Spark the Fire
Grant Writing Blog
Skills, ideas, and sometimes contrarian views for grant writers and freelance consultants who want to get better at the work, not just get through it. Centering purpose, not hustle.
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Best Grant Prospect Research Databases of 2025
One of the questions I’m asked frequently is where do you find grant opportunities?
We tested ten different grant research databases, also known as prospect reearch databases for grant writing and here are our recommendations.
Discover Tribal Giving: Is Your State on the Map?
Best Grant Research Databases of 2024
One of the questions I’m asked frequently is where do you find grant opportunities?
Are you running out of grant opportunities? Does it seem like every time you search for grants, you can only find a few opportunities that are a good fit? Here is a startling fact:
Tips for Seeking First-Time Support
Nonprofits approaching a foundation for support for the first time often are asked, "Who else is at the table?" That's because foundations and corporate grantmakers are more likely to fund a program or project that others have deemed worthy of support. But as any grantwriter or development professional knows, it's not easy to get a funder to actually sit at the table. Here are a few tips designed to help you demonstrate to potential first-time funders that your project or program merits their support...
Dear Abby’s Advice to a Funder
As a grantwriter, I'm pretty sure my clients aren't the only organizations frustrated by the grant application process. Funders are, too. Over the last decade, many social and environmental problems have gotten worse; the number of nonprofits looking for funding has grown; and the stock and bond markets have subjected most portfolio managers to a ride they'd probably like to forget. I don't suppose many funders, harried or otherwise, turn to Dear Abby for advice. But if they did, here's what she might she say....
If You've Met One Foundation, You've Met One Foundation
Writing grants is like dating. Just because something worked in one relationship, doesn't mean it's going to work with the next. Each relationship is unique, unpredictable, exciting, and... sometimes heartbreaking. Nonetheless, when we write grants to foundations, we have to be vulnerable while presenting our best qualities. Ready for some dating advice for foundations?