How to Write Better Grants—Faster: Lessons from the GrantGPT Workshop
Welcome to the full replay of our live workshop on GrantGPT™, GrantExec’s AI-powered assistant built specifically for the grant writing process.
We believe that the future of funding access lies at the intersection of human expertise and smart technology. Led by Kristina Alcorn (Grant Services Director), this session dives into how GrantGPT helps grantseekers—nonprofits, startups, researchers, and local governments—spend less time chasing paperwork and more time crafting winning proposals.
With over two decades of grant writing experience and nearly a year using GrantGPT in the field, Kristina shared practical insights into how our purpose-built tool is reshaping the way grantseekers tackle proposals—from identifying opportunities to generating polished drafts.
Here’s a breakdown of what we covered, what we learned, and how GrantGPT is helping organizations like yours win more grants with less effort.
Why We Built GrantGPT
Traditional grant writing is slow, complex, and fragmented. Many organizations don’t have a full-time grant writer, and even experienced teams spend hours parsing eligibility criteria, reformatting content, and wrestling with government portals.
GrantGPT was built to solve that.
Unlike generic AI tools, GrantGPT is trained specifically on grant language, funder priorities, and compliance structures. It serves as a strategic assistant that helps users move faster and smarter—without sacrificing quality or accuracy.
“It doesn’t replace your expertise,” Kristina explained during the session. “It just cuts out a lot of the friction.”
What We Demonstrated
Using a real nonprofit client—Food for Neighbors—we walked through how a small team can use GrantGPT to accelerate the grant process:
🔍 Finding the Right Opportunities
Smart Matching identifies active, relevant grants based on your organization’s goals, geography, sector, and capacity. You can save, filter, and organize grants from our live database of public and private funders.
📄 Understanding the NOFO (Notice of Funding Opportunity)
We showed how uploading the NOFO into GrantGPT lets the system extract:
Eligibility requirements (in table format)
Funder priorities
Evaluation criteria (including scoring rubrics)
Word/character limits
A full application checklist
✍️ Drafting with Reused Content
Most teams already have valuable content—past proposals, marketing copy, resumes, etc.—but they don’t reuse it effectively. GrantGPT lets you upload that content, then builds out a pre-first draft using the funder’s structure and voice.
You can then:
Refine specific sections (“expand this,” “rewrite for clarity,” etc.)
Auto-generate resumes formatted to funder specs
Review entire drafts through the lens of a grant reviewer
Kristina emphasized: “Never draft in the portal. Always draft externally. GrantGPT makes that not only possible—but faster.”
Takeaways
🧠 Draft externally, think strategically.
Don't let portals dictate your process. Build first drafts in flexible tools and refine with AI support.
📚 Use the reference guide.
The free companion document, Mastering Grant Applications with GrantGPT, contains tested prompts, workflows, and guidance.
🛠 Let AI handle the admin.
Formatting resumes, checking attachments, ensuring word counts—these are time sinks. GrantGPT automates them so you can focus on the story.
🤖 Use AI as a reviewer, not just a writer.
Have GrantGPT evaluate your application based on funder priorities. You’ll catch weaknesses early—and strengthen your proposal before submission.
Who Should Use GrantGPT?
Nonprofits with limited grant writing staff
Startups chasing SBIR or economic development grants
Researchers and higher ed teams looking to streamline compliance-heavy applications
Local governments managing multiple funding streams
Consultants serving multiple clients
If you’re applying for funding—federal, state, or private—GrantGPT is your always-on, always-strategic assistant.
Getting Started
You can try GrantGPT as part of any GrantExec plan, including our entry-level Starter Plan for organizations applying to grants under $100K. We also offer Pro and Enterprise tiers for larger teams, complex awards, or consulting practices.
📘 Bookmark: Mastering Grant Applications with GrantGPT (Free Guide)
📩 Reach out: [email protected]
📹 Watch the full workshop replay: https://youtu.be/77n5cLSs0wo?si=Jde7PzCxxGTY9bpT
Final Thought
AI is changing the way we work—but only when it’s built for the real needs of real people. That’s what we’ve done with GrantGPT.
Grant writing will always require strategy, insight, and storytelling. Our goal is simply to make those strengths easier to act on—so that more great organizations can unlock the funding they deserve.
Let’s make the grant process work for everyone.