Drafting full proposals

How the drafter works

From any grant page, click Draft proposal. The workspace generates a nine-section draft using:

• Your full org profile (mission, programs, budget, populations, history).
• The funder's published rubric and priorities, when available.
• The NOFO or RFP text, parsed for requirements, page limits, and required elements.
• Any past-application history you've uploaded to seed your voice.

The full nine-section draft takes 60 to 90 seconds to generate. Sections appear as they finish; you can start editing the earlier sections while the later ones are still streaming.

The nine sections

1. Cover letter / executive summary: the 30-second pitch.
2. Statement of need: the problem in numbers and in human terms.
3. Project description: goals, objectives, target population.
4. Methodology: activities, timeline, who does what.
5. Evaluation plan: how you'll measure success.
6. Organizational capacity: why your org can deliver.
7. Budget & budget narrative: line items and the rationale.
8. Sustainability plan: what happens after this grant ends.
9. Attachments & appendices: a checklist of what you still need to gather.

Each section can be regenerated independently. If the budget narrative comes out off but the project description is great, regenerate only the budget.

Where the AI helps most, and where it doesn't

The drafter is strong at:

• Structure (right sections, right order, right length).
• Compliance language (required certifications, eligibility statements, attestations).
• The 80% boilerplate sections most proposals share.
• Adapting your voice once you've fed it 2 to 3 past proposals.

The drafter is weaker at:

• Original storytelling (the specific kid, the specific outcome data, the moment that explains why this work matters now). Bring that yourself.
• Budget math you haven't already done. The drafter writes the narrative around the numbers you provide; it won't invent line items.
• Letters of support from partners. Those come from people, not the AI.

Writing a proposal in the right order

Most teams find this order works better than the order the sections appear:

1. Project description (defines everything else).
2. Budget (real numbers, in a spreadsheet).
3. Statement of need.
4. Methodology, evaluation, capacity.
5. Sustainability.
6. Executive summary (last, because now you know what it's summarizing).
7. Attachments.

The drafter generates all sections at once, but it's fine (and recommended) to ignore the order on screen and edit in this sequence.

Collaborating

Multiple writers can edit the same workspace. Each section shows the last editor and timestamp. Changes are autosaved. For real co-writing, share the workspace URL with anyone on your team seat list.

Exporting and submitting

Federal grants almost always submit through Grants.gov or an agency-specific portal, which means you'll be pasting sections into a form rather than uploading a single doc. The workspace toolbar has “Copy section” on each section header for this.

Foundation grants often accept a full PDF or .docx. Use Download PDF or Download .docx from the workspace toolbar. PDF export uses your uploaded letterhead and font if you have one in settings.

Score before you submit

Always run the AI Reviewer on the final draft. A score under 70 means at least one section needs more work; the Reviewer will tell you which.