The “Of Course” Factor
A Guide to Meaningful Grant Writing
The book grant writers have been waiting for. Publishing October 14, 2026.
Every grant writer has experienced it: you submit a proposal you believe in, and you wait. What you're hoping for, whether you know it or not, is that a reviewer will read your work and think:
Of course that makes sense. Of course I want to fund this.
That moment isn't magic. It isn't luck. It's the result of a proposal that balances logic and heart, grounded in evidence and shaped by hope for a better future. It's craft. And it's learnable.
The "Of Course" Factor is a comprehensive guide to meaningful grant writing for practitioners and organizations who want to do more than secure funding. You want to expand impact. You want good ideas and essential services to reach more people. You want to write with purpose, not just proficiency.
Whether you're writing your first grant or your five hundredth, and whether you encounter this book in a classroom or on your own desk, this is the guide you'll return to throughout your career.
What’s Inside
The "Of Course" Factor covers the full arc of grant writing, from the history of philanthropy to the final attachment in a submitted proposal. With a glossary, index, and resources for further learning, it works as both a professional reference and a course text.
The Foundation
History of grant writing: Why philanthropy developed the way it did and how it shapes the way grantmakers think today
Prospect research strategy: A deep dive into each type of grantmaker, including foundations, corporations, government agencies, clubs, associations, and Tribal grantmakers
Organizational readiness: A roadmap for assessing whether your organization is ready to pursue funding before you write a single word
Tribal organizations: Dedicated coverage of grant seeking for Tribal organizations, a topic largely absent from other grant writing texts
The Field
Real application questions: Sample questions drawn from actual grant applications so you know what grantmakers are really asking
AI in grant writing: Practical guidance on using AI as a tool in the process, including where it helps and where it falls short
Ethics and responsibility: An honest conversation about what grant writers owe to the organizations and communities they serve
Reality checks: Insights drawn from decades of practice as a writer, reviewer, trainer, and professor
The Craft
The Grant Framework: An original blueprint that weaves together the logic model and theory of change into a unified structure built around the grant proposal itself
Storytelling as strategy: A narrative arc approach that builds tension in the community insight statement and delivers the solution in the project description
Empowering language: Guidance on describing community conditions in ways that honor the dignity and strengths of the people you serve
Proposal sections: A section-by-section guide to writing every part of a grant proposal, including the organizational description, community insight statement, budget, request information, project description, evaluation, and closing
The Whole Picture
Stories from the field: Personal accounts from a career that spans direct service, grant writing, grant review, and college teaching
Sustainability: A closing conversation on work-life balance and avoiding the burnout that sidelines so many talented grant writers
Reference tools: A glossary, index, and resources for further learning that make this a book you return to, not one you read once
Book Formats
Paperback
Designed to function as a professional reference you return to throughout your career. 340 pages, 6 x 9, white paper and black and white interior. →$24.99
E-Book
Available for Kindle and all major ebook platforms. The complete text of the print edition, optimized for digital reading so you can access the full guide wherever you work. → $9.99
Audiobook
Narrated by the author, Allison Welch, M.Ed., GPC. The complete text of the print edition, read in Allison's own voice, so you can learn on the go, the same way she teaches. → ~$15-25
(Audible’s decision)
What Readers Are Saying
"The ‘Of Course’ Factor is for folks who really care about helping organizations help their communities. I cannot stress enough how salient and useful Allison's book is, and it should be read by both novice and seasoned grant writers. I will be using Allison's book the next time I teach grant writing."
-Doreen Swetkis, Dean of Graduate Programs and Professor of Nonprofit Administration, Evergreen State College
"I was working on a consulting project with a nonprofit as I read the book, and I kept finding myself turning to exactly the chapter I needed. That's the mark of a truly useful manual. Whether you're brand new to grant writing or have years of experience, this book belongs on your desk."
-Mary Baechler, Community Health Advocate
Allison Welch, M.Ed., GPC, spent more than two decades as a grant writer, grant reviewer, social worker, and college professor before writing this book. Not because it took that long to gather the information, but because the book that exists today could not have existed any sooner. Every year of writing grants, reviewing proposals, teaching students, and working directly in communities made it richer.
She began her career in direct service, working alongside the communities she would later write grants to support. That experience shapes everything in these pages. She knows what it looks like when an organization has a powerful mission and not enough funding to carry it out. She knows what reviewers notice, what they question, and what makes them think: of course.
Allison is the founder of Spark the Fire Grant Writing Classes and one of approximately 30 GPCI-Approved Trainers nationally. She has trained grant writers in all 50 states and internationally.