A few years ago, if you’d asked a charity CEO if a robot could write their next funding application, you’d have been politely shown the door (or invited to the boardroom for an urgent wellness check). But here we are in 2025, and artificial intelligence is drafting everything from poetry to policy papers – and yes, grants too. The temptation is real: press a button, get a perfectly written grant application. Or… do you? 

AI, like a well-meaning intern on an espresso drip, can churn out coherent text in seconds. It’s confident, articulate, and (most dangerously) sounds like it knows what it’s talking about. But behind the smooth sentences lies a simple truth: the writing is only half the job. Possibly even less than that. 

At Yellow Harbour, where we live and breathe this stuff, we estimate that crafting a strong application involves 30–50% writing. The real work? It’s in the behind-the-scenes graft – the digging, the data-chasing, the deadline-wrangling. Collating documentation. Completing fiddly online portals that crash if you so much as sneeze. And then there’s the bit where you explain your budget in such granular detail that even your accountant questions your life choices. 

What AI doesn’t do (yet): 

-Call your treasurer to chase a late set of accounts 

-Unpick three slightly different versions of your mission statement 

-Soothe a staff member’s nerves about their job title being listed on a public application 

-Translate buzzwords like “innovative outcomes” into actual, funder-friendly impact 

And that’s just Ireland. Across the developed world – from Canada to New Zealand – the nonprofit sector is reporting similar experiences. AI tools can accelerate the drafting process, yes. But the top-performing organisations are still those who combine smart tools with smart humans – the ones who know what funders actually want, how to package complex projects simply, and how to manage the not-so-glamorous grind of submission admin. 

So should your charity use AI for grant writing? By all means – dip in, explore, experiment. But don’t fall for the illusion that a shiny paragraph equals a strong application. The AI can help you write it – but it won’t help you win it. 

If your goal is to secure more grants this year (and who’s isn’t?), maybe it’s time to think less about the tech you’re using – and more about the team you’ve got on the job. A good grant writer won’t just make you sound good. They’ll make sure what you submit is actually good enough to fund. 

Because ultimately, funding applications aren’t about words. They’re about trust, clarity, and making it easy for someone to say yes. 

Now, here’s the million-euro question – do you think this article was written by a robot or a human?