How Does AI Enhance Precision in Grant Writing?

In a world where funding opportunities are increasingly competitive, grant writers must be sharp, strategic, and efficient. The struggle with the dreaded blank page is all too familiar, but the rise of AI may soon turn this struggle into a concern of the past.

AI significantly accelerates your drafting process, freeing up valuable time for you to think critically and edit intelligently. We cover how to accomplish this in our AI Besties Grant Writing Course, a step-by-step program that teaches grant writers how to use AI tools ethically and effectively.

But here, we're going to talk about the problem and, most importantly, how AI addresses it!

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The Blank Page Problem

AI is not thinking, hence its draft is not final. Its primary advantage lies in its ability to help you overcome the blank page dilemma. For grant writers, the first draft is typically the hardest part of the process. Beda, a company that has made waves in the grant writing arena, exemplifies this journey.

Before they started using AI, Beda’s grant drafting process took up a staggering 70% of their time, often requiring 40 to 60 hours per application. This time-consuming struggle is something every grant writer can relate to.

Fast forward: Beda's team started cranking out 40 complex grants a month with only two writers—taking 100-hour applications and whittling them down to four hours! They even hit $750K in their first year, with a 70% profit margin per grant!

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Evolution of the AI Grant Writing Process

Beda's journey to efficiency didn’t happen overnight. In the beginning, their first five grants took a month and a half to two months to complete, using traditional “manpower” methods. The team immersed themselves in interviews, research, and extensive writing, dedicating a week and a half to each grant draft.

Throughout this process, they kept the end goal in mind: to build AI tools that would streamline their workflow. By mapping their learnings from each grant they tackled, they began to identify effective prompts and instructions.

This iterative process allowed them to refine their approach and experiment with various automation techniques, ranging from building their own AI to using existing APIs. With each completed grant, they gained insights that propelled them toward greater efficiency.

The Aha! Moment

After completing around 20 to 30 grants, Beda experienced a significant breakthrough. By November of 2023, they could conduct kickoff calls and generate drafts within minutes. This transformation was monumental; it meant that the majority of their time was now available for critical thinking and editing rather than mere drafting.

With the burden of drafting lifted, Beda's team could focus on evaluating the narrative's coherence, ensuring alignment with grant requirements, and identifying any gaps in their applications. This shift in focus was invaluable, enabling them to hone their skills in crafting compelling narratives that resonate with grant reviewers.

The True Value of AI in Grant Writing

The key takeaway here is that AI enhances the grant writing process by accelerating draft creation, allowing writers to concentrate on what truly matters: crafting a winning application. While AI can generate drafts quickly, the end goal is not just a completed document but a successful proposal that secures funding.

Critical thinking and editing are the lifeblood of effective grant writing. The more time grant writers can dedicate to these aspects, the better their applications will be. AI serves as a powerful tool in this context, enabling writers to leverage their expertise and creativity effectively.

You can dive deeper into our AI Toolkit if you’re thinking about how to build a custom GPT in 2025. We dissected everything you need to know about grant writing and AI.

Final Thoughts

As the landscape of grant writing continues to evolve, embracing AI as a supportive partner rather than a replacement is essential. While it may not be capable of thinking or producing final drafts independently, AI can significantly streamline the initial stages of the writing process.

By overcoming the blank page problem and reducing the time spent on drafting, writers can focus on critical thinking and editing—the true keys to crafting winning grant applications.

However, as awesome a partner as AI may be, it still has its challenges. One of such is that AI hallucinates, and the answers it brings up can be lousy. However, it’s nothing to worry about as we have the innovative solution to that - building context! AI needs context to write better.

In the end, it’s not about the speed at which you write but the quality of the thought that goes into your application. With AI as your ally, you can turn your grant writing process from daunting to dynamic, paving the way for success in securing the funding you seek.

The age of AI is here! Grant writers everywhere are upskilling and shifting their business to new levels. Get our AI Toolkit on how you can build your own custom GPT today. At Learn Grant Writing, we're doing everything possible to keep our grant writers on the cutting edge of the grant writing industry. Join the collective today to participate!