AI for Social Impact Academy: Fundraising and Grant Writing - A Field Guide for Writers
Seats are limited. If fundraising is part of your writing workload, this session is worth your calendar.
Grantwriting was one of the first writing jobs to get serious AI support. Today, non-profits use tools like GRANTED and GrantOrb to draft faster, tailor narratives, and surface the right funders. This event breaks down what works, what to avoid, and how funders view AI-written proposals.
Why this matters if you write for non-profits
Fundraising runs on clarity, speed, and proof. AI helps with all three, but only if your process is sharp. The winners are pairing strong research and human judgment with automation that cuts busywork and flags blind spots.
Key questions this event tackles
- Can - and should - grant writing be automated?
- Which parts of the application process are best suited for automation?
- What still needs a human touch?
- How are teams using AI for appeal targeting and donor prospecting?
- What data privacy issues should you watch?
- How are funders responding to AI-generated applications - and using AI in their assessments?
What writers can automate right now
- First drafts: Use structured prompts tied to funder criteria. Keep facts in a source-of-truth doc.
- Summaries: Turn long program notes into executive summaries, problem statements, and needs assessments.
- Versioning: Generate variants by funder focus, region, or word count limits.
- Boilerplate: Maintain updated organizational profiles, impact stats, bios, and case studies for quick reuse.
Keep research, budgets, and outcomes grounded in verified data. AI can polish; it should not invent.
What stays manual (for good reason)
- Strategy: Funder fit, program alignment, and narrative angle.
- Verification: Budgets, outputs/outcomes, and cited evidence.
- Voice: Tone that reflects your organization and community.
- Ethics: Consent, context, and representation in stories.
Appeal targeting and donor prospecting
Writers are using AI to segment audiences, tailor messages, and test subject lines quickly. Predictive scoring can suggest likely donors or renewals, while you customize stories to the segment's values.
Guardrails help: lock compliant language, maintain a style guide, and track what copy actually converts. Pair data signals with human intuition.
Privacy and compliance for Canadian teams
If you're touching donor or client data, review consent, retention, and access. Anonymize where possible, and avoid pasting personal information into public AI tools.
Useful references: Canada's privacy law under PIPEDA overview, and the Government of Canada's guidance on automated decision systems responsible use of AI.
How funders are thinking about AI
Expect more scrutiny on accuracy, transparency, and impact claims. Some funders want disclosure if AI helped draft the proposal, and many are exploring their own tools for assessment.
Your edge: cite sources, show clear logic from problem to outcomes, and keep the writing specific. Authenticity beats generic polish every time.
Who should attend
- Non-profit professionals working in grants and fundraising.
- Funders and foundations.
- Grantwriting and fundraising consultants.
Learning objectives
- See where non-profits are using automation, predictive analytics, and generative AI in fundraising.
- Go deeper on data privacy and how to choose vendors that fit your workflow.
- Understand how funders are responding - embracing, testing, or pushing back - and what that means for your drafts.
Practical workflow for writers
- Build a reusable brief: goals, audience, funder criteria, references, and constraints. Feed that into your prompts.
- Create a mini knowledge base: past wins, impact metrics, stories, and quotes. Use it to keep outputs accurate.
- Adopt a "three-pass" edit: fact check, clarity/tone, compliance. AI can assist with passes two and three.
- Track what wins: message, structure, call-to-action, and evidence that secured funding. Reuse with intention.
Registration and access
This event is exclusive to members. Members-only registration is open now. Become a member to secure your seat.
🎥 Catch up on the AI Academy Series 🎥
Helpful resources for writers
- Curated AI tools for copywriting: view tools
- AI courses by job category (including writers): browse courses
Bottom line: AI can speed up research, structure, and revision. Your job is to keep the story true, the claims verified, and the voice unmistakably human.
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