Hiding in Plain Sight: The AI Mistakes That Sink Grant Proposals
AI's mistakes often sound true. Here's how to catch them before a funder does
Wrong writing that sounds wrong is easy to catch. Wrong writing that sounds excellent gets submitted.
Grant writers everywhere are using AI to move faster: summarizing NOFOs, analyzing budgets, drafting narratives. The speed is real. So is the risk. One fabricated statistic, or one real source that doesn’t say what your draft claims it says, can cost you a relationship you spent years building.
And most of us are doing this without a net. In NTEN and Bridgespan’s 2026 survey, fewer than one in three nonprofit staff (32%) had received formal AI training in the past year, and 53% had used AI for work informally or outside their organization’s guidance.
Join Carolyne Hevesi, a certified grant writer and nonprofit consultant who has used AI to help submit 100+ proposals worth more than $5 million, for a working session on catching AI’s mistakes before funders do. You’ll leave knowing what a confabulation is (and why it’s sneakier than a hallucination), the four things to protect every time AI touches a proposal, and the 60-second check she runs before anything leaves her desk.
This is a time of change, and we´re here to share what is working with real tips from a real grant writer.
What We’ll Cover
• Where AI genuinely saves grant writers time, and where it can’t (and shouldn’t) help
• What a confabulation is, why it’s sneakier than a hallucination, and how to catch one
• The four things to protect every time AI touches a proposal: accuracy, voice, confidentiality, and your judgment
• The 60-second, four-question check Carolyne runs before anything leaves her desk
• The human-checkpoint workflow she uses on every proposal, including the parts she still does by hand
PLUS A live poll so you can see how your organization’s AI training compares with your peers!
This free session has been made possible in partnership with CharityHowTo´s new marketplace where we are proud to have Carolyne´s top resources to help your nonprofit do more in less time. Check out her Grant Readiness Self-Audit to go further. Check it out now.
Carolyne Hevesi is a certified grant writer, nonprofit consultant, and founder of First Light Grants. She spent more than 15 years in various helping fields – from classrooms and addiction treatment to community health – before being voluntold into grant writing and discovering she was weirdly good at it. Since May 2024, Carolyne has used AI to develop and submit +60 proposals worth more than $4 million across new and renewed funding opportunities. Carolyne brings equal parts strategy, curiosity, and healthy skepticism to her work; she believes technology should make nonprofit professionals more capable – not just busier. When she isn’t chasing deadlines, she can usually be found dancing at a loud concert, experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen, or negotiating over treats with her French bulldog Mando.