because of AI writing assistants powered by the same technology as ChatGPT. For example, typical foundation grant proposals requiring 15-20 hours to complete can now be drafted using AI in less than an hour.
Initially, garments and grant proposals both require intensive skilled work to create. A fashionable, well-made shirt may require months to design and cost a modern clothing company hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, once designed, copies of the shirt can be produced quickly and inexpensively.
Likewise, the first few proposals an organization writes are laborious as focused time and attention are spent crafting efficient and effective narratives supported by clear data and plans for implementation and measurement. A well-written grant proposal can then be repurposed to draft subsequent grant applications much more quickly by reusing answers to address similar prompts. AI can help a grant writer to do this even faster.
Let’s aim for equity
The sewing machine did not eliminate the need for seamstresses, as was initially feared by some. Instead, demand for much cheaper, high-quality clothing skyrocketed and a new era of fashion was born. Many more people could afford to have multiple outfits and pairs of shoes, whereas before they may have made do with a single set for years at a time.
Similarly, there is an opportunity to expand access to the currently inequitable grants system. According to Candid, "1% of recipient organizations capture half of all grant dollars.” While this is partially because certain institutions like research universities capture large federal grants, it is also a result of systemic inequities that advantage well-resourced organizations and inhibit those with less from winning grants.
GrantStation’s State of Grantseeking report finds the greatest challenge reported by organizations seeking grant funding is lack of time and/or staff. No one has written more effectively about the maddening inefficiencies of the grants system than Vu Le, author of the blog, NonprofitAF.com, who encapsulates the process by saying, “Most of our time wasted is in translating the EXACT SAME INFORMATION from one grant to another.”
He rightly and humorously criticizes the endless range of clunky grant portals and bespoke formatting requirements that cause organizations to waste hundreds of millions of hours of staff time, collectively, each year.
Organizations with more resources can hire staff grant writers or contractors to overcome these challenges, and produce more grant proposals, which increases their overall likelihood of winning funding. In contrast, under-resourced organizations are stymied by time-consuming processes and cannot produce as many proposals, which reduces their opportunities to win funds.
Most of our time wasted is in translating the EXACT SAME INFORMATION from one grant to another.
Grant writers using AI can lower barriers
Only 8% of nonprofits seeking grants currently work with contract grant writers. Many more organizations would love the opportunity to work with an experienced grant expert but cannot afford it as 89% of nonprofits have an annual budget below $500K.
If we as grant writers can learn to work with AI to produce high-quality grant proposals at a far lower cost, shouldn’t we do so to increase access to grant funding for under-resourced organizations?
For example, instead of having five clients who are large nonprofits paying $100 an hour, say, what if we can have 20 clients who include small and medium-sized nonprofits paying $50 an hour instead?
What if experts could waste less of their expert time, “translating the EXACT SAME INFORMATION from one grant to another”, as Le wonders on his blog?
Transforming the sector
I believe grant professionals can transform their individual roles and the sector by using AI to serve a wider range of organizations, focusing more on coaching, guidance, and systems building instead of repetitive information transfer.
There are millions of organizations worldwide with the potential to develop robust grantseeking programs to dramatically amplify impact and more than one trillion dollars sitting in philanthropic accounts that needs to be distributed urgently to meet the world’s most pressing challenges. Imagine if capacity were no longer a barrier for any nonprofit in the world to apply for grant funding.
In such a world there would be a lot more work for grant professionals who would have waiting lists full of clients needing guidance on grant readiness, prospecting, editing, tracking and reporting, sustainability, and relationship building. ChatGPT can’t do these things.
For grant experts who choose not to add AI to their toolkit, it will be more important than ever to highlight services AI cannot easily replicate such as offering insights into the local philanthropic community and helping client organizations to build systems that encourage the best grantseeking outcomes.
For grant writers who learn to work with AI, it can allow them to grow their business, build a more equitable client base, and utilize higher-level expertise working directly with the people they are trying to help.
Thanks for reading this edition of The Process. Please share and comment or you can email me at philip.deng@grantable.co
Philip Deng is the CEO of Grantable, a company building AI-powered grant writing software to empower mission-driven organizations to access grant funding they deserve.