Picture this: the grant deadline is in 48 hours. Your heart is racing, your inbox is a graveyard of unanswered pleas, and you’re still waiting on a budget breakdown, an updated program description, and that one elusive staff bio written in something resembling human English.
Sound familiar?
If you’ve been in the grant-writing game for more than five minutes, you already know the real bottleneck isn’t your writing skills. It’s chasing down late or lousy input from your own teammates. And while it feels personal, it’s not. It’s systemic—and surprisingly fixable.
The Ugly Truth: No One Cares as Much as You Do
Most grant writers are shocked when they realize that the people they rely on—program managers, finance staff, directors—aren’t intentionally trying to sabotage the grant. They’re just… busy. Or skeptical. Or burned out. Or convinced the grant won’t be funded anyway, so why bother?
You might think the solution is better communication. Or tighter deadlines. Or calendar invites and stern reminder emails. Or maybe a little public shaming in the next staff meeting. (“Just circling back on that data request I sent three weeks ago…again.”)
None of that works.
Here’s why: the people you’re depending on don’t need the grant to happen. Not the way you do. They’re not being judged on the quality of their input—or the timing of it. To them, supporting your grant writing effort is just another thing on a long list of things. And if the grant fails, guess who gets the blame? (Spoiler: not them.)
Why Threats, Deadlines, and Pep Talks Fail
Let’s say you tell your team, “If I don’t have your section by Thursday at 2pm, we can’t submit.”
They shrug. Great. Problem solved. Now they don’t have to do anything.
Or you spend hours slicing their task into smaller pieces, designing cute checklists and templates to “make it easier.” Still no dice.
Or you hold a meeting to “align expectations.” They nod. Smile. Then ghost you.
You’re not alone. Every experienced grant writer has been here. And those same seasoned pros know something most newcomers don’t: you’re not going to change people’s behavior with logic, deadlines, or guilt.
You have to work around it.
The Winning Move: Do Their Work for Them
It sounds outrageous, right? You already have too much on your plate. Now you’re supposed to write their sections too?
Yes. That’s exactly what you do.
Not because it’s fair. But because it works.
Great grant writers don’t wait for perfect input. They recycle past proposals, snag bios from LinkedIn, and mine old annual reports and budgets to pre-write the missing pieces. They draft the program description based on what was submitted last year. They guess at the logic model based on what makes sense. They cobble together a rough version of the financials. And then—only then—do they send it back to the original owner with a simple ask:
“Hey, I took a stab at this. Can you review and approve by Tuesday?”
Magic.
Now you’re no longer asking someone to start from scratch. You’ve removed the hardest part: the blank page. All they have to do is react. And most people are much better at editing than writing. Suddenly, they’re engaged. They make a few tweaks. Hit “Reply.” You’re done.
Why This Works Like a Charm
This approach short-circuits the #1 reason people stall: writer’s block. Even the most articulate professionals freeze up when asked to write something formal or funder-facing. But give them a draft to improve? They’re in.
It also neutralizes the skeptics. When people see progress already being made, they’re more likely to jump on the bandwagon. You’ve lowered the activation energy.
And finally, it gives you control. You’re no longer waiting on anyone to move forward. You’re driving the bus—and you’ve built a route that doesn’t get stuck in traffic.
What Not to Do
Don’t report them to the boss. Don’t keep a “paper trail” of unanswered requests like you’re building a case file. Don’t drop passive-aggressive hints during staff meetings. These strategies aren’t just ineffective—they make you look petty and powerless.
The Real Takeaway
In the real world, your success as a grant writer depends less on your writing skills and more on your improvisation skills. Learn to adapt. Anticipate the roadblocks. Do the work before it gets handed to you. And then make it easy for others to say, “Looks good—approved.”
You’ll save yourself hours of stress, thousands in lost revenue, and—most importantly—your sanity. So stop chasing. Start drafting.