Time Is Your Greatest Challenge: Grant Research for Small Nonprofits

August 4, 2026·By Jason Wells

One of the biggest lessons I've learned in more than eight years as the founder of a nonprofit is that time is your greatest challenge.

There is only so much of it.

You have time to serve your clients, time to raise funds, time to write grants, time to lead your team, time for your family, and hopefully a little time for yourself. The reality is that you can't do it all because there simply aren't enough hours in the day.

That's one of the reasons I joined the GrantSnag team to help develop the platform.

Getting your time back

GrantSnag gives nonprofit leaders something that's incredibly valuable—it gives them their time back.

Tasks that used to take me hours, days, or even weeks can now be completed during my lunch break with a simple search. When we're considering a new program or expanding an existing one, I can use the keyword search to instantly see what funding opportunities are available. If I want to know who else is doing similar work, I can run a peer search and identify organizations I can learn from or collaborate with. Information that once required days of research is available in seconds.

Affordable grant research for small nonprofits

The second reason GrantSnag is so valuable is its affordability.

Too many nonprofits have to raise money just so they can afford the tools needed to raise more money. I lived that reality.

When I founded Mechanics of Faith, I personally funded so much of the organization because we simply couldn't afford to hire a grant writer or purchase expensive grant software. For the first three years, pursuing grants often felt out of reach—not because there wasn't funding available, but because we didn't have the resources to find it efficiently.

GrantSnag changes that.

It removes the barrier between small nonprofits and grant funding. In many cases, I can research a funder, prepare a Letter of Inquiry, and submit it in about 25 minutes. Other times, I can complete all the background research before I ever bring in a grant writer, making their time far more productive and saving our organization money.

GrantSnag doesn't replace grant writers

GrantSnag doesn't replace grant writers—it empowers nonprofit leaders. It gives us the knowledge, the research, and the confidence to make smarter decisions while putting the power back into the hands of the organizations doing the work.

As someone who has spent years balancing ministry, family, fundraising, and running a nonprofit, I can honestly say that getting my time back has been one of the greatest gifts GrantSnag has given me.