I recently attended the #LearnGrants Summit, and I walked away with pages of notes I knew I had to share with you. Over the next two newsletters, I’m breaking down the six mini-sessions  with the kind of practical, roll-up-your-sleeves wisdom that’s hard to find but easy to use.

This week: sessions on communication, discovery, and storytelling. Let’s dig in.This week: sessions on communication, discovery, and storytelling. Let’s dig in.

Session 1

The Retrospective: A Simple Tool for Continuous Improvement

Catherine Hooper · Encore Institute for Social Impact

Catherine opened the summit with something deceptively simple — a three-question framework called the Retrospective (or “Retro”). It’s not a new concept, but the way she positioned it as a cross-cutting communication tool for nonprofits hit differently.

The idea: after any program, grant cycle, event, or initiative, gather your team and ask three questions:

  1. What went well?
  2. What didn’t?
  3. What will we do differently next time?

That’s it. No lengthy debrief process. No consultant required. Just honest, structured reflection — done consistently — that compounds over time into a culture of learning.

💗 Love Note: Try it this month – Schedule a 30-minute Retro after your next grant submission or program wrap. You might be surprised what surfaces.

Session 2

7 Unique Ways to Find Grants (Beyond the Usual Databases)

Hannah Wiginton · Grant Frog

Hannah’s session was one of those “why didn’t I think of that?” moments. If your funder discovery strategy starts and ends with online grant directories, you’re leaving a lot on the table. She shared seven methods that most nonprofits aren’t using, but should be:

  1. IRS 990s, websites & annual reports: Find foundations that already fund organizations like yours
  1. Charitable trusts at financial institutions: Check JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, and others. Many publish who they manage trusts for
  1. Google & ChatGPT: Search for media announcements and giving news
  1. Membership & trade associations: Rotary, Kiwanis, fraternities and sororities often want to fund community impact
  1. Local corporations with foundations: Your Chamber of Commerce can point you in the right direction
  1. LinkedIn:  Search job titles like “Program Officer,” then filter by state using advanced search to identify foundation contacts
  1. Consensus AI:  An academic search engine which you can prompt like: “Private foundations that fund mental health in the US” (Bonus: great for pulling statistics and demographics too.)

💗 Love Note:: Pick one method from this list you’ve never tried and spend 20 minutes exploring it this week. Funders are out there — sometimes you just need a new lens to find them.

Session 3

Storytelling as Culture, Not a Task

Kristin Livingstone · Learning Lab Idaho

Kristin’s session reframed something I think a lot of nonprofit leaders struggle with: storytelling isn’t a marketing function you hand off to your communications person. It’s a cultural practice that has to be woven into how your whole organization operates.

She laid out a three-part framework:

  • Notice: Create awareness across your team so everyone starts recognizing impact moments when they happen. Think of it like suddenly seeing the car you just bought everywhere, once you’re looking, you can’t stop.
  • Circulate: Stories should move in all directions. EDs share with the board. Board members share with their networks. Have staff spotlight one story per month. To track, keep a simple spreadsheet with columns that track the story name, theme, and where it’s been used. One story, many channels.
  • Amplify: Change the lens when you adapt a story for different audiences. For example, vary the emphasis of the story, the data density, the length, and the call to action. But as Kristin put it: “We never change the truth, but we do change the lens.”

One important reminder: always get consent before sharing someone’s story (name, image, or likeness).

💗 Love Note: Start a story spreadsheet this week. Even five entries — story name, theme, and where you’ve used it — is a foundation you can build on.

Coming up next week: We’ll cover the final three sessions from the #LearnGrants Summit — including how to handle grant rejection without letting it derail your team, what “sustainability” really means for nonprofits, and the one distinction that will change how you measure and communicate impact. Don’t miss it.

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