Interactive Grant Writing Tools
Every tool from Ten Habits of Great Grant Writers, fillable in your browser. Prefer plain text to copy by hand? Each one also lives in the reference toolkit as simple markdown.
How these work
Type straight into the page. Your entries save in this browser as you go, so you can close the tab and come back. Tables let you add rows and columns, checklists let you add your own items, and every tool has an Add a section button for anything the sheet does not cover. When you are finished, download your work as Markdown, plain text, a spreadsheet, or a PDF, or save a .json file you can reopen on another computer. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Decide whether to apply
Two habits do most of the work here: know what you actually do, and read the announcement before you fall in love with it.
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Fit and Diplomacy Check
Two questions before you spend three weeks: should you pursue this, and is your language safe to put in front of a funder?
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Funding Announcement First Read Checklist
Read the whole announcement first. Then work this checklist and record the page number beside every answer.
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Activities Matrix
Map every program you run to its activities, audiences, skills, measures, and the funders who pay for that kind of work.
Set the goal
A goal with a number and a time is the difference between a wish and a promise a funder can hold you to.
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Goal Worksheet
Turn a dream into a fundable goal with a number and a time, then check it against SMART and split it into objectives.
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Where to Find Your Numbers
A working tracker for the numbers your proposal needs, paired with a directory of reliable places to find them.
Run the application
Everything that depends on another human being starts on day one.
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Grant Project Management Timeline
Work the steps in order. Everything that depends on another human being starts on day one.
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Team Table of Contents
Give every collaborator exactly the page they need, then send this with the announcement link in every project email.
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Letter of Support Builder
Write the request email and the draft letter together, so your supporter has to do almost nothing.
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Letter of Intent Builder
One template that serves both a letter of intent and a letter of inquiry, with the differences handled for you.
Stay ready between deadlines
The work that makes the next application faster is all done when there is no application open.
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Organizational Capacity One Pager
Your organization by the numbers, maintained continuously and refreshed quarterly.
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Other Support and Person Years Tracker
One row per active or pending award, so the hundred percent effort check never surprises you.
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Website and Social Media Hygiene Checklist
What a funder sees before you say a word. Work this quarterly, as a stranger with a checkbook.
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Community Survey Builder
Build your annual survey from a starter bank, keep a consistent core so results compare year over year, and add topical questions as needed.
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Study the Prepared
Choose three or four organizations you admire, at least one outside your field, and spend twenty minutes with each as a stranger.
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Diplomacy Rewriter
Convert charged language about other organizations into documented gaps a funder can act on.