Grant Ready Kentucky

06/08/2026

Girl Scouts of Kentucky's Wilderness Road transformed their grant strategy after working with a Grant Ready Kentucky coach, jumping from $150,000 in grant funding over a full year to $250,000 in just the first three months. With a sharper case for funders and a mindset of "uncommon persistence," CEO Susan Douglas (pictured here celebrating Girl Scouts’ 114th birthday with a troop at the Kentucky Capitol) is making sure cost never stands between a girl and a life-changing experience.

Check out the story at grantreadyky.org/about/impact/helping-girl-scouts-play-the-long-game-of-grant-seeking!

06/03/2026

Does your organization struggle to find Kentucky-specific data for grant applications? Kentucky Center for Statistics, the state's official statistical agency, has you covered. KYSTATS publishes county-level data on unemployment, wages, workforce trends, education outcomes, and more.

Our latest resource explains how grantseekers can use this free state resource to back up their needs statements, localize data to their service area, and set strong targets for outcomes and objectives. Check it out at grantreadyky.org/learn/resources/kystats-for-grantseekers!

05/29/2026

We have exciting news to share: several Grant Ready Kentucky clients recently received Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission grant awards, including A New Beginning For Women and Children, Lifeline Recovery Center, and The Support Agency (pictured here at a proclamation signing for Older Americans Month in Cave City).

Together, the clients we worked with on this opportunity secured more than $1.2 million in funding to advance their work in mitigating the opioid crisis across the Commonwealth. We're honored to support organizations on the front lines of this work. Congratulations to all of this year's recipients!

05/26/2026

Ready to bring USDA funding to your rural community? Join us on June 9 for a free webinar about the USDA Rural Business Development Grant, a competitive federal grant program supporting economic development and job creation in rural communities. Participants will learn how to navigate the grant program, from identifying eligible projects to assembling a winning application. Walk away knowing exactly how grants are scored, what to avoid, and how to put your community on the path to economic growth.

Learn more and register at grantreadyky.org/trainings/RBDG-webinar

05/22/2026

Winning a grant is a milestone worth celebrating, but what comes next is just as important as the proposal that got you there. Funders want to see that organizations can manage funds responsibly, track progress accurately, meet deadlines, and deliver real impact. Every grant managed well builds that confidence, and every missed deadline or missing document erodes it.

The good news is that many of the most common grant management problems are preventable. Missed reporting deadlines, disorganized files, unclear staff roles, budget confusion, and undocumented handoffs during staff transitions are all challenges that strong systems can address before they become problems.

Our newest resource covers the practical steps to put those systems in place (and it even includes templates to help nonprofits get started!). Check it out at grantreadyky.org/learn/resources/how-to-build-a-grants-management-process.

05/18/2026

Did you know that Grant Ready Kentucky maintains a grant opportunities page designed specifically for Kentucky-based organizations? Every listing is hand-curated to make sure it's actually relevant to organizations in the Commonwealth, so you can spend less time searching and more time applying.

Head to grantreadyky.org/opportunities to explore opportunities that are open right now. (Just keep in mind this is a curated selection and not an exhaustive list of every available opportunity out there.)

05/11/2026

Next up in our 2025 Annual Report sneak peek is our facilitation pillar—work that may be less visible but is foundational to our mission. Beyond helping communities pursue funding, Grant Ready Kentucky works tirelessly to improve the systems that determine who can access that funding in the first place. Scroll through for some of our facilitation highlights from 2025, and be sure to check out the full report when it’s published for all the details.

05/09/2026

Grant Ready Kentucky was highlighted as a national model in The Pew Charitable Trusts’ May 2026 report on state responses to federal funding challenges. The report highlights how our work helps rural and low-capacity Kentucky communities access federal funding opportunities. Check out the feature at https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2026/05/how-states-are-tackling-the-challenges-of-managing-federal-funds.

Grants from the federal government represent a significant but often overlooked part of state budgets. In state fiscal year 2023, federal funds were the second-largest source of state revenue, after tax collections, accounting for 36% of the 50 states’ combined total revenue.

05/08/2026

We're thrilled to welcome Sarah Diamond Burroway to our team as our newest grant coach! With a career record of securing and managing more than $67 million in public and private awards, Sarah brings deep expertise across higher education, workforce development, public health, and social entrepreneurship. She has partnered with nonprofit, private sector, and community-based organizations and is known for her collaborative approach and commitment to relationship-based philanthropy.

Learn more about Sarah and book a coaching call (now or any time!) with her at https://www.grantreadyky.org/coaches/sarah-diamond-burroway.

05/06/2026

Next up in our 2025 Annual Report sneak peek is our education pillar. Through in-person workshops, virtual events, and hands-on trainings, our education team worked tirelessly in 2025 to help communities across the Commonwealth build the capacity, confidence, and connections needed to pursue funding and move local priorities forward.

Scroll through for some of the highlights, and stay tuned as we continue our 2025 Annual Report sneak peek!