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Grant Guru

For: Nonprofit organizations and grant writers

Buildability

The Problem

Grant applications are extremely time-consuming and complex, causing many nonprofits to avoid applying or give up mid-process

The Solution

AI-powered grant proposal generator that matches foundation language styles and automates proposal creation

Why Now?

Large language models can now effectively mimic writing styles and generate coherent long-form content

Build MVP in 7 Days

Day 1

Scrape 100 winning grant proposals from public sources

Day 2

Build Django app with 5-question intake form

Day 3

Create style transfer templates for common grant types

Day 4

Generate DocX output with cover letter and budget table

Day 5

Test with 3 arts nonprofits

How to Validate

Survey nonprofits about grant writing pain points and budget
Manually write grant proposal for test organization
Post in nonprofit Facebook groups about grant writing challenges
Interview grant writers about their process and pricing

Revenue Model

$149 per proposal or $99/month unlimited subscription, 20% affiliate commissions to grant coaches

Competitive Moat

Proprietary database of winning proposals and style transfer algorithms trained on successful applications

Risks to Consider

Foundations may discriminate against AI-generated proposalsGrant requirements may be too varied for effective automationNonprofit budgets may be too limited for premium pricingRegulatory concerns about AI in official applications