10 Great Ways to Use AI for Grant Writing
A Library 2.0 AI Workshop with Crystal Trice
OVERVIEW:
Grant writing is how libraries fund the work they care about most, and it is also the work that gets squeezed to the edges of the week. The same person who can picture exactly what a new program could do for the community is often the one staring at a blank application at 4:45 on a Friday, wondering where to start and whether there is time to do it justice before the deadline.
This workshop offers ten responses to that pressure. Rather than treating AI as a way to game funders or mass-produce applications, this session positions AI as a thoughtful collaborator that supports, but never replaces, your professional judgment and your knowledge of your community. Participants will see real examples and walk away with concrete strategies they can use on their very next application.
The workshop is grounded in a simple belief: a good idea should not lose its funding because the person behind it ran out of hours. Used well and used honestly, AI can clear away the blank-page paralysis and the busywork, protect your library's voice and your patrons' privacy, and give you back the time to do what actually wins grants, which is making a clear case for real community need.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- Apply ten specific AI collaboration strategies across the full grant development arc, from aligning an idea with your mission through drafting, funder research, and final submission
- Evaluate when AI genuinely strengthens a grant-writing task and when your own judgment and community knowledge need to lead
- Implement prompting and verification techniques that protect accuracy, data privacy, and your library's authentic voice
- Adapt AI-generated drafts to a specific funder's priorities, language, and requirements
ACTIONABLE WORKSHOP ELEMENTS:
Over 60 minutes, participants will move through ten focused applications, each illustrated with a real example or a quick demonstration:
- Align the idea with your mission or strategic plan. Show a funder that your project grows straight out of the goals your organization already set, so your case for support starts on solid ground.
- Draft a project charter. Turn a rough idea into a one-page internal agreement that earns a clear yes from your board or director before you invest hours in writing.
- Refine measurable outcomes. Move past vague goals to outcomes that name a real change in people or community, the kind funders now expect to see.
- Gather research to support your narrative. Find the data that shows the need is real and widespread, and back your story with numbers a reviewer can trust.
- Find potential funders. Build a shortlist of funders whose priorities already point at your project, so you spend time where you can actually win.
- Evaluate whether an opportunity is a good match. Weigh fit, effort, and odds before you commit, and protect your limited grant-writing time for the applications worth pursuing.
- Pressure-test against a specific opportunity. Find the weak spots in your project while there is still time to fix them, before a reviewer finds them for you.
- Sanity-check the budget. Catch the costs applicants forget, like reporting time and contingency, so your budget reads as credible and complete.
- Brainstorm grant name ideas. Land on a title that is clear, a little memorable, and hints at the scope of work, not just the topic.
- Get help with character and word counts. Fit a strong, complete answer inside strict application limits without losing what matters most.
The recording and presentation slides will be available to all who register.
DATE: Friday, July 31st, 2026, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm US - Eastern Time
COST:
- $99/person - includes live attendance, anytime access to the recording and presentation slides, and a participation certificate. To arrange group discounts (see below), to submit a purchase order, or for any registration difficulties or questions, email admin@library20.com.
TO REGISTER:
Use the payment box above to register and pay. You can pay by credit card. You will receive an email within a day with information on how to attend the webinar live and how you can access the permanent webinar recording. If you are paying for someone else to attend, you'll be prompted to send an email to admin@library20.com with the name and email address of the actual attendee.
If you need to be invoiced or pay by check, if you have any trouble registering for a webinar, or if you have any questions, please email admin@library20.com.
NOTE: please check your spam folder if you don't receive your confirmation email within a day.
SPECIAL GROUP RATES (email admin@library20.com to arrange):
- Multiple individual log-ins and access from the same organization paid together: $99 each for 3+ registrations, $75 each for 5+ registrations. Unlimited and non-expiring access for those log-ins.
- The ability to show the webinar (live or recorded) to a group located in the same physical location or in the same virtual meeting from one log-in: $399.
- Large-scale institutional access for viewing with individual login capability: $599 (hosted either at Learning Revolution or in Niche Academy). Unlimited and non-expiring access for those log-ins.
ALL-ACCESS PASSES: This webinar is not a part of the Safe Library All-Access program.
With over two decades of experience in libraries and education, Crystal Trice is passionate about helping people work together more effectively in transformative, but practical ways. As founder of Scissors & Glue, LLC, Crystal partners with libraries and schools to bring positive changes through interactive training and hands-on workshops. She is a Certified Scrum Master and has completed a Masters Degree in Library & Information Science, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and Psychology. She is a frequent national presenter on topics ranging from project management to conflict resolution to artificial intelligence. She currently resides near Portland, Oregon, with her extraordinary husband, fuzzy cows, goofy geese, and noisy chickens. Crystal enjoys fine-tip Sharpies, multi-colored Flair pens, blue painters tape, and as many sticky notes as she can get her hands on.
