Getting started

Set up your account

Choose Start your free trial on grantassembly.com, then sign up with your email address. Your first 14 days are a free trial of the Professional plan, and you don't need a payment method to start.

We email you to confirm your address. Choose Confirm my email in that email, or type its 6-digit code on the sign-up page. If you closed the page, lost the email or the code has expired, open Confirm your account: enter your email and the code, or choose Send me a new code.

The first time you sign in, GrantAssembly asks for an account name (your business or organization) and, if you like, your first and last name. It also asks Are you interested in applying for state or federal grants? Most small nonprofits start with foundations, so the answer starts at No, foundations only. Choose Yes if you also want state and federal grants. Each organization you set up starts with this answer, and you can change it for each one later. Tick the box to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, then choose Continue.

Next it asks one question: How will you use GrantAssembly?

• I'm a grant writer or consultant with multiple clients: you find, write and manage grants for other organizations. You get a Clients page with a card for each one.
• I'm looking for grants for my own organization: for a nonprofit, school, church or community group, with no grant experience needed. The top bar shows My organization instead of Clients, and it opens straight to your organization's page.

Then the steps for your first client, or your organization, open. The first one asks which documents you have, such as an IRS letter, W-9, Form 990 or SAM.gov registration. Add them and GrantAssembly fills in what they say, or choose Skip for now and answer the questions yourself. For your own organization, your account name is filled in for you. See Add a client.

Choose Do this later to skip it. You can change your answer any time in Account settings.

Your first three steps

The Home page shows a Getting started list that ticks itself off as you go:

1. Add a client. A client is an organization you write grants for. If you write grants for your own nonprofit, add it as your client. See Clients.
2. Choose what to look for. Add words that describe the work, like literacy or after-school, so GrantAssembly can recommend new grants that fit. See Recommended and match preferences.
3. Track a grant. Add a grant you want to pursue to Grants, so you can follow it from applying to a decision. See Grants.

Choose Hide to fold the list away. It comes back with Show getting started, and it folds itself once every step is done.

Finding your way around

The bar at the top of every page holds:

• Home: what's due this week and how your grants are going.
• Clients: the organizations you write grants for. If you're finding grants for your own organization, this is My organization, your own organization's page.
• Find: the places to look for new grants. It starts with Foundations. Recommended, Federal grants and State grants show too once a client plans to apply for government grants (see Government grants on the client page).
• Grants: the grants you're working on.
• Calendar: every deadline in one place.
• The bell: Alerts, with a count when something needs your attention.
• The question mark: help for the page you're on.
• The gear: Account settings, including email and billing.

Most pages have a Client menu next to the page title. Pick one client to see only their grants, or All clients to see everyone's. Under All clients, lists are grouped by client, and each group has a Show only this client link.

If you're finding grants for your own organization, there's no Client menu, lists aren't grouped, and pages say "your organization" instead of "client". The daily email does the same.

The address in your browser keeps your place, so Back, refresh and bookmarks work, and you can send a link to a grant or client to a colleague who signs in to the same account.

Some grant words, like NOFO or 990-PF, have a dotted blue underline. Point at one, or tap it, to see what it means. When the help center explains it, the note links to that article. Only the first one on each page is underlined.