Should I Use AI When Grant Writing?

I don't like to bury the lead - so here's the end point: do not use AI to write your application but do use AI as a tool to enhance your application.

If you ask any foundation or bureaucrat who manages funding, they receive hundreds of applications when they do a call for proposals. Your objective as the grant writer is to ensure that your organization's response is memorable. We all know that most times it's a relationship or reputation that's going to get your response attention, but if someone can't make sense of what you're saying, your application won't get much further.

Why Shouldn't I Use AI to Write My Grant Applications?

There are a few reasons that we'll cover as to why AI shouldn't be the primary writer for a grant application.

Being Original Matters

AI doesn't have original ideas. It is designed to provide an output (a response) based on the statistical likelihood of what words and information follow your previous message. This is why the more context AI has, the better it performs.

Since funders are looking to hear from your organization, your organization's voice, the voice of the community you're serving. AI may do a decent job of matching it, but will miss a lot of nuance. AI also starts sounding the same. By the 20th application written by AI, you can tell who used it or not. Some people (potentially the evaluators) have a bias against AI writing and may lean more negative on an application that feels AI-written.

What AI Says to be True Represents Your Organization

People who become heavily reliant or overly trusting of AI to write content for them tend not to proofread as closely as they should. This can make them glaze over statements that make false claims.

The precedent has been set now that saying, “That was AI that said that, not us”, isn't a reasonable excuse. When you (or your Executive Director) sign it, there's no separation between AI and you - the application is an official representation of your organization.

So, you may have said to the AI to describe another project you're currently working on to revamp your fundraising, increasing funds by 30%. Your intent in that description was to convey that upon implementation of the project, there's a projected fund growth of 30%; however, AI may have thought you meant this increase already happened and worked it into a response. Now the funder believes you've seen a lot of financial growth recently and believes you're financially healthier than you are.

How can I use AI as a tool when grant writing?

AI can be used in a variety of scenarios. Here are some specific prompts:

• I am answering the question, “[insert question]”, for the grant application. I can only use 500 characters, and my answer is currently 746 characters. Please replace words with other words that have the same meaning but have fewer letters. Remove any filler words. Use contradictions where possible. Cut any redundant phrases. Let me know the number of characters you estimate your revision to be.
• Here is the webpage that goes over the grant that we are applying to, and here are my drafted responses. How well do we align with the call for applications, and what gaps do we currently have? [Provide a link or PDF about the grant and your draft answers. Do this if you have a business license, not in a free AI chatbot].
• Please analyze these past grant applications that we've submitted that were successful and compare it against my drafted grant application. Is there anything we did in past applications that we can apply or improve in this draft application?

In Conclusion

Use AI as a tool, not as a grant writer. If you want help organizing your grant applications and historical grant data so that you can better use AI, feel free to get in touch. I can help set this up for you as a service or give you some direction to do it yourself.