https://www.thecooconsultant.com/blog/ Notes on nonprofit operations, fractional COO work, and grant funding from Paul Hudak. en-us Fri, 16 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT https://www.thecooconsultant.com/blog/can-chatgpt-write-a-winning-grant.html https://www.thecooconsultant.com/blog/can-chatgpt-write-a-winning-grant.html Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT I use AI in grant work daily, so this is not a warning from someone who has not tried it. The honest version: what AI genuinely speeds up, the four things it will quietly get wrong, and why most rejected applications never lost on the writing in the first place. https://www.thecooconsultant.com/blog/grant-writing-mistakes-that-get-applications-rejected.html https://www.thecooconsultant.com/blog/grant-writing-mistakes-that-get-applications-rejected.html Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Most rejected applications did not lose on the prose. They lost points against a rubric nobody read, on a budget that contradicted the narrative, or on documentation that was not what the funder meant by proof. The mistakes that actually cost money, including the one that happens after you win. https://www.thecooconsultant.com/blog/how-to-find-and-vet-a-grant-writer.html https://www.thecooconsultant.com/blog/how-to-find-and-vet-a-grant-writer.html Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Nobody asks how to find a grant writer. They ask how not to get burned by one. Where the good ones actually come from, the five questions that separate a professional from a good talker, the four red flags worth walking away over, and the contract terms that protect you. https://www.thecooconsultant.com/blog/what-it-costs-to-hire-a-grant-writer.html https://www.thecooconsultant.com/blog/what-it-costs-to-hire-a-grant-writer.html Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT The three ways grant writers charge and when each one is right, the ranges you will actually see quoted, the seven factors that move your number up or down by a multiple, and the largest cost in the whole arrangement, which is not the invoice. https://www.thecooconsultant.com/blog/what-does-a-fractional-coo-do.html https://www.thecooconsultant.com/blog/what-does-a-fractional-coo-do.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT The direct answer, with real engagements attached: the first 30 days, a CalAIM funding stream found inside an operations review, the federal reporting mess we reconstructed, what it costs, and the three situations where I turn the work down.