You’ve heard that history tends to repeat itself and this also applies to technology. In 1994, the internet sparked both fear and excitement. Fast forward three decades, and perhaps you’re finding yourself both curious and anxious about artificial intelligence or AI. As a nonprofit leader, you might not be using AI; most nonprofits aren’t — citing lack of time and concerns about safety, privacy and ethics. Although there is still much work to be done related to these concerns, you can save valuable time and effort now by using generative AI. To get started, you can open an account on any onlin ..read more

Check out this guest blog from my friends at Peter Heller Group. I’m sharing this because so many of my clients are looking for ways to raise major gifts/donations in addition to grant funding. From Peter Heller: Are you prepared to take your fundraising efforts to new heights? Look no further than Heller Fundraising Group’s Free Fundraising Tools, meticulously crafted to give your campaign the ultimate boost. Among the powerful resources in our Major Gift Toolkit lies the Top Prospect Report, a straightforward yet effective spreadsheet that will revolutionize your approach to fundraising. Let ..read more

What is the BEST way to embrace the incoming 100-foot wave called AI (or artificial intelligence)? That’s easy. Just try it out and have fun. I guarantee you’ll find something useful in the new AI technologies emerging such as ChatGPT, boodleAI, Grantable, and others. To make it easy for you, here are 5 prompts that you can use to save time and effort in your organization’s fundraising and grant writing work right now. Take the challenge and try one prompt each day (or you can binge-prompt, if that’s even a thing)! [If you need a primer on AI, check out my blog on AI and ChatGPT: What is ..read more

Join me as I interview Philip Deng, Co-Founder and CEO of Grantable, on the topic of using artificial intelligence to assist nonprofit organizations. This is one of the hottest topics right now, so jump right in! [If you need a primer on AI, check out my blog on AI and ChatGPT: What is it and how do I use it?] Margit: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions that I’ve heard from my readers. First of all, what is Grantable and what motivated you to create it? Philip: Grantable is a world-class grant writing assistant for any organization, powered by generative AI language ..read more

Whether you are a grant professional, grant writer, or you work with one, have you ever wondered about ethics? Sure, there’s the rare story about the grant writer impersonator who gets paid by the nonprofit and claims they submitted and received state grant awards, only to pocket the money. It’s real and it happened just a few years ago. But more common are the everyday situations that require us to check in with our professional ethics. Can we pay you with a commission on the grant awards we win? (absolutely NOT) Would you mind submitting this government grant on our behalf? (yes, I would min ..read more

How can you leverage social media to get more grants for your nonprofit or business? How can you make your organization be known to funders, clients, and your community? If the thought of social media scares you, don’t run away just yet. Platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and others have a legitimate role in your grant seeking strategy. Consider this: Funders need to know WHO you are before they can make those big grant awards. Social media is one way to “be known” and for you to get to know your funders and collaborators. Here are some simple do-it-yourself social media marketing technique ..read more

“Do not do more today than you can completely recover from by tomorrow.” – Greg McKeown Do you find it easy to pace yourself while working as a grant professional, nonprofit leader, or fundraiser? Do you have time to complete all you want to do in any given day while also finding time to relax and enjoy the work? Or are you overworked one week or month, and then have a lull in your schedule between crushing deadlines? Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of pacing ourselves in this profession so that we excel in, and sustain our careers, while also enjoying our days. And so tha ..read more

March 11th is International Grant Professionals Day! Yes, it’s real, and I want to tell you why we celebrate… My friend and fellow grant pro, Amanda Day, says it best. Here is her article, originally published in the Grant Professionals Association March 8, 2022 newsletter: “Too often, grant professionals find themselves shoved in a cubicle, forgotten by bosses and boards, at least until it’s time to talk funding. Ask most colleagues what grant pros spend our days doing, and they will tell you we write. And sure, we do a lot of writing. But we do so much more than that. Grant professionals are ..read more

Do you sometimes feel like you have no control over anything right now, whether it be at work, home, or in your community? I get it. But you DO have choices that can change everything! Let me tell you an important story about 3 choices… The scene: I’m at a week-long surf camp in Costa Rica. Clean blue-green ocean water, sunshine, fresh fruit and friendly people, highly qualified surf coaches…paradise. And I’m scared. Why? Because I’ve found myself trapped between the safe sandy beach and the quick oncoming crushing waves with only a surfboard by my side. How did I get in this position? To expl ..read more

Have you ever wondered how to get general operating funds from grants? Or what kinds of things grants will actually fund? What the heck is the 5% rule and how can it get me more grant funding for my nonprofit in 2022? Check out my 30-minute guest appearance on The Nonprofit Show where I talk about this and more! Watch and/or listen here! And stay tuned to the end for a surprise The Nonprofit Show is the daily live video broadcast where our National Nonprofit community comes together for problem solving, innovation and reflection.  Each day the hosts and their guests cover ..read more