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Intermediate Grant Writing: Strategic Approaches to Competitive Proposals

March 18 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm CDT

Virtual Workshop – Live/Online
Fee: $95 for MCN members / $135 for nonmembers 

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Ready to elevate your grant writing practice? This intermediate three-hour workshop is designed for intermediate grant professionals who want to move from good proposals to fundable ones. If you’ve completed 3-5 grant proposals and are ready to strengthen your strategic approach, this workshop will provide the frameworks and techniques you need to stand out in competitive funding environments.

You’ll learn to:

  • Conduct strategic pre-writing research that identifies funder alignment before you invest time writing
  • Articulate organizational strengths and accomplishments with evidence-based narratives
  • Frame community needs using both data and compelling storytelling while addressing sustainability
  • Apply logic model frameworks and develop SMART objectives that connect activities to measurable outcomes
  • Craft budget narratives that demonstrate value, address red flags, and show long-term financial sustainability
  • Navigate AI tools and professional development opportunities to strengthen your practice

Workshop format: Interactive presentation with small group discussions and peer learning activities. Participants will receive a workbook with practical frameworks and resources.

Prerequisites: This is an intermediate-level workshop. Participants who have experience writing 3-5 competitive grant proposals and are familiar with basic grant-writing concepts will gain the most from this training.

This session is focused on writing. For a session on the grantseeking process, you may wish to instead register for the Beginning Grantseeking session. This session focuses on the nonprofit funding landscape and the process of seeking grants. MCN also offers Beginning Grantwriting sessions.

Event Details

This virtual event will take place on the Zoom platform. Your access link will be emailed to you the day before the event after 12 p.m.

This session will be recorded. The recording will be made available to registrants after the live event.

Captioning is provided automatically through Zoom. For information on requesting CART, ASL, or another accommodation, please visit our Registration Policies page.

To learn more about events, registration, and payment, visit our Event & Registration FAQ page.

Speaker Information

Jan Castillo’s career spans over 20 years in the corporate communications and investor relations industry. For ten years she was partner and minority-owner of The Carideo Group, Inc., an integrated communications consulting firm. In 2015, Jan began volunteering for a small dental clinic, where she donated her time providing grant research and proposal writing services to support the growing nonprofit.

Here, she found her passion for grantwriting and in early 2017, Jan left the corporate world and formally launched The Dotted Line Collaborative, a grants development firm with the mission of connecting ideas and outcomes through grants.

Details