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Hi, friend! 👋

Question for you: how do you feel about going to the dentist?

I don't really mind it. In fact, if you follow me on LinkedIn, you might have seen that, apparently, I like to think of grant writing while in the dentist's chair. Who knew?

You can check out that post here. (Side note: if we're not connected on LinkedIn, we should be!)

Anyway...

Today, I'd like to talk about a tool I started using a few months ago: Grammarly.

You might have heard of it. It's been around for a while. I had known about it but it was only until I started writing content regularly (for you!) that I decided to try it.

According to its website, "Grammarly helps your ideas shine with instant writing guidance, delivered intelligently, whenever you need it." That's a pretty tall order. But it's not far from the truth. Here are some of the benefits I've seen using Grammarly.

• It catches mistakes you might miss. We all make typos and grammar errors, especially when writing something long or complex (like a grant). Grammarly acts like a copy editor, flagging misspelled words, punctuation mistakes, verb issues, and more. This ensures your writing is cleaner and more polished.
• It makes your writing clearer. Grammarly's suggestions go beyond basic errors too! The app looks at things like sentence structure, wordiness, and tone. Using it will make your writing easier to follow and understand, which is super important for grant reviewers.
• It helps you sound credible and persuasive. Proper grammar and clear writing make you seem polished and authoritative (just like I seem right now, right?). This helps trick convince people that you know your stuff. Basically, it helps you sound smarter.
• It's user-friendly. Grammarly is super simple to use. There are desktop and web apps that help you out whether you're writing in a Word doc or an email in your Gmail inbox. It catches issues and suggests fixes as you type. You just write like normal and let Grammarly do its thing.

Want to know my favorite thing about Grammarly though? It sends me a "Weekly Writing Update" that provides insights into my writing, including some of the tones it detected. I like to look at these because I want them to reflect how I'd like to come across to my readers, like you.

Here's part of my report from last week.

These are all ways I want to be perceived through my writing! (And if you disagree with any of them, please feel free to not email me and instead complain directly to Grammarly Support here.)

So, whether you're writing a grant proposal or an introductory email to a funder, consider using Grammarly. Your writing will be cleaner, clearer, and more convincing, which can really help you stand out!

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Kind regards,

Brandon Green, LMSW, GPC
www.brandongreenconsulting.com
bgreen@brandongreenconsulting.com

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Whenever you're ready, here are some ways I might be able to help you:

• Grant packet writing: Imagine having a template that can serve as a starting point for each grant you write. I can help you create that.
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• Grant reviewing: Want another set of eyes on your proposal? Send it my way and I'll give you feedback and coaching on how to improve your chance of being awarded.
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• Picking my brain: Have a burning grants question or situation you need some help thinking through? Schedule a 30-minute call and let's chat about it!
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• Coaching: Need more than 30 minutes? Want help building a grants system or working through a specific proposal? Reach out and let's see if one-on-one coaching might be a good fit for you.
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• Online courses: I'm working on a course focused on everything prospecting and I can't wait to share it with you! Stay tuned.

If you'd like to take advantage of any of these, just send me an email asking for more information.