What’s Next for Grant Writers

There was a quote I saw on the Grant Professionals Association (GPA) that was disheartening.

An experienced grant writer said she’s afraid she might have to leave the field, despite her many years of experience.

She's not alone.

As someone who’s spent the last seven years in grant writing and major donor work, I can’t say these shifts haven’t affected my mindset too.

One of my clients has had six grant rejections in a row over the past few months.

We went from hitting our grant goal halfway through 2025 and dreaming of a stretch goal, to getting no after no after no.

Painful like a cactus hug.

This has left me wondering what is next for people in the philanthropy sector, specifically grant writers.

I know many of us don’t know, which is both a scary and beautiful place to begin.

But I don’t think the answer is throwing in the towel.

The skills grant writers have built through their craft are powerful.

Things like relentless determination.

Attention to detail.

Giving everything they have, almost to a fault, to secure the win for their nonprofit or clients.

These are qualities that shouldn’t leave the industry because the industry is changing. These are qualities that are needed because the industry is changing.

Grant writers, you are needed.

You are needed, you are needed, you are needed.

Everything happening right now can sometimes make us doubt that.

But if the industry is moving in a different direction, so must we. (Humpback whales are excellent examples this.)

This won't be easy.

Until now, things have been rewarding for many skilled grant writers, and the thought of losing familiar funders or funding sources can feel unmanageable.

In the last few months, I’ve let go of or lost 3 of my highest-paying contracts with the government. For context, it took years to secure some of these.

And when they closed, I was seeing things like “this contract is good for up to $150,000 a year until 2029.”

Hot, dog!

I was gathering subcontractors and getting ready to turn on the invoicing conveyor belt.

The expectations I built around these contracts were quite high.

But life wasn't and isn't done mixing things up.

And eventually, I had to let these contracts go:

After some real tears, long walks, I was left with the question, what's next?

And this is where I get lit up for you. For grant writers specifically.

Because I believe there will be a certain group of grant writers who feel the pain of this moment too, but have the desire to move in new ways.

I believe the direction we must move toward is becoming better facilitators.

“The power of facilitation is creating the space, the time, and the conditions for people to think together, create together, solve problems together, and get stuff done together.” —Kimberly Bain

Most of you are already doing this.

A grant writer creates intellectual and emotional space for a nonprofit to reflect on its purpose, goals, and impact.

Grant writers understand timelines.

A skilled grant writer establishes the right conditions for collaboration with funders and partners, listens carefully, and translates complex ideas.

Does any of this sound familiar? It should because it's you!

Most of you have been doing this for years!

You already have these skills, and these skills ultimately secure dollars for the nonprofits or clients you write for.

Just because the industry is changing, how does that equate to your skills changing?

They aren't.

Your skills are deeply ingrained within you.

Which is why we need to start having conversations with each other about how to apply those skills in new ways.

We can't be looking to experts all the time and have them tell us what to do. They don't know. I don't know.

We need facilitators who are ready to create containers where each of us contributes ideas on a better way forward.

I say this not as a form of judgement, this is going to be very hard for large organizations or large consulting firms to do.

Those who stay nimble and are willing to let go of familiar ways of working to make space for something new will be the ones shaping the future of philanthropy.

If you are someone who hasn’t spoken about the industry as a whole because you’ve been under-resourced, overworked, or simply haven’t had the space, it is you who will help us light the way.

—Cody