When it comes to using AI for nonprofit grant writing, a lot of the advice you may have heard boils down to, “Just don’t.” Lots of people working for or with nonprofits have hopped on the hate train because they’re not-so-secretly worried that they might be replaced by AI. They’re weirdly invested in proving that it’s always going to be second-rate to a real grant writer, hoping to protect their turf.
Well, they can breathe easy – specialized AI tools like Genie AI, an amazing program that definitely is stealing work from lawyers and paralegals by translating everyday language into contracts in fluent legalese, take millions of dollars to develop, and the market for an AI grant writing program is too small to really make it worth anyone’s investment. Current AI tools like ChatGPT can’t really be used to write complete, final proposals. Grant writing requires a personalized approach, reflecting a nuanced understanding of the organization’s mission and aligning with their specific goals. AI-generated content also lacks the human touch needed to create the meaningful connections that make a grant proposal stand out from the crowd.
That said, AI can still be a valuable tool. Here are five awesome ways to use AI for nonprofit grant writing:
- Finding Statistics and Citations for Need Statements. AI tools can quickly locate accurate, current data and citations, making it easier to substantiate your case for support. This can save valuable time when you need specific statistics to back up your proposal. You can pass these time savings on to your clients, bringing down their cost of raising funds and building a reputation for yourself as an efficient worker.
- Shortening Proposal Language. Many grant applications have strict word or character limits. Instead of spending an hour painstakingly shoehorning various sections into 1,000 characters or less without losing clarity or essential details, ask AI to do it for you and have it ready to go in a few minutes.
- Drafting Project Budgets. We’ve all been on the endless Google hunt for prices of goods and services that we need to plug into a project budget – everything from event insurance to a sound crew, accounting software to softball uniforms. And of course we need to find at least three of each to make sure the prices are representative. Next time, let ChatGPT take this thankless task off your plate.
- Grant Prospect Research. ChatGPT isn’t a substitute for funder databases like Foundation Directory Online and Grantwatch, but once in a while it comes up with brilliant prospects that you might otherwise miss. For example, you can give ChatGPT the names of a couple of foundations that fund your nonprofit or similar organizations and ask it to return to you the names of a couple of others with shared characteristics. Experiment and see what connections it can make for you.
- Scheduling Grant Writing Tasks. AI-powered time management tools like Motion are amazing for getting organized when you have a dozen different projects going all at once and a hundred more in the pipeline. They can prioritize based on deadlines, create daily schedules, and generally make mental gridlock and deadline panic a thing of the past.
There you have it! We hope this is a good start to incorporating AI into your nonprofit grant writing intelligently and ethically. Because the future is here, friends. As a wise man once said: AI won’t replace grant writers, but grant writers who have mastered AI will replace those who haven’t. There’s no better time than now to start learning how to use AI tools to benefit ourselves, our clients, and the people our clients serve.