GrantWatch Academy
Training for grant professionals and fundraisers, taught by practitioners - built for the world AI already changed.
GPC (GPCI) and CFRE International continuing education review in progress.
Why this matters now
AI can draft grant language in seconds. What it can't do is tell you whether a need is real, whether a funder is actually the right fit, or how to keep a budget honest once the money lands. Grant writing itself is increasingly commoditized - which means a grant professional's real, durable value now sits in donor relationships, fundraising strategy, and judgment. That's the gap GrantWatch Academy is built to close.
Why skill still matters when everyone has AI
An artist with a trained eye gets exactly what they want out of an AI image tool - the right composition, the right mood, the right details - because they know what to ask for and how to judge the result. Someone without that eye gets something generic back. AI grant-writing and fundraising tools work the same way. A trained professional directs the tool toward genuinely persuasive, accurate work. Someone without that training gets competent-looking output that misses what actually matters. The tool is the same either way. The skill is what changes the outcome - and that skill is exactly what this program teaches.
The curriculum
Thirty-one sessions across three connected tracks.
Grant Writing Core
Finding and matching funders, organizational and mission fit, program design, persuasive grant construction, ethics and post-award management, and PMF - Passion, Maps, and Folders, Libby Hikind's own methodology from The Queen of Grants.
Donor & Fundraising Management
Donor data and prospect research, case-for-support and solicitation strategy, major gifts and capital campaigns, donor cultivation and stewardship, volunteer program management, and nonprofit leadership.
Live Practice
Five Peer Review Workshops - one for each specialty badge - plus board building, unsolicited letters of inquiry, serving as a peer reviewer and mentor, and post-award relationship management.
Every session is taught inside the GrantWatch platform itself - GrantWatch Intelligence, drawing on over 5M organization profiles to power live funder and donor searches, the Grant & Donor Prospecting Dashboard, the 12-Stage Grant Funding Pipeline and Donor Prospecting Pipeline, the GrantWatch CRM, and the GrantWatch Sample Grants Library - so you're learning the same tools you already use, not a generic simulation of them.
Ways to show what you've learned
Continuing education points, once a session is formally approved, are earned automatically just by attending live or watching the replay - no badge required. The badges below are GrantWatch's own way to show your work, on top of any CE credit.
Attended badge
Free, no submission required, shareable on LinkedIn.
Peer Reviewed specialty badges
Attend a dedicated live Peer Review Workshop, draft a real document, and complete a structured review exchange with three peers against an instructor rubric. Choose one, several, or all five:
Pricing
Enrolling takes an active GrantWatch MemberPlus+ membership, plus a separate $25/week Academy subscription.
Active GrantWatch MemberPlus+ membership
Required to enroll.
GrantWatch Academy access
Renews automatically each week until you turn it off. The weekly charge covers your enrollment, not attendance at any specific live call - a missed session isn't refundable for that week.
Enrollment isn't open yet. Join the waitlist and we'll let you know the moment it does.
Teach with us
We're recruiting founding instructors now - for sessions across both the grant-writing and fundraising tracks. (PMF is taught personally by Libby Hikind and isn't an open slot.)
Read the full call for instructorsFrequently asked questions
Is GPC/CFRE continuing education credit guaranteed?
Do I need a badge to get continuing education credit?
What if I can't make a session live?
Do I need a GrantWatch membership to join the Academy?
Can I earn more than one Peer Reviewed badge?
What is PMF (Passion, Maps, and Folders)?
Stay in the loop
Be the first to know when enrollment opens.