Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Massachusetts Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office yesterday launched an artificial intelligence-powered tool to help communities find and apply for grants.
GrantWell is intended to help municipal and nonprofit leaders in Massachusetts find funding sources, save time and capacity, and help to level the playing field for communities seeking to advance their priority projects.
GrantWell was developed by the Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office in partnership with Northeastern University’s Burnes Center for Social Change.
GrantWell allows communities to:
• Find funding opportunities
• Scan and summarize grant requirements, eligibility criteria, and application deadlines
• Generate a draft project narrative to kickstart the grant-writing process
• Use an AI chatbot to ask questions relating to grant eligibility and requirements
GrantWell was developed with community input from across the state, and users can provide feedback on the GrantWell homepage, which will help the office further improve the tool over time.
The Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office said it has heard consistently from communities across the state that they lack the time and capacity to seek out and apply for funding opportunities. GrantWell seeks to change that.
The office points out that GrantWell is designed to support grant-writers and municipal staff, but it does not replace the grant-writing process.
GrantWell complements existing efforts at the state level to streamline the process for applying to state grants, including the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Grant Central portal, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs ECO One Stop, and the Community One Stop for Growth program.