The Grantsmanship Center

Great grant proposals start with strong fundamentals.

Join us July 8–9 for Online Essential Grant Skills. A practical training designed to help nonprofit professionals build confidence in the core skills needed for successful grant seeking.

In this two-day workshop, participants will explore:
✨ How to find the right funding opportunities
✨ What funders are really looking for
✨ How to strengthen proposal planning and strategy
✨ Common grant writing mistakes — and how to avoid them

Whether you’re new to grant writing or looking for a refresher on the essentials, this training offers practical tools and guidance you can immediately apply to your work.

Learn more or sign up today: https://www.tgci.com/training/online-essential-grant-skills

A letter of inquiry is not a short grant proposal. It's a different document doing a different job.

Its purpose is to give a funder enough information to assess fit, and to open a conversation, not to make a complete funding argument. Organizations that treat the LOI as a compressed version of the full proposal tend to produce letters that are dense, hard to read, and don't generate invitations to submit.

Our latest blog breaks down what distinguishes a letter of inquiry from a full grant proposal, what a strong LOI needs to include, and the mistakes that most often undermine them. Click here to read the full blog: https://www.tgci.com/blog

Want to learn more? We have a few trainings coming up: https://www.tgci.com/training

Federal grant funding rules are about to change in ways that directly affect nonprofits and grant-seekers. On May 29, 2026, OMB released proposed rule changes to 2 CFR Part 200 that could make grants more politically driven, easier to terminate, and harder to appeal.

Key concerns: political appointees having final say over awards, elimination of fixed amount awards, and agencies gaining broad authority to cancel existing grants with little recourse for recipients.

You have until July 13, 2026 to submit comments. Read the full blog: https://www.tgci.com/blog/2026/06/federal-grant-alert-proposed-changes-grant-regulations

Federal grant funding rules are about to change in ways that directly affect nonprofits and grant-seekers. On May 29, 2026, OMB released proposed rule changes to 2 CFR Part 200 that could make grants more politically driven, easier to terminate, and harder to appeal.

Key concerns: political appointees having final say over awards, elimination of fixed amount awards, and agencies gaining broad authority to cancel existing grants with little recourse for recipients.

You have until July 13, 2026 to submit comments. Read the full blog post for the breakdown and comment link.

Here's a pattern that appears in a lot of unfunded proposals:
💠 The needs statement describes what the organization wants to do, not what the community actually needs.
💠It's a subtle difference, but funders notice it. A strong needs statement builds the case for the community, backed by local data and a clear logical argument. That's what sets up everything else in the proposal to land the way you intend.

We wrote a practical guide to getting the needs statement right. If you're working on a proposal, or coaching staff who are, it's worth a read. Link to the full blog: https://www.tgci.com/blog

Check out our list of trainings: https://www.tgci.com/training

AI is changing the way nonprofits and grant professionals work, but the human side of storytelling, strategy, and impact still matters most.

Excited to join this upcoming webinar on June 11:
“Intro to AI-Powered Grant Proposal Writing: Supercharge Your Impact” hosted by The Grantsmanship Center

This session will cover:
How AI can support proposal writing, research, and editing
Ways to save time without losing your organization’s voice
The opportunities (and pitfalls) of using AI in grant work

As someone who loves systems, efficiency, and smarter workflows, I’m always interested in learning how tools like AI can support meaningful work... not replace it.

If you're in the nonprofit, fundraising, or grant-writing space, this looks like a great conversation to join.

Webinar Info and to Register: https://www.tgci.com/civicrm/event/register?reset=1&id=6025

Most grant proposals don't fail because the program was bad. They fail because the case for the program was weak.

The needs statement is where that case gets made. It's the section that tells a funder: here's the problem, here's who it affects, here's why what exists isn't enough, and here's why it matters in this community specifically.

A lot of organizations write about what they need instead of what the community needs. That's a fixable mistake, and it makes a real difference.

Our latest blog breaks down what a strong needs statement actually requires, and how to write one that funders find credible.

Read the full blog: https://www.tgci.com/blog
Check out our trainings: https://www.tgci.com/training

Before you write your next grant proposal, try answering these questions about your program. What do you believe will change for the people you serve?

What would they need to experience for that change to happen? What activities produce that experience? What resources does your organization need to make those activities possible?

If you can answer all of those clearly and the answers connect logically to each other, you've essentially built a logic model. And you've also done some of the most important thinking that goes into a strong grant proposal.

We wrote about how logic models work, why they make proposals stronger, and how to get started even if you've never built one before.

Read the full blog: https://www.tgci.com/blog
Check out our upcoming webinars: https://www.tgci.com/training

Want to know what funders are really thinking?

Meet the Grantmakers Online gives you a front-row seat to honest conversations with philanthropic leaders about the issues shaping grantmaking today. Hear directly from the people who understand what drives decisions at the highest levels of giving.

It's free, it's live, and it's an hour well spent.

Join us on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 11:00am Pacific.
Sign up now and come ready to be inspired. https://www.tgci.com/training/grantmaker-panel-online

A lot of nonprofits treat a logic model like a formality, something to include because the funder asked for it, not because it actually helps. But when you build one before you start writing, something useful happens. The outcomes get clearer. The activities make more sense. The connections between what you're doing and what you expect to change become easier to explain.

Reviewers notice that kind of clarity, even when they can't name exactly what they're responding to. A proposal built on solid program logic reads differently than one that wasn't, and funders can tell the difference.

We broke down what a logic model actually is, how to build one without overcomplicating it, and why the time you spend on it before writing pays off in every section of the proposal.

Read the full blog: https://www.tgci.com/blog
Check out our webinars: https://www.tgci.com/training