2026 Grant Writing Lunch and Learn Series: Training for Nonprofits
The 2026 DH Leonard Consulting Lunch and Learn Series is a virtual event designed to offer nonprofit professionals valuable insights into grant writing and capacity-building techniques. Through short, informative sessions, participants will gain practical tips, tools, and resources to enhance their grant development skills and strengthen their organization’s funding efforts. The series covers topics such as grant readiness, proposal writing, funder relationships, and emerging trends in the nonprofit sector, providing actionable advice in a convenient format that fits into busy schedules.
The 2026 Lunch and Learn is proudly sponsored by
Don't Throw Spaghetti at the Wall: Focus on Priorities for Research
Presented by Diane H. Leonard, GPC, RST and Julie Brown, GPC
June 10th 12:00pm ET
You know that your organization wants and needs to pursue grants. Your mission is critical, you are committed to the communities you serve, and you need to consistently sustain your work. Your passion drives you. Where to start? Which grantmakers to seek out?
You might think for a moment, "Can we just try applying to a whole bunch of foundations that we've heard of and hope for the best? That might be pretty good, playing the odds, projecting the probabilities---right?"
We call this "throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks." We advise against it as a grant strategy. It will exhaust you and, ultimately, will be unproductive and disheartening.
When you think about pursuing grants, you might think about casting a very wide net, working under the assumption that the more you apply, the more you will be awarded. Unfortunately, that strategy is almost never successful as grantmakers can tell when an application is not customized to talk about alignment between your organization and theirs.
But don't worry. We understand that the pressure to submit more grants to new funders is real. This session will provide you space and insight to take a few moments to consider your organization's future, your organization's focus, your organization's needs. And really close in on what matters.
Learning Objectives:
- A Newfound Focus: You will complete an exercise that guides you through outlining the outreach and efforts that define the heart of your organization, based on your own personal understanding. You will learn from case studies and build a list of your top priorities, worded to align with funders' common keywords.
- Advanced Grant Research Techniques: You will leave with an understanding of free and paid resources available online and elsewhere that can aid you, and the “pro tips” that help you prevent focusing on funders that are an incredibly slim possibility. Based on the preliminary list that you create in this session, you will be well-prepared to begin locating/reaching out to the funders whose priorities best align with your organization's priorities.
Inspiring Your Grant Team and Funders with Your Elevator Pitch
Presented by Diane H. Leonard, GPC, RST and Beth Archer, GPC, RSM
August 11th 12:00pm ET
Let's talk about your elevator pitch! It's that incredibly useful tool that you carry around in your mental notes so that when you first meet someone or are casually (or not so casually) chatting with anyone about your work or volunteerism, you can easily and succinctly share the value of your work and its urgency. When you are ready without hesitation, it is quite effective, and your passion for your work is immediately evident.
Whether you have an elevator pitch already (or pre-strategized message), we will work together to ensure you have a refined elevator pitch by the end of the session.
Then, for the very important next step, we'll make plans together to "take it to the street"---or make that, plans to train your grant team to confidently take it to the street!
This session is just as much about nurturing your team's enthusiasm as it is about having a united message ready to go.
Learning Objectives:
- A Well-Formed Team: You will learn high-level, smart steps and requirements for selecting grant team members, the who and the why, as well as techniques to inspire them.
- The Power of Words: You will be guided through the exercise of drafting or refreshing your elevator pitch with care and strategy. You will leave the session with a working draft version to continue fine tuning with your team.
- Practice, Practice, Practice: You will benefit from an important part of developing your elevator speech, which is the opportunity to rehearse it with fellow attendees and receive feedback.
- Taking It to the Street: You will create a customized step-by-step exercise to teach your grant team about the importance of learning the elevator pitch and train them to recite the elevator pitch with comfort.
Using Personas to Engage Your Grantmakers with Your Story
Presented by Diane H. Leonard, GPC, RST
October 14th 12:00pm ET
Because a funder is not typically immersed in the change they are effecting, often, we grant writers/grant professionals need to convey critical needs using only words and numbers. Yet, we really need the grant reviewer to feel connected and moved to action.
In this session, we will help you identify your organization’s personas and how they can help you tell a story that will more impactfully reach grant reviewers. While the term is familiar in marketing and communications, we propose a strategic and unique application tailored specifically for the grants world. We will also explore methods for clarifying and understanding the specific, special personas that are unique to your organization. Finally, we will guide you through how you can apply personas in your writing to transform your proposals and secure funding.
Learning Objectives:
- The Persona Concept: As a grant professional, you will understand the definition of personas in our specific context. You will benefit from real-world examples that will help you grasp how grant writers can apply the use of personas in storytelling.
- Your Unique Personas: You will participate in an exercise that helps you identify, envision, and outline the personas that are specific to your organization. A guided brainstorming session will provide an opportunity for yout to begin drafting personas and their various qualities.
- Painting a Compelling Picture Using Personas: You will create a preliminary framework for grant narratives using one or more of your newly defined personas, and see how integration can shape your writing for maximum effect. You will take away actionable, inspiring knowledge that allows you to immediately apply persona-driven storytelling in your grant writing.
We Got the Award! Now, to Remember What We Said We Would Do....
Presented by Diane H. Leonard, GPC, RST
December 10th 12:00pm ET
As Robert Frost wrote, "...I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep" (Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, 1923). After we receive an award, like Frost, we now have much to do, and we want to follow through on our obligations to our communities and our grantmaker.
Frost's plan might have been to get back on his horse, say "giddyup," and ride home.
For grant recipients, the approach is a little different. The funder's award notification activates the grant recipient's (your) initiation phase, when your team convenes and makes concrete plans to begin and ultimately complete your project.
It is an exciting time, full of energy and many, many details! This is the time when you set the stage for fulfilling the promises you made. It involves a good number of important tasks to complete.
In this session, we will guide you through three key components of the initiation phase:
- Acknowledging the funder for the award
- Getting your financial ducks in a row to administer the grant
- Setting up project assignments and tracking
Learning Objectives:
- Further Your Relationship with the Funder: You will gain insight about why your funder must be top of mind as you prepare to kick off your project, and be able to share with your grant team about their direct and indirect roles in strengthening that relationship.
- Heed the Funder's Financial Requirements: You will learn actionable steps for your team to make financial preparations, enabling them to understand and create the needed mechanisms in your finance system that will satisfy the grant agreement.
- Map Out Your Project Deliverables: You will increase your understanding of how to organize the milestones and people needed for your project to succeed, positioning you and your team to undertake the project's next steps.
Recorded Sessions
Funders Are Asking Did You Use AI to Write Your Grant... How Do You Answer?
$19.99Presented by Diane H. Leonard, GPC, RST
In this session, we'll explore the ramifications of some funders now asking applicants whether AI assisted with their work---sometimes asking about helping with other times asking about doing the writing work. AI's capabilities continue to grow, so the possibilities for "assistance" emerge and change rapidly.
Some of today's funders are asking: "Did you use AI to write this grant application?"
We take a moment to consider our answer. Do we infer from that question that they are simply gathering data? Or do we infer that they will view any AI-assisted applications negatively, or possibly reject them outright? Or do they view them positively, seeing it as an equity opportunity for smaller organizations?
First, we advocate only for a truthful reply. Next, the details you provide in your answer to that question come down to two things:
(1.) Your organization's documented AI policy, and
(2.) Your comfort level in your relationship with that funder.Creating a Sustainable Culture of Grants
$19.99Presented by Maggie Perry, GPC, RPO
A culture of grants is a mainstreamed mindset throughout your team and organization that elevates your entire grants cycle, from readiness, research, and relationships to writing and reporting. It ultimately enhances your successes by building shared interest, awareness, and involvement.
You can and should build and hone this culture, starting by selecting individuals and then intentionally growing the culture from there. We will guide you through all the considerations for leveraging a grant team to shape the grants culture---as well as other methods to continuously keep the culture's ongoing construction solid and architecturally robust.
A culture that you take the time to develop and nurture will bring about inspiring results! Your entire grants cycle will be stronger and more effective.