Grant Hunting With AI: Stop Scrolling, Start Funding Your Projects

Tutorials & Methods
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Grant Deadline Tracker + Pitch Writer + Money Finder = This Bot :money_with_wings::woman_detective:

One-line flow:
You say what you need money for → bot searches real grants → bot writes the pitch → bot sets reminders → you just show up and apply.

:roll_of_paper: Dumb Dictionary (So You Don’t Have To Google Stuff)

Read this once, park it in the back of your brain, done.

  • Grant
    Free money you don’t have to pay back, if you follow the rules and actually do what you promised.

  • Grants.gov
    The official US government website where a huge chunk of grants live. Boring UI, serious money.

  • API
    A secret robot door where apps talk to each other. You don’t see it. The bot uses it for you.

  • Endpoint
    A specific URL the bot hits to ask: “Got any grants for this topic?”

  • Retry / 5x Retry
    When the government site throws a tantrum, the bot tries again (up to 5 times) instead of giving up like a human.

  • Gemini 2.0 Flash
    Google’s AI brain that writes the 150-word pitch. Fast, decent, doesn’t ask for coffee breaks.

  • Simpler.Grants.gov
    Newer, cleaner version of the grants system with a nicer API and its own keys. Think “grants.gov, but less dusty.”

  • Login.gov
    One login for multiple US gov services. You use it to get your Simpler.Grants API key.

  • MCP (Model Context Protocol)
    A standard that lets tools (like this grant bot) plug into AI chat apps in a clean way.

  • Claude Desktop
    A desktop app where you chat with Claude (an AI), and it can call tools like this grant bot behind the scenes.

  • Docker
    A “box” that holds an app so it runs the same on any machine. Like shipping your program in a container instead of loose wires.

  • Foundation Directory Online
    A giant database of private foundations that give grants. Paid normally, but free if you use it at many public libraries.

If a word shows up later and your brain goes “huh?”, the translation is probably hiding up here.

:money_with_wings: What This Thing Actually Does (Plain Human Version)

Grant Hunter is a money radar for:

  • Projects
  • Students
  • Founders
  • NGOs
  • Creators
  • Random genius ideas that need cash

It does the annoying stuff for you:

  • Finds real grants based on simple words you type

    “mental health app”, “women in tech”, “rural school”, “AI education”

  • Throws away junk, sorts by deadline, shows what’s actually worth checking

  • Writes a short pitch (~150 words) that doesn’t sound like it was written in pain

  • Drops email drafts + calendar reminders into your Google world so you don’t miss the deadline

You’re not learning “grant strategy”.
You’re just pressing “find money / write pitch / remind me”.

:exploding_head: Why This Is Silently Overpowered

This quietly fixes like 5 problems at once:

  • No more doom-scrolling ugly government sites for hours

  • No more “How do I even start writing this?” stress at 1:30am

  • No more “Oh shit, the deadline was yesterday” moments

  • You finally have a repeatable way to go after free money for:

    • Startup or app ideas
    • Research, student, or academic work
    • Community projects / NGOs / social good
    • Creative / content projects / experiments

It’s like having a slightly obsessed assistant whose whole job is:

“Find free money and bug me nicely before the deadline.”

:video_game: How You Actually Use It (Zero-Skill Mode)

:one: Button One: “Find Me Money”

You tell it:

  • What you’re doing

  • Some simple keywords

    “clean energy for villages”, “AI tool for teachers”, “mental health chatbot”, “STEM for girls”

Behind the scenes it:

  • Talks to the official grant systems:

    • https://api.grants.gov (live money)
    • https://api.staging.grants.gov (test / usually calmer)

  • Uses the “robot door” (API) that doesn’t need login

  • Tries up to 5 times if the site is slow, broken, or moody

  • Gives you a clean list: ID, title, agency, deadline, status

You see something like:

“Here are 7 open grants.
This one closes in 12 days.
This one matches clean energy + AI.
This one is more for universities, skip it.”

You pick the ones that look juicy.

:two: Button Two: “Write My Pitch”

You give it:

  • Your project or startup name
  • What you’re actually doing
  • Which grant you want to target

It then:

  • Uses Gemini 2.0 Flash (Google’s AI)

  • Writes a tight, ~150-word pitch using a simple 3-step shape:

    1. Problem now – what’s broken or painful
    2. What you’re doing – your idea / tool / project
    3. Why it matters – who it helps and how

That shape is what makes the pitch sound serious without being cringe.

If the AI has a bad day, there’s a backup template, so you never stare at an empty document.

You just:

  • Read it
  • Fix any details you don’t like
  • Add your real numbers / story
  • Done.

:three: Button Three: “Don’t Let Me Miss This”

Once you like a grant, this part can:

  • Create a Gmail draft for that application or outreach
  • Drop a Calendar event on the exact deadline with reminders

It uses temporary access, doesn’t keep your secrets, and doesn’t stuff your logs with personal info.

Your life becomes:

  • Inbox: “Hey, this is the grant email.”
  • Calendar: “Submit this before midnight, or regret it tomorrow.”

:firecracker: Hidden Upgrade: The New Gov Door (Simpler.Grants)

Right now, it mainly uses the classic grants.gov API.

But there’s a stronger twist:

  • There’s a newer system called Simpler.Grants.gov
  • You can get an API key yourself here:
    :backhand_index_pointing_right: https://simpler.grants.gov/developer
  • They have a public roadmap here:
    :backhand_index_pointing_right: https://simpler.grants.gov/roadmap

What this means for you (or your dev friend):

  • You can fork or extend the bot so it:

    • Uses both grants.gov and Simpler.Grants
    • Has backup if one system is down
    • Covers more grant types over time

Today: handy grant bot.
Tomorrow: your own personal funding radar station.

:books: Bonus Free Helpers (If You Want Extra Edge)

These are external helpers you can stack on top:

Library cheat code:
Many public libraries give free in-library access to Foundation Directory Online.
With just a library card, you can search huge private grant databases without paying.

:brain: For Tech / AI Friends (Optional, You Can Skip)

If you like tools + AI chat:

  • Grant Hunter speaks MCP, so it can plug into AI tools like Claude Desktop

  • In Claude Desktop:

    • Open Settings → Developer → Edit Config
    • Add the grant bot using the provided mcp_definition.yaml

  • Then inside chat you can type things like:

    • “Find grants for a rural telehealth app.”
    • “Write a pitch for this specific grant.”
    • “Create Gmail draft + Calendar reminder.”

There’s also a Docker MCP Toolkit inside Docker Desktop:

  • Open Docker Desktop
  • Search “MCP Toolkit”
  • Use it to hook Claude ↔ grant bot without hand-editing JSON by yourself.

If that sounds like black magic, ignore this section. The main money flow still works without any of this.

:chequered_flag: Summary

This is a “find real grants → auto-draft pitch → auto-remind you before deadline” machine so normal people can go after serious funding without becoming full-time grant nerds.

Set it up once.
Let it hunt in the background.
Use your brain energy on what to build with the money, not “where do I even find it?” :money_with_wings:

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