Instrumentl’s AI-powered Apply tool helps you draft, refine, and align grant applications using your past proposals and real-time funder insights — all without leaving the platform.
Apply instantly surfaces relevant language from your uploaded documents to generate answer suggestions in your organization’s voice. Advisor then delivers real-time, funder-aligned refinements powered by 10+ years of Instrumentl data and 990 insights.
Watch the video below for a walkthrough, or follow the steps in the sections below to get started!
This feature is currently available to new customers or existing accounts upgrading to the Professional Plan, Advanced Plan, and some Enterprise and University plans.
Nonprofits: Professional Plan & above.
Consultants: To ensure your account is set up for success, please contact Instrumentl Support before upgrading to ensure Apply is configured correctly for client profiles. AI-enabled client profiles are those eligible to use Apply. Regular client profiles remain unlimited.
Professional Consultant Plan (3 AI-enabled client profiles included)
Advanced Consultant Plan (10 AI-enabled client profiles included)
Additional AI-enabled client profiles can be purchased as needed.
Note: Free trial accounts do not include Apply by default. View all features included on each plan tier here.
Why Use Apply?
91% of orgs managing $2M+ in grants now rely on AI — and now you can, too. Apply helps you:
Draft proposals using language from your strongest past applications
Align responses with funder priorities
Refine tone, structure, and clarity with AI-powered suggestions
Save time by keeping drafting, editing, and document management in one place
Together, these tools help you write stronger, funder-aligned proposals more efficiently.
1. Access your Application Form
Open a saved opportunity in your Tracker and navigate to the Funding Opportunity tab.
You’ll see one of the following options: Request Application, Start Application, or Continue Application:
Note:
For invite-only funders or custom grants not listed in Instrumentl, you can manually add a custom grant via your Tracker, or from a Funder's 990 Report using the +Add button.
Government grants are not available for use with Apply.
Request Application
If the application is not already created, you can click the Request application button to request it. Our team will upload it directly from the funder within two business days — no copying and pasting required.
We'll notify you once the application is uploaded, and then you can select "Start Application" to begin writing. Our AI Support Team will follow up with you directly if any additional clarification is necessary.
Start Application
This means the application is uploaded and ready to go! Click Start application to begin drafting.
Continue Application
If you’ve already started an application, you can click Continue application to pick up right where you left off.
By clicking the Request Application button, you'll automatically receive a confirmation when your application is created. All follow-up communications related to application requests will come directly from our dedicated AI Support Team at ai-support@instrumentl.com.
2. Upload Your Past Proposals
For the best results with the AI Grant Writing Assistant, we recommend uploading five or more strong past proposals in question-and-answer format. The AI scans these documents to learn your organization’s writing style and uses them as references to generate tailored recommendations and answer suggestions for each grant question.
The more comprehensive and relevant your uploaded proposals are to the programs you’re applying for, the stronger and more accurate the answer suggestions will be. Supported file types include .doc, .docx, and .pdf.
To add documents:
Select files from your Document Library
Or click Upload Additional Documents from within the application
Learn more about uploading documents here.
3. Start Writing
Use Answer Snippets and Advisor to draft, refine, and align your application with your organization’s goals and the funder’s priorities.
Answer Snippets
Use Answer Snippets to Build Your Draft
Once Apply has processed your uploaded documents, you’ll see the application and Answer Snippets displayed side-by-side:
The Application Form appears on the left (including questions, word counts, and required attachments).
Answer Snippets and AI Advisor appear on the right.
When you click on a question, Apply generates personalized suggestions based on your selected documents. These suggestions are tailored to the specific prompt and may include:
Direct excerpts from your proposals
AI-refined content
A combination of both!
Click Insert to place a snippet directly into the question field. Your draft saves automatically, so you can leave and return at any time.
You can also click Revise next to a snippet to open Advisor and refine that specific response before inserting it.
Advisor
Refine and Align Answers with AI Advisor
Advisor helps you strengthen and tailor your answers using AI, your uploaded documents, and real-time insights from Instrumentl’s database — including Form 990 data and grant-specific details that inform funder priorities.
Use Advisor to:
Align responses with funder priorities
Surface insights from a funder’s 990 or giving history
Pull or focus on key content from your uploaded documents
Strengthen structure, framing, tone, and clarity
You can access Advisor in two ways:
Click Revise next to an Answer Snippet to refine that specific suggestion.
Open Advisor directly beneath the Answer Snippets panel to ask questions or request edits.
Advisor performs best with clear, specific prompts. The more specific your prompt, the stronger and more tailored your results will be.
Example prompts:
Revise this answer to better align with the funder’s priorities and highlight our housing initiative.
Condense this section to under 1,000 characters while keeping key data points.
Use language from our [document name] document to strengthen this problem statement.
Based on the funder’s past grants, suggest a reasonable request amount and justify it.
Can you help reframe our [program] initiative to better align with this funder’s language and priorities, and suggest alternative phrasing where needed?
You can then drag and drop the revised answer directly into the question field, or copy/paste to add or replace content in your draft.
As you fill in your answers, you’ll also see smart writing prompts like Meet Word Count, Simplify, or Shorten when you hover over the question to help fine-tune your draft to meet formatting requirements.
At any point, you can select Manage Content at the top-right-hand corner of the screen to change your recommendations by selecting or adding additional documents for the AI to bring up results from.
4. Finalize and Submit to Funder
Once you've added in your responses, you can download your application using the Download button at the top right of the application page.
Share with collaborators for final review, then submit directly through the funder's portal according to their instructions.
Please note: Instrumentl does not submit applications to funders directly. You must download your application and submit the final version directly. Generally, this is done via the funder's grant application portal.
Use Your Proposal for Future Applications
After submitting your proposal, upload the final application directly to the associated opportunity or to your Document Library.
Saving your completed proposals helps Apply generate stronger responses in the future. The AI references these documents to learn from your most up-to-date language, data, and organizational information.
FAQs
How do I begin an application?
How do I begin an application?
Open the Opportunity in your Tracker
Updated your opportunity's Status to Planned or later
Navigate to the Funding Opportunity tab, and click Request Application, Start Application or Continue Application.
For more details, refer to the section above, titled Request or Start Application.
Can you retrieve applications that are invite-only or password-protected?
Can you retrieve applications that are invite-only or password-protected?
Yes! We will contact the funder directly to obtain access. If there are restrictions to obtaining the application, we will reach out to notify you. If you already have an official copy, please send it to us, and we'll prepare it for you.
What if I already have an application from the funder?
What if I already have an application from the funder?
If you already have the application directly from the funder or funder portal, great! You'll still select Request Application so our AI Support Team can build it —
However, you can contact our AI Support team to provide it as an attachment & let us know whether you already have an application ready (e.g., invite-only).
When our AI Support team follows up to confirm your application, you can also notify them if you've uploaded it & attached the document directly to the opportunity for reference. You can address any specific caveats as needed.
Are there any types of grants that the AI grant-writing tool is not compatible with?
Are there any types of grants that the AI grant-writing tool is not compatible with?
Please note that Government grant applications (i.e., public State and Federal grants) are not available for use with Apply AI recommendations.
Can I shorten answers by word count or character count?
Can I shorten answers by word count or character count?
When our team builds your application, we'll use the funder's listed requirements. E.g., If the funder has a character-based limit, then you'll have the option to shorten by characters.
Does Instrumentl send my Apply submissions to the funder?
Does Instrumentl send my Apply submissions to the funder?
No — While Instrumentl Apply makes it easy to draft your work, users must still submit all final applications directly to the funder. Once you complete your application with Apply, you can download the document and submit it per the funder's instructions.
However, Instrumentl makes the organization process easier by allowing you to store your funder portal credentials and save work in the Document Library!
Apply and Advisor are continuously improving as we expand functionality and refine AI performance. Stay tuned to see how Apply continues to strengthen your submissions!
Contact Us 
Email our AI Support team at ai-support@instrumentl.com with any questions around specific grant applications in Apply.
Otherwise, feel free to contact our friendly Support team with any general questions about the Apply feature! Message us via your account's chat messenger, or email us at hello@instrumentl.com.