If you work in the nonprofit sector, you have almost certainly typed one of these into a search bar: "How do I find grants for my nonprofit?" or "What should a grant proposal include?" or "Why do we keep getting rejected?"
These are not beginner questions. They are the questions every grant seeker — from first-timers to seasoned grant professionals — returns to again and again, especially as the funding landscape shifts beneath our feet. Application volumes are at historic highs. Federal funding has been disrupted. Foundations are closing portals early. The competition has never been steeper.
We heard you. And we did something about it.
We are proud to introduce The Complete Grant FAQs for Nonprofits — 195 expert answers to the most-searched grant questions in the nonprofit sector, all in one free, searchable resource.
Ready to dig in? The full resource is free, searchable, and waiting for you.
Explore all 195 Grant FAQs →The Complete Grant FAQs for Nonprofits covers every stage of the grant journey — from the moment you ask "are we even ready for this?" to the moment you hit submit and wait. The seven topic areas are:
Every answer draws on two decades of real-world grant teaching and practice. Which brings us to the expert behind it all.
This resource would not exist without Diane H. Leonard, GPC, RST — one of the most respected grant professionals in the United States and a long-time CharityHowTo approved trainer.
Diane is a Grant Professional Certified, an Approved Trainer of the Grant Professionals Association, and the founder of DH Leonard Consulting & Grant Writing Services — the world's premier Agile grant consultancy focused exclusively on nonprofits, charities, and NGOs. Since 2006, Diane and her team have secured more than $180.67 million in competitive grant awards. She has personally trained more than 110,671 nonprofit professionals.
She is also the author of Playbook for Changemakers: Agile Ways of Working That Amplify Impact, a keynote speaker, and the co-host of the Agile Driven Impact podcast. She has presented at the Grant Professionals Association GrantSummit every year since 2012.
In short: when Diane answers a grant question, it is worth paying attention.
The following are just 6 of the 195 questions covered in the full resource. These samples span three topic areas — grant writing, finding funders, and grants for nonprofits. Visit the full FAQ page to explore all 195 questions across all 7 topic areas.
2 of 27 questions — see all 27 →
Grant writing for nonprofits is the process of preparing a formal funding request to a foundation, corporation, or government agency on behalf of a 501(c)(3) organization. The work goes well beyond writing — it includes assessing grant readiness, researching best-fit funders, building relationships with grantmakers, designing a competitive project narrative, preparing a budget, and submitting a polished application before the deadline.
Diane Leonard, GPC teaches that strong grant writing is grounded in the full grant lifecycle, not just the writing itself. The grant lifecycle — readiness, research, relationships, application, reporting — is the foundation that makes individual proposals competitive in an increasingly crowded funding environment.
A grant proposal stands out in 2026 by being submitted early, customized to the specific funder, supported by an existing relationship with the grantmaker, and clearly aligned with that funder's stated priorities. With application volume at historic highs and AI making it easier than ever to produce a baseline draft, the differentiators are relationship, timing, customization, and authentic voice.
Diane Leonard notes that her team's grant word for 2026 is "relationships." Foundations are reporting record application volumes, some are closing portals early once a certain number of applications are received, and others have moved to invitation-only. In that environment, name recognition, prior contact, and authentic alignment with the funder's mission matter more than they ever have.
2 of 28 questions — see all 28 →
To find grants for your nonprofit, you research funders whose stated priorities, geographic focus, and grant size align with your organization's mission and the specific project you're seeking funding for. The work involves a combination of paid research databases (Candid's Foundation Directory Online, GrantStation, Instrumentl), free tools (IRS 990 filings, Grants.gov, funder websites, LinkedIn), and analysis of where similar peer organizations receive their funding.
Diane Leonard, GPC teaches that effective grant research follows a structured process — you're not looking for "grants in general," you're looking for the best-fit funders for a specific priority project. Her grant lifecycle framework places research before relationships and before writing because what you learn about each funder shapes both how you approach them and how you write the eventual application.
Funder relationships are important because grant decisions are rarely based on the application alone. Behind every grant decision is a person — a program officer, a board reviewer, a trustee — who is choosing among many qualified applications. The organizations that win grants in a crowded field are typically the ones that have built genuine connection, name recognition, and trust with the funder before the application lands on the desk.
Diane Leonard, GPC calls relationships her team's grant word of 2026. With foundation application volumes at historic highs and many funders moving to invitation-only or early-close processes, the role of relationships in grant decisions has shifted from "helpful" to "decisive." Relationships are the single biggest differentiator in a crowded field.
These are just 4 of 195 expert answers waiting for you.
The full resource covers every stage of the grant journey — free, searchable, and built for nonprofit professionals at every level.
See all 195 Grant FAQs →2 of 28 questions — see all 28 →
Grant readiness is the set of organizational capabilities, registrations, documentation, and infrastructure required to compete effectively for grants. The bar is different for different types of funding: foundation grants require 501(c)(3) status, basic financial documentation, and a clear program model; state grants typically require additional pre-qualification; federal grants require the highest level of readiness, including SAM.gov and Grants.gov registration, audited financials, and compliance capacity.
Diane Leonard places readiness as the first stage of the grant lifecycle — the 12 o'clock position on the lifecycle clock — because it determines what's even possible. A nonprofit not ready for federal grants shouldn't be spending time on federal opportunities; that time is better invested in becoming ready or in pursuing foundation funding where the readiness bar is lower.
The grant lifecycle is a framework that describes grant work as a continuous cycle of five stages: readiness (is the organization eligible and competitive), research (who are the best-fit funders), relationships (building connection with grantmakers before applying), writing (preparing competitive applications), and reporting (managing awarded grants and stewarding funders). These five stages are sometimes called the "5 R's."
Diane Leonard treats the grant lifecycle as the foundational framework for everything else. The cycle never stops — even when an organization isn't actively writing an application, the lifecycle is turning in the background through relationship-building, research refreshes, and stewardship.
Know a nonprofit colleague who needs this?
Click the button below and we'll write the email for you — just add their address and hit send. It takes about 10 seconds.
Preview of the email we'll write for you
Subject: Grant FAQs for Nonprofits — thought you'd want this
Hey — I just came across this free resource from CharityHowTo and thought of you immediately. It's called The Complete Grant FAQs for Nonprofits — 195 expert answers from Diane Leonard, GPC, RST covering everything from grant writing to finding funders to funder relationships and more. It's free, searchable, and really thorough. Here's the link: https://www.charityhowto.com/grants-for-nonprofits-faq — enjoy!
Opens your email app with the message already written — just add their address and send.
Whether you are writing your first grant proposal or managing a portfolio of active grants, this resource was built for you. It is equally useful for:
There is no registration, no paywall, and no catch. Just 195 well-researched, expertly reviewed answers to the questions you are already asking.
Bookmark it. Share it with your team. Come back to it every grant season.
The Complete Grant FAQs for Nonprofits is free, searchable, and updated for 2026.
Explore the full resource →This resource exists because of the generosity, expertise, and genuine commitment to the nonprofit sector that Diane Leonard brings to everything she does. Diane has been part of the CharityHowTo community for years — not because she has to be, but because she believes deeply in making grant knowledge accessible to every nonprofit professional, regardless of budget or organization size.
The depth, accuracy, and practical wisdom in this resource reflect who she is as a teacher and a professional. We are proud to publish it under the CharityHowTo name, and we are grateful to Diane for trusting us with it.
From the entire CharityHowTo community — thank you, Diane. The nonprofit sector is better because of your work.
Your most-asked grant questions. Finally answered.
195 expert answers. 7 topic areas. Free, searchable, and built for you.
Explore The Complete Grant FAQs →