Free 16-Week Course
The Grant ArchitectStrategic proposal engineering, federal grants, and AI integration.
A self-paced grant-writing course covering 16 weeks of material: the grant-seeking landscape, prospect research, need statements, logic models, SMART objectives, capacity and partnerships, evaluation, budgeting, narrative strategy, federal grant specifics, submission and resubmission, post-award management, career development, AI in grant strategy, and international funding. Video lessons publish on a rolling schedule; supporting notes follow each release.
Course outline
176 lessons across 16 modules · ~88 hours total · click any lesson to start
Module 1: The Landscape of Grant Seeking and Ethics
- Lesson 1
The Grant Ecosystem
- Distinguish grants from contracts and gifts using federal definitions.
- Identify the three primary funder sectors and their core differences.
- Explain why treating all funders the same wastes time and credibility.
- Lesson 2
The Grant Lifecycle
- Name and sequence the three phases of the grant lifecycle.
- Describe the deliverables and risks specific to each phase.
- Identify which mistakes most commonly disqualify organizations from future funding.
- Lesson 3
Government Funders (Federal)
- Describe the compliance-driven culture of federal funders.
- Distinguish between grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts under federal definitions.
- Identify the major federal funding agencies and their statutory missions.
- Lesson 4
State and Local Funding
- Define block grants and formula grants and explain how they reach nonprofits.
- Describe the role of a pass-through entity in federal subrecipient relationships.
- Identify state and local funding sources that have no federal origin.
- Lesson 5
Private Foundations
- Distinguish the major foundation categories (independent, family, community, operating, corporate).
- Explain why foundation funding is "fit-driven" more than "need-driven."
- Locate and read an IRS Form 990-PF for any private foundation.
- Lesson 6
Corporate Philanthropy & CSR
- Identify the three primary corporate giving vehicles (direct giving, corporate foundation, cause marketing).
- Explain how CSR strategy shapes funding priorities.
- Quantify the value of recognition assets you can offer a corporate funder.
- Lesson 7
Organizational Readiness - Legal
- Describe the requirements for active 501(c)(3) public charity status.
- Distinguish between a public charity and a private foundation under section 509.
- Verify any organization's tax-exempt standing on the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search.
- Lesson 8
System Registration - SAM & UEI
- Explain why SAM.gov registration and a UEI are prerequisites for federal funding.
- List the documents and information required to complete registration.
- Build a renewal calendar that prevents lapses.
- Lesson 9
Operational Capacity Audit
- Name the five domains of operational capacity funders evaluate.
- Apply a structured self-assessment to your own or a client's organization.
- Decide which gaps to fix before applying versus address in the narrative.
- Lesson 10
Ethics in Grant Writing
- Recite the rule on commission-based compensation and explain why it exists.
- Identify common conflicts of interest in client and employer engagements.
- Apply the GPA Code of Ethics to realistic gray-area scenarios.
- Lesson 11
AI Spotlight
- Distinguish generative AI tools from analytical AI tools in grant work.
- Identify the failure modes that disqualify AI-assisted submissions.
- Apply the Human-in-the-Loop principle to a realistic drafting workflow.
Module 2: Strategic Research and Prospecting
- Lesson 12
Introduction to Prospect Research
- Explain why prospect research is the highest-leverage activity in the grant cycle.
- Quantify the cost of the "spray and pray" approach in hours and dollars.
- Name the four signals that distinguish a real prospect from a pipe dream.
- Lesson 13
Database Mastery - Grants.gov
- Configure Grants.gov saved searches and email alerts for your program areas.
- Triage a NOFO summary page in under five minutes.
- Distinguish forecasted, posted, and closed opportunities and use each correctly.
- Lesson 14
Database Mastery - Foundation Directory
- Search Foundation Directory Online (or a free alternative) by subject, geography, and gift size.
- Read a foundation profile for the three signals that predict a real fit.
- Cross-reference FDO data with the foundation's actual 990 filings.
- Lesson 15
Keyword Triangulation
- Generate three to five synonym clusters for any program area in fifteen minutes.
- Run a keyword matrix across at least two databases.
- Capture and reuse the language that funders themselves use in published priorities.
- Lesson 16
Decoding IRS Form 990 - Part 1
- Locate a foundation's 990-PF on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer in under three minutes.
- Read Part I to gauge capacity, revenue, expenses, and net assets.
- Identify decision-makers from the officers and directors list.
- Lesson 17
Decoding IRS Form 990 - Part 2
- Analyze a Part XV grants paid schedule to find median gift size and recipient pattern.
- Map a foundation's recent giving by geography and recipient type.
- Identify anchor grantees and infer discretionary capacity.
- Lesson 18
Dissecting the NOFO / RFP
- Shred a NOFO in three structured passes (eligibility, structure, hidden requirements).
- Build a compliance matrix that becomes your proposal outline.
- Identify embedded requirements not listed in the application checklist.
- Lesson 19
Eligibility Checklists
- Build a standardized eligibility checklist that runs in fifteen minutes.
- Identify threshold requirements (org type, geography, match, registrations, audit).
- Produce a written go/no-go memo with a one-line rationale.
- Lesson 20
The Pre-Proposal Contact
- Decide when pre-proposal contact is appropriate based on the NOFO or guidelines.
- Prepare a fifteen-minute call with three to five high-value questions.
- Conduct the call with professional etiquette and intelligence-gathering discipline.
- Lesson 21
Pipeline Management
- Build a twelve-month grant pipeline in a spreadsheet or CRM.
- Track prospects through stages (researched, qualified, drafting, submitted, awarded, declined).
- Forecast probability-adjusted revenue and balance new submissions against renewal reports.
- Lesson 22
AI Spotlight
- Use AI to summarize a 990-PF, extract foundation priorities, and draft a funder profile.
- Generate keyword synonym clusters and a first-cut NOFO compliance matrix with AI assistance.
- Identify the three to four common hallucinations that long AI outputs produce in research work.
Module 3: Defining the Problem and the Need
- Lesson 23
Problem Vs. Need
- Distinguish a beneficiary problem from an organizational need in any draft statement.
- Rewrite "we need" sentences into beneficiary-centered problem framings.
- Identify the subject of a need statement and judge whether it serves the funder or the applicant.
- Lesson 24
Root Cause Analysis
- Apply the 5 Whys technique to any presenting problem in your community.
- Document a causal chain that connects symptoms to systemic conditions.
- Decide when to stop drilling so the chain stays within a fundable scope.
- Lesson 25
Data Hierarchy - National
- Identify the primary federal data sources used in grant need statements.
- Pull a single defensible national figure with date and methodology recorded.
- Integrate national data into a need paragraph without padding.
- Lesson 26
Data Hierarchy - Local
- Source local data at the county, ZIP code, or census tract level.
- Read local figures against state and national benchmarks for context.
- Build a short local data appendix to support any need statement.
- Lesson 27
Conducting a Gap Analysis
- Map the current service providers in your target community.
- Identify the specific population, geography, or service type that is underserved.
- Produce a one-page gap table for any proposal.
- Lesson 28
Literature Review Fundamentals
- Conduct a scan-based literature review appropriate to grant timelines.
- Identify seminal and recent sources for any intervention model.
- Use clearinghouses and indexes such as Google Scholar, PubMed, and What Works Clearinghouse.
- Lesson 29
Citation Strategy
- Pair seminal and recent sources within a single supporting paragraph.
- Match citation depth to the claim being made.
- Maintain consistent citation formatting across the proposal.
- Lesson 30
Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
- Describe the core principles of Community-Based Participatory Research.
- Plan a realistic engagement process within a typical proposal timeline.
- Document community input in ways reviewers recognize as authentic.
- Lesson 31
Qualitative Validation
- Gather, transcribe, and de-identify usable quotes from focus groups or interviews.
- Pair statistics with human voices to create combined evidence.
- Apply ethical attribution practices including consent and pseudonyms.
- Lesson 32
The "Hook" Statement
- Draft three candidate hooks for any proposal you write.
- Apply the "would a tired reviewer keep reading" test.
- Avoid overpromising drama that triggers reviewer skepticism.
- Lesson 33
AI Spotlight
- Use AI to summarize lengthy community assessments into the findings that matter.
- Generate first-pass outlines that you will then rewrite in your own voice.
- Verify every AI-generated statistic against a primary source.
Module 4: The Logic Model and Theory of Change
- Lesson 34
Introduction to Logic Models
- Define the six standard components of a logic model and the order they appear in.
- Explain why reverse-engineering from impact back to inputs produces stronger design than starting with activities.
- Recognize the "activity trap" and the warning signs of a weak causal chain.
- Lesson 35
Inputs - The Resources
- Inventory the full set of inputs a program requires, including in-kind and existing contributions.
- Distinguish grant-funded inputs from inputs already in place.
- Map each input to the activity it enables in the next column.
- Lesson 36
Activities - The Intervention
- Write activities that specify population, dosage, and delivery method.
- Map each activity to the inputs that enable it and the outputs it produces.
- Avoid activity overload by matching the number of activities to the available resources.
- Lesson 37
Outputs - The Widgets
- Write outputs as countable, direct products of specific activities.
- Distinguish outputs from outcomes and explain the difference to a non-evaluator.
- Set output targets that are ambitious yet defensible given the inputs and activities.
- Lesson 38
Outcomes - Short Term
- Write short-term outcomes that capture changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills, or self-efficacy.
- Pair each short-term outcome with a candidate measurement approach.
- Distinguish short-term outcomes from outputs and from intermediate behavior changes.
- Lesson 39
Outcomes - Intermediate and Long-Term
- Write intermediate outcomes that capture behavior change in participants.
- Write long-term outcomes that capture condition change in participants or communities.
- Avoid the outcome leap by adding the missing behavior step between awareness and condition change.
- Lesson 40
Theory of Change (ToC)
- Draft a Theory of Change statement using the if-then-because template.
- Identify and write the "because" clause that names the underlying mechanism.
- Connect the Theory of Change to at least one citation or established framework.
- Lesson 41
Assumptions and External Factors
- Distinguish assumptions (conditions inside the program logic) from external factors (forces outside the program's control).
- Surface assumptions at every layer of the logic model.
- Pair the highest-risk assumptions and external factors with realistic mitigation plans.
- Lesson 42
Visual Design Tools
- Produce a publication-quality logic model graphic using free or low-cost tools.
- Apply the standard left-to-right column layout with clear causal arrows.
- Make small design choices (font, contrast, box shapes) that survive a black-and-white photocopier.
- Lesson 43
Narrative Alignment
- Use the logic model as a table of contents for the project narrative.
- Run an alignment audit in both directions (diagram to text, and text to diagram).
- Discipline the narrative structure using the logic model columns.
- Lesson 44
AI Spotlight
- Use AI to expand a thin activities list with evidence-based interventions targeted to specific outcomes.
- Use AI to stress-test a draft logic model for outcome leaps, vague language, and missing assumptions.
- Use AI to draft an initial Theory of Change paragraph that a human then refines with citations and mechanism language.
Module 5: Goals, Objectives, and Specific Aims
- Lesson 45
Goals Vs. Objectives
- Distinguish a goal from an objective using the aspiration-versus-measurement test.
- Classify any program statement at the correct level of the hierarchy.
- Nest two to four objectives under each goal in a way reviewers can follow.
- Lesson 46
The S.M.A.R.T Framework
- Define each of the five SMART criteria in plain language.
- Audit any draft objective against the five criteria in under a minute.
- Rewrite weak objectives to pass all five tests without losing program intent.
- Lesson 47
Writing Workshop - Objectives
- Apply a repeatable transformation pattern to weak objectives.
- Add population, metric, instrument, and deadline in the correct order.
- Split bloated objectives that promise too many outcomes at once.
- Lesson 48
The NIH Specific Aims Page
- Reproduce the canonical three-part structure of the Specific Aims page.
- Draft each paragraph for its intended reviewer reaction.
- Diagnose why an existing Specific Aims page is underperforming.
- Lesson 49
The Research Hypothesis
- Write a central hypothesis as a falsifiable, declarative prediction.
- Derive aim-level sub-hypotheses that each aim is designed to test.
- Stress-test each hypothesis for direction, mechanism, and falsifiability.
- Lesson 50
Process Objectives
- Distinguish process objectives from outcome objectives.
- Write process objectives that are auditable and achievable.
- Align process objectives with budget, staffing, and activity plans.
- Lesson 51
Outcome Objectives
- Write outcome objectives with population, construct, magnitude, instrument, and timeline.
- Defend target magnitudes with baseline data or published benchmarks.
- Phase outcomes across short-term, intermediate, and long-term timeframes.
- Lesson 52
Milestones and Timelines
- Break each objective into quarterly or semi-annual milestones.
- Build a milestone table with target dates and responsible parties.
- Identify critical-path milestones whose slippage threatens the project.
- Lesson 53
Mission Match
- Harvest priority language from the funder's strategic plan and announcement.
- Weave that language into objectives without distorting the program.
- Build a crosswalk between your objectives and the funder's stated priorities.
- Lesson 54
The "Fatal Flaw" Review
- Identify the five most common fatal flaws in an objectives section.
- Run a structured fatal-flaw review on your own drafts in under 30 minutes.
- Document findings in writing and decide whether to fix, descope, or withdraw.
- Lesson 55
AI Spotlight
- Run a four-step workflow that uses AI to draft SMART objectives.
- Prime a language model with funder priority language before drafting.
- Validate AI-suggested targets against baseline data and budget reality.
Module 6: Organizational Capacity and Partnerships
- Lesson 56
The "Organization" Narrative
- Write an organization narrative that could only describe your entity, not a generic peer.
- Layer founding story, operational track record, and current positioning into a single capacity section.
- Replace boilerplate language with dates, dollar figures, and named programs.
- Lesson 57
Governance and Leadership
- Describe the elements of a governance paragraph that funders expect to see.
- Distinguish between governing boards and working boards in your written description.
- Name the core fiscal oversight policies a strong proposal references.
- Lesson 58
Staffing and Models
- Calculate Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) for each position in a staffing plan.
- Build a staffing table that names roles, FTEs, supervisors, and deliverables.
- Distinguish between employees and consultants and justify each choice.
- Lesson 59
Biosketches - NIH / NSF Format
- Name the four standard sections of an NIH biosketch and the parallel NSF sections.
- Draft a personal statement that ties an investigator's prior work to the proposed project.
- Select the five contributions or products that carry the most weight for a given proposal.
- Lesson 60
Biosketches - Narrative Format
- Convert a federal-style CV into a narrative biosketch suitable for a foundation proposal.
- Decide when to include lived experience and community ties.
- Edit a draft bio that another team member has written.
- Lesson 61
The Management Plan
- Build a Gantt chart that maps deliverables across the full project period.
- Construct a responsibility matrix using the RACI framework.
- Describe contingency plans for the most common project risks.
- Lesson 62
Partnership Taxonomy
- Name the five operational categories of external organizations on a grant.
- Assign each external organization to the correct category and defend the choice.
- Identify the documentation each category requires.
- Lesson 63
Memoranda of Understanding (MOU)
- Name the standard sections of an enforceable MOU.
- Quantify partner contributions in a contributions clause.
- Handle data sharing and confidentiality terms when client information will be exchanged.
- Lesson 64
Letters of Support (LOS)
- Name the elements of a high-impact letter of support.
- Write a model letter that a busy executive can sign in five minutes.
- Track ten or more letters across partners and deadlines.
- Lesson 65
Sustainability Models
- Name the four most common sustainability strategies and the conditions under which each is credible.
- Replace "we will seek more grants" with documented, specific pathways.
- Support sustainability claims with evidence such as MOUs, fee schedules, or board resolutions.
- Lesson 66
AI Spotlight
- Use prompt patterns to draft capacity narratives, biosketches, and sustainability statements.
- Generate three funder-tailored versions of a single master mission statement.
- Apply a verification discipline that catches fabricated credentials before submission.
Module 7: Evaluation Methodologies
- Lesson 67
Evaluation Fundamentals
- Explain why funders increasingly require rigorous evaluation rather than anecdotal reporting.
- Distinguish evaluation for accountability from evaluation for learning.
- Name the elements every credible evaluation plan must contain.
- Lesson 68
Formative Evaluation
- Define formative evaluation and its role during program delivery.
- Draft formative evaluation questions tied to real implementation decisions.
- Identify short-cycle data sources that staff will actually maintain.
- Lesson 69
Summative Evaluation
- Define summative evaluation and its role at the end of a phase or grant.
- Translate vague objectives into measurable summative indicators.
- Identify the baseline, target, and measurement window for each outcome.
- Lesson 70
Quantitative Methods
- Identify the three workhorse quantitative tools used in grant evaluation.
- Explain why validated instruments produce more credible findings than custom surveys.
- Distinguish process indicators from outcome indicators.
- Lesson 71
Qualitative Methods
- Identify the core qualitative methods used in grant evaluation.
- Choose between focus groups and individual interviews based on topic sensitivity.
- Draft open-ended questions that do not lead the respondent.
- Lesson 72
Mixed Methods Design
- Name the three core mixed methods designs and when each fits.
- Define triangulation and explain how it strengthens findings.
- Integrate quantitative and qualitative strands at the analysis stage.
- Lesson 73
The Evaluation Matrix
- Construct an evaluation matrix that aligns objectives, indicators, sources, methods, and timeline.
- Use the matrix to expose weak objectives and missing data sources.
- Distinguish rows that need external evaluator capacity from those that fit internal staff.
- Lesson 74
Internal Vs. External Evaluators
- Compare internal, external, and hybrid evaluator models.
- Recognize when funders effectively require an external evaluator.
- Draft scope of work language for the chosen model.
- Lesson 75
Budgeting for Evaluation
- Apply the 5 to 10 percent working rule of thumb for evaluation budgets.
- Build an evaluation budget from the bottom up across all required line items.
- Identify the line items most commonly forgotten.
- Lesson 76
Dissemination Planning
- Identify the core dissemination channels and the audiences each one serves.
- Plan dissemination during the proposal stage, not after the evaluation ends.
- Translate one evaluation into multiple audience-tuned products.
- Lesson 77
AI Spotlight
- Use AI to accelerate drafting of evaluation matrices, survey items, and dissemination plans.
- Identify the elements of an evaluation plan that still require human validation.
- Recognize common AI failure modes in evaluation work.
Module 8: Budgeting Fundamentals
- Lesson 78
Introduction to Federal Cost Principles
- Locate 2 CFR Part 200 and identify the subparts that govern federal cost decisions.
- Name the three tests (allowable, allocable, reasonable) every federal cost must pass.
- Explain why agency budget templates are not the source of truth for federal cost rules.
- Lesson 79
The "Prudent Person" Test
- Define the prudent person standard as written in 2 CFR 200.
- Apply the standard to a real cost decision before submission.
- Document the rationale for a cost at the time of the decision.
- Lesson 80
Allocable and Allowable
- Distinguish allowability (regulation) from allocability (proportional benefit).
- Identify costs that are unallowable on their face under 2 CFR 200.
- Apply an allocation methodology to a shared cost.
- Lesson 81
Direct Costs Defined
- Define direct costs under 2 CFR 200 with the specificity test.
- Classify a draft cost list into direct and indirect columns.
- Recognize the narrow exception for administrative and clerical salaries as direct costs.
- Lesson 82
Indirect Costs (F & A) Overview
- Define Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs and the categories they cover.
- Explain why federal regulations created indirect cost rates.
- Distinguish a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) from the de minimis rate.
- Lesson 83
Calculating F & A Rates
- Identify the rate (NICRA or de minimis) applicable to a given proposal.
- Build the Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) base correctly.
- Apply the exclusions to MTDC before calculating indirect recovery.
- Lesson 84
Personnel Costs
- Distinguish institutional base salary from charged salary.
- Convert level of effort into a defensible salary calculation.
- Apply the correct treatment of academic-year versus summer salary.
- Lesson 85
Fringe Benefits
- Identify the components of a fringe rate.
- Apply the organization's approved fringe rate by employee class.
- Justify the fringe rate in the budget narrative.
- Lesson 86
Travel Policies
- Apply GSA per diem and federal mileage rates to project travel.
- Distinguish staff, consultant, and participant support travel.
- Justify each trip with a purpose tied to the project scope.
- Lesson 87
Equipment Vs. Supplies
- Apply the federal definition of equipment (per-unit cost and useful life).
- Classify tangible purchases as equipment or supplies.
- Explain the procurement and property management implications of the classification.
- Lesson 88
AI Spotlight
- Identify budget tasks where AI compresses real effort.
- Identify budget inputs where AI is unsafe (rates, thresholds, current regulation).
- Design a Human-in-the-Loop workflow for budget drafting.
Module 9: Advanced Budgeting and Strategy
- Lesson 89
Cost Sharing (Match) Overview
- Distinguish mandatory, voluntary committed, and voluntary uncommitted match.
- Explain why over-matching exposes an organization to disallowed costs.
- Identify the documentation an auditor will demand for each match category.
- Lesson 90
Valuation of In-Kind Contributions
- Apply the federal valuation standards in 2 CFR 200.306 to common in-kind categories.
- Value donated time, space, equipment, and services defensibly.
- Document each in-kind contribution to survive audit review.
- Lesson 91
Multi-Year Forecasting
- Build budgets that escalate realistically across a multi-year period of performance.
- Distinguish recurring escalation from program-driven scaling.
- Sequence one-time costs into the years they actually occur.
- Lesson 92
Inflation and COLA
- Distinguish a cost-of-living adjustment from a merit increase.
- Anchor each escalation assumption to a citable benchmark or policy.
- Build an escalation table that a reviewer can audit line by line.
- Lesson 93
Subawards Vs. Contractors
- Apply the 2 CFR 200.331 five-factor test to a partner relationship.
- Distinguish programmatic risk from performance risk.
- Explain why misclassification triggers audit findings.
- Lesson 94
Subrecipient Monitoring
- Build the four-part subrecipient monitoring stack required under 2 CFR 200.332.
- Conduct a pre-award risk assessment that scores partners on capacity and history.
- Flow down federal terms in the subaward agreement.
- Lesson 95
Program Income
- Define program income under 2 CFR 200.307.
- Distinguish the additive, deductive, and matching methods of treatment.
- Set up tracking so program income is captured against the project.
- Lesson 96
Writing The Budget Justification
- Apply the five-element framework to every budget line.
- Convert thin justifications into defensible ones without padding.
- Anchor each cost to a benchmark or organizational policy.
- Lesson 97
Mapping To Forms
- Map internal budget lines to SF-424A and RR Budget categories.
- Apply the federal equipment threshold correctly.
- Compute indirect on the correct base (Modified Total Direct Cost).
- Lesson 98
Budget Revisions
- Identify the rebudgeting actions that require prior written approval under 2 CFR 200.308.
- Scale a scope and budget when the award is less than requested.
- Draft a prior-approval request that pairs a budget table with a narrative justification.
- Lesson 99
AI Spotlight
- Use AI to draft initial budget justification paragraphs from line item data.
- Convert thin justifications into stronger ones using AI as a co-writer.
- Generate the reviewer questions a thin justification would invite and answer them in advance.
Module 10: Narrative Strategy and Reviewer Psychology
- Lesson 100
The Psychology of the Reviewer
- Describe the cognitive state of a typical grant reviewer under time pressure.
- Design a proposal as a two-pass document for skim and deep reading.
- Predict the early decisions a reviewer makes about a proposal in the first ninety seconds.
- Lesson 101
Persuasive Rhetoric
- Apply ethos, pathos, and logos to grant proposal sections.
- Replace passive constructions, hedges, and vague language with active, specific alternatives.
- Identify the line between confident and overclaiming language.
- Lesson 102
"Win Themes"
- Define a win theme and distinguish it from a tagline or value proposition.
- Draft two to four win themes for a real funding opportunity.
- Reinforce themes consistently across abstract, narrative, and evaluation sections.
- Lesson 103
Signposting and Formatting
- Write headings as claims rather than labels.
- Use bold text, bullets, and whitespace deliberately rather than decoratively.
- Re-architect a wall-of-text page so the skim and the deep read tell the same story.
- Lesson 104
Data Visualization
- Choose the right visual form (table, bar chart, timeline, diagram) for a given communication task.
- Write captions that state a claim rather than label a topic.
- Identify visuals that do disproportionate damage when weak or misleading.
- Lesson 105
The Abstract / Executive Summary
- Apply the standard five-part structure (problem, population, intervention, outcomes, capacity) to a 250-word abstract.
- Draft the abstract last, after the rest of the proposal has stabilized.
- Mirror your win themes inside the abstract.
- Lesson 106
Appendices Strategy
- Distinguish appendix material that supports the narrative from material that does not.
- Cross-reference every appendix item from a specific point in the narrative.
- Avoid appendix uses that read as page-limit gaming.
- Lesson 107
The Red Team Review
- Recruit a red team that approximates the real review panel.
- Use the funder's actual scoring rubric to drive red team feedback.
- Time-box the red team read to match the real review.
- Lesson 108
Editing Levels
- Distinguish developmental, line, copy, and proof editing by their guiding question.
- Sequence the four passes in the correct order, with developmental first and proof last.
- Assign different passes to different readers when possible.
- Lesson 109
The "Halo" Effect
- Define the halo effect as a documented cognitive bias in proposal review.
- Engineer the opening page and abstract to anchor reviewers positively.
- Identify first-page failures that do disproportionate damage.
- Lesson 110
AI Spotlight
- Use AI primarily as an editorial assistant, not a drafting tool.
- Run a rhetoric audit on a section using AI to flag passive voice and hedges.
- Simulate a skeptical reviewer using AI to generate the three sharpest panel questions.
Module 11: Federal Grant Specifics
- Lesson 111
The Federal Register & Grants.gov
- Identify the Federal Register and Grants.gov as the authoritative sources for federal opportunities.
- Set up Grants.gov saved searches and agency alerts to monitor live opportunities.
- Read a NOFO for eligibility, deadline, and program priorities in under fifteen minutes.
- Lesson 112
Workspace Mechanics
- Distinguish the AOR, E-Biz POC, and application participant roles in Grants.gov Workspace.
- Stand up a Workspace package, invite collaborators, and lock and unlock forms.
- Run Workspace validation and interpret validation errors before submission.
- Lesson 113
The SF-424 Cover Sheet
- Complete the SF-424 line by line for a federal application.
- Reconcile SF-424 fields against SAM.gov registration data.
- Identify the SF-424 variants (424A, 424B, 424C, 424D) and when each is required.
- Lesson 114
The Assurance and Certifications
- Read the most common federal assurances and certifications and explain each one.
- Identify the legal exposure created by a false certification.
- Distinguish program-specific certifications from the standard SF-424B set.
- Lesson 115
Scoring Rubrics Deconstructed
- Extract the scoring rubric and weights from a federal NOFO.
- Outline a proposal whose structure mirrors the rubric section by section.
- Write topic sentences that name the criterion being addressed.
- Lesson 116
Significance Criteria
- Define Significance as it appears in NIH, NSF, and NEH review.
- Distinguish a significance claim from a background paragraph.
- Write a significance section that passes the so-what test on first reading.
- Lesson 117
Innovative Criteria
- Define Innovation in federal review and distinguish it from novelty for its own sake.
- Write an innovation claim that names current practice and the proposed departure.
- Distinguish technical, conceptual, and applied innovation.
- Lesson 118
Approach Criteria
- Write a methods section that names the design and justifies it against alternatives.
- Build a timeline that respects sequencing and dependencies.
- Anticipate pitfalls with explicit alternative strategies.
- Lesson 119
Agency Culture - NIH Vs. NSF
- Distinguish NIH culture (health, mechanism, clinical translation) from NSF culture (scientific advancement, broader impacts).
- Map proposal language and structure to each agency's review framework.
- Treat NSF Broader Impacts as a scored criterion equal to Intellectual Merit.
- Lesson 120
Agency Culture - NEH & Arts
- Distinguish NEH culture (humanities scholarship, public benefit) from NEA culture (artistic excellence, public engagement).
- Write humanities and arts proposals in their native voice rather than a science voice.
- Treat audience and public engagement as design constraints, not afterthoughts.
- Lesson 121
AI Spotlight
- Build an AI-assisted compliance workflow for federal applications.
- Prompt a model with a NOFO and a draft to produce a structured requirements checklist.
- Identify the failure modes of AI compliance review (hallucinated citations, agency-specific terminology, certifications).
Module 12: Submission, Review, and Resubmission
- Lesson 122
Final Assembly & QA
- Run a comprehensive pre-submission QA pass against a written checklist.
- Catch the most common disqualifiers (pagination, fonts, file names, page limits, missing sections, broken cross-references).
- Assign QA as a named deliverable with an owner and a sign-off.
- Lesson 123
Submission Timing
- Apply the forty-eight-hour rule to any federal or major foundation deadline.
- Back-plan an internal submission timeline from a NOFO deadline.
- Identify the validation, registration, and platform risks that justify the buffer.
- Lesson 124
The Peer Review Process
- Describe the journey of an NIH application from assignment through final scoring.
- Distinguish the roles of the Scientific Review Officer, the program officer, and the panel chair.
- Explain why two or three assigned reviewers carry disproportionate influence over the outcome.
- Lesson 125
Scoring Systems
- Interpret NIH 1-to-9 impact scores and the five core criterion scores.
- Explain how individual scores combine into an overall impact score and a percentile.
- Identify why the Approach criterion disproportionately drives outcomes.
- Lesson 126
The Summary Statement
- Read a summary statement section by section and categorize each critique.
- Distinguish fixable critiques from fatal ones and contradictory comments from consensus.
- Use the resume of discussion to infer the live tensions in the panel.
- Lesson 127
Triage and Streamlining
- Explain what "not discussed" (ND) and "streamlined" actually mean at an NIH study section.
- Read a streamlined summary statement without the resume of discussion.
- Use program officer feedback to fill in gaps that the streamlined critiques leave open.
- Lesson 128
Resubmission Strategy
- Apply a four-factor framework (score, critiques, soundness, currency) to the revise-versus-restart decision.
- Recognize NIH-specific A1 resubmission constraints and timelines.
- Anticipate the political reality of returning to the same study section.
- Lesson 129
Introduction to Resubmission
- Draft a one-page introduction to a resubmission using a four-part structure.
- Demonstrate responsiveness without sounding defensive.
- Disagree diplomatically with a specific reviewer concern when warranted.
- Lesson 130
The Site Visit
- Plan a professional site visit from confirmation email to follow-up note.
- Build an agenda backward from the funder's stated interests.
- Run a pre-visit rehearsal that surfaces inconsistencies before the visitors do.
- Lesson 131
Handling Rejection
- Apply the twenty-four-hour rule before responding to a rejection.
- Run a structured team debrief that produces lessons without descending into blame.
- Recognize the early warning signs of grant-writer burnout.
- Lesson 132
AI Spotlight
- Run an AI red-team pass on a complete proposal draft in under an hour.
- Prompt a model to score against published review criteria with specific quotes from the text.
- Recognize and counter the model's default tendency toward politeness.
Module 13: Post-Award Management
- Lesson 133
The Notice of Award (NoA)
- Identify the standard sections of a federal Notice of Award.
- Distinguish general terms from agency-specific and special terms and conditions.
- Extract reporting deadlines, prior approval triggers, and closeout obligations from an NoA.
- Lesson 134
Grant Setup
- Establish a restricted fund code and chart-of-accounts mapping before first drawdown.
- Assign signing authority, approval thresholds, and compliance task ownership.
- Schedule every reporting deadline and prior approval trigger in a shared calendar.
- Lesson 135
Internal Controls
- Apply the COSO framework to a federal grant environment.
- Design a segregation-of-duties matrix appropriate for organization size.
- Specify compensating controls when full segregation is not feasible.
- Lesson 136
Time and Effort Reporting
- Distinguish budgeted, actual, and certified effort and reconcile the three.
- Implement after-the-fact effort confirmation under 2 CFR 200.430.
- Allocate effort across multiple awards and cost-shared positions.
- Lesson 137
Procurement Standards
- Route any planned purchase to the correct procurement tier under 2 CFR 200.320.
- Apply the micro-purchase ($10K) and simplified acquisition ($250K) thresholds.
- Document a defensible sole-source justification when noncompetitive procurement is necessary.
- Lesson 138
Financial Reporting (FFR)
- Complete each line of the SF-425 Federal Financial Report accurately.
- Reconcile FFR figures to the general ledger, drawdowns, and bank statements.
- Calculate federal share of expenditures, program income, and indirect costs correctly.
- Lesson 139
Performance Reporting (PPR)
- Structure a PPR around your approved logic model and target outcomes.
- Explain variances honestly without triggering unnecessary alarm.
- Reconcile PPR narratives with FFR financial data.
- Lesson 140
Prior Approval Requests
- Identify the prior approval triggers in 2 CFR 200.308 and agency-specific terms.
- Distinguish changes that require prior approval from those that do not.
- Draft a clean written prior approval request to the grants management official.
- Lesson 141
Audit Readiness
- Identify when a Single Audit is required under 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F.
- Map the compliance requirements auditors test against your operations.
- Maintain a grant binder that consolidates evidence in audit-ready form.
- Lesson 142
Grant Closeout
- Complete a federal closeout within the 120-day window under 2 CFR 200.344.
- Submit final financial, performance, property, and invention reports as required.
- Disposition equipment and handle residual program income properly.
- Lesson 143
AI Spotlight
- Use AI to draft Performance Progress Report narratives from structured inputs.
- Apply red-line review techniques to remove unsupported AI-generated claims.
- Maintain a clean factual chain from source documents to final report text.
Module 14: Advanced Topics and Career Development
- Lesson 144
Career Paths
- Name the five major grant career trajectories and describe what daily work looks like on each.
- Match your strengths and constraints to two or three plausible paths.
- Distinguish in-house roles from independent consulting on autonomy, risk, and income structure.
- Lesson 145
The Freelance Business
- Compare hourly, project-based, and retainer pricing and choose the right structure for a given engagement.
- Set defensible rates based on market, niche, and credentials rather than guesswork.
- Identify the contract clauses that protect a freelance practice from scope creep and nonpayment.
- Lesson 146
Professional Credentials
- Describe what the GPC and CFRE credentials actually require and what they signal.
- Decide whether either credential makes sense for your current career stage.
- Identify the recertification commitment attached to each credential.
- Lesson 147
Continuing Education
- Name the four channels that keep working grant professionals current.
- Build a personal CE plan with a budget line, a calendar slot, and an annual hour target.
- Identify the professional associations most relevant to your career path.
- Lesson 148
Advanced Ethics
- Name the categories of ethical pressure that most often surface in grant practice.
- Cite the GPA Code provisions governing contingent compensation, accurate representation, and conflicts of interest.
- Build a personal pre-commitment that protects you before the moment of pressure arrives.
- Lesson 149
Capital Campaigns
- Distinguish the quiet phase and the public phase of a capital campaign and explain what each requires from a grant writer.
- Describe the mechanics specific to capital work (challenge grants, naming opportunities, multi-year pledges, bridge financing).
- Read a case statement and identify where a foundation grant request fits inside it.
- Lesson 150
Capacity Building Grants
- Explain what capacity building grants fund and how they differ from program grants.
- Identify funder categories that support capacity work.
- Frame a capacity request around a specific organizational diagnostic and a future capability.
- Lesson 151
Corporate Sponsorships
- Distinguish corporate foundation grants, direct corporate gifts, sponsorships, cause-marketing partnerships, and in-kind donations.
- Apply the IRS distinction between qualified sponsorship payments and unrelated business taxable income.
- Route incoming corporate offers to the right internal owner.
- Lesson 152
Trust-Based Philanthropy
- Name the six commonly cited practices of trust-based philanthropy.
- Describe how trust-based practice changes letters of inquiry, reporting, and renewal.
- Identify which of your current funders are moving in this direction.
- Lesson 153
Capstone Synthesis
- Articulate three or four governing principles for your grant practice.
- Name the specific habits that operationalize each principle.
- Identify the part of the field you want to be known for.
- Lesson 154
AI Spotlight
- Identify the tasks AI is already handling well in grant work and the tasks it does poorly.
- Audit your own week into AI-leveraged and human-essential tasks.
- Build a personal disclosure and quality-control policy for AI use.
Module 15: Artificial Intelligence in Grant Strategy
- Lesson 155
The AI Landscape in Grants
- Distinguish generative AI from analytical AI by the task each is built to perform.
- Map common grant tasks to the appropriate AI category before writing a prompt.
- Identify the failure modes that arise when the wrong category is used for a task.
- Lesson 156
Ethics of AI - Bias and Hallucination
- Define algorithmic bias and explain how it appears in grant narratives.
- Define hallucination and recognize its signature patterns in AI output.
- Apply a verification checklist to every statistic, citation, and funder claim.
- Lesson 157
Prompt Engineering - The Persona
- Write a persona line that anchors role, institutional context, and review posture.
- Match persona choice to the specific funder, mechanism, and stage of work.
- Stack personas in sequence to compress a draft-and-review cycle.
- Lesson 158
Prompt Engineering - Context & Constraint
- Build a reusable prompt scaffold with slots for situation, audience, structure, length, and tone.
- Layer constraints without producing contradictory instructions.
- Choose constraints that compress editing time rather than expand it.
- Lesson 159
AI Assisted Prospect Research
- Sequence analytical discovery, primary source collection, and generative synthesis correctly.
- Build a structured funder profile from documents you provided to the model.
- Verify every funder profile against the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search and the funder's website.
- Lesson 160
Accelerating Program Design
- Use AI to surface implementation barriers before they appear in a logic model.
- Generate alternative program models with different cost and risk profiles.
- Map unintended consequences and inequities before they become real harms.
- Lesson 161
Drafting Narratives - Iterative Process
- Run the five-step iterative drafting loop on any narrative section.
- Diagnose which step was skipped when a draft sounds generic or off-strategy.
- Issue refinement instructions that preserve voice while improving structure.
- Lesson 162
AI For Budgeting
- Use AI for multi-year projections, scenario modeling, narrative drafting, and math verification.
- Keep allowability, the indirect cost rate, and the cost share treatment in human hands.
- Write a budget prompt that names the escalator, the fringe rate, and the period of performance.
- Lesson 163
The AI "Red Team"
- Build a three-layer red team protocol: rubric load, persona panel, and synthesis pass.
- Score a proposal against the funder's actual scoring criteria, not generic heuristics.
- Identify the weaknesses that appear across multiple reviewer personas.
- Lesson 164
Data Privacy and Policy
- Identify which data categories cannot enter a consumer-tier AI tool.
- Apply HIPAA, FERPA, and PII handling rules to AI drafting sessions.
- Draft a one-page organizational AI policy covering approved tools and prohibited inputs.
- Lesson 165
Bonus AI Spotlight
- Integrate persona, constraint, iterative drafting, red teaming, and privacy into one workflow.
- Specify the tool layer, the prompt layer, and the process layer for your organization.
- Position your practice for funder disclosure requirements and reviewer detection tooling.
Module 16: Bonus Content
- Lesson 166
Data Privacy and AI
- Identify categories of data (PHI, FERPA-covered records, PII, embargoed research) that must never enter third-party AI tools.
- Read vendor data retention and model-training policies critically.
- De-identify case material before drafting and choose enterprise tooling when sensitive context is truly required.
- Lesson 167
Organizational AI Policy Development
- Draft the core sections of an organizational AI policy (scope, permitted uses, prohibited uses, approval, disclosure, QA, documentation, training).
- Translate vague aspirations into concrete, enforceable rules.
- Align the AI policy with the organization's existing data classification scheme.
- Lesson 168
AI Detection and Authenticity
- Explain how current AI detectors work and why they produce false positives and false negatives.
- Identify prose patterns that increase detection risk (low burstiness, hedged voice, recycled phrasing).
- Use AI for structure and refinement without producing the flat output detectors and reviewers flag.
- Lesson 169
AI For Accessibility
- Use AI to produce plain-language summaries, translations, and accessible document formats.
- Recognize the limits of machine translation and plain-language conversion for culturally specific content.
- Make credible, evidence-backed equity claims in proposals based on actual workflow changes.
- Lesson 170
Funder Policies on AI
- Locate and interpret current funder AI policies, including NIH and NSF guidance.
- Write disclosure language that is honest, specific, and brief.
- Build AI-policy verification into the standard pre-submission checklist.
- Lesson 171
International Funding Overview
- Distinguish bilateral, multilateral, supranational, and private international funding.
- Triage eligibility for international opportunities in under ten minutes.
- Identify when your organization can lead versus when it must partner.
- Lesson 172
European Union Funding
- Describe the three pillars of Horizon Europe and the role of consortia and work packages.
- Build budgets around personnel months and unit costs rather than US line items.
- Apply the open access, data management plan, and ethics requirements that EU funders treat as core.
- Lesson 173
UK and Commonwealth Funding
- Identify the eligibility rules for Wellcome Trust, UKRI, FCDO, and Commonwealth Scholarship programs.
- Translate a US biosketch into a Wellcome-style narrative CV.
- Recognize the role of Full Economic Costing in UK university budgets.
- Lesson 174
United Nations Funding
- Identify the main UN agencies that fund or contract grant-relevant work (UNDP, UNICEF, WHO).
- Navigate framework agreements, expressions of interest, and RFPs as entry points.
- Structure consortia and country-office partnerships that meet UN eligibility expectations.
- Lesson 175
Adapting Skills Globally
- Convert budgets across currencies with documented exchange-rate assumptions.
- Rebuild US logic models against results-based management frameworks.
- Adapt proposal voice for European, multilateral, and UK development audiences.
- Lesson 176
Responsible Ethics (Global)
- Apply major frameworks (Declaration of Helsinki, FAIR/CARE, locally-led principles, equitable partnerships) to proposal design.
- Negotiate authorship, intellectual property, and benefit-sharing at proposal stage rather than after award.
- Adapt consent processes to community context, including community-level consent.
How this course compares with other ways to learn grant writing
Grant writers learn from many sources. This course gives you one complete sequence, free.
Ways to learn grant writing
| Option | Cost | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funder guidance and webinars | Free | Official rules and tips for one funder | Every applicant, for the funder you are targeting |
| University grant workshops | Often free for faculty and students | Short sessions on specific topics | Researchers at institutions that offer them |
| Paid certificate programs | Paid | Structured training, sometimes with a credential | Learners who need a formal certificate |
| The Grant Architect (this course) | Free | 176 lessons over 16 weeks: prospect research, funding announcements, federal grant structure, budgeting, and AI-assisted proposal work | Learning the whole process in order, at no cost |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Grant Architect really free?
Yes. All 176 lessons are free. Videos publish on a rolling schedule.
Do I get a certificate?
No. The course does not award a certificate. It is free training in the grant writing process.
Does the course cover federal grants?
Yes. It covers reading funding announcements, federal grant structure, budgeting, and proposal engineering, including how to use AI responsibly.
What if I am short on time?
Subthesis also offers grant writing and editing for research grants, always at a flat fee. See the Grant Writing service.
Questions about the course?
Reach out on LinkedIn for curriculum questions, suggestions on where to start based on your background, or to talk grant strategy.