The Queen of Grants 2: GrantTalk Secrets for the New Era of Grant Writing continues Libby Hikind's mission and continues The Queen of Grants series to help organizations strengthen their programs, expand their opportunities, and understand what truly supports successful funding. Drawing from decades of experience as CEO of GrantWatch and a retired grant writer and teacher, and more than fifty GrantTalk podcast interviews, Libby offers readers a clear and practical guide to navigating today's competitive grant landscape. Readers will walk away with practical strategies they can apply immediately to strengthen proposals, increase visibility, and compete effectively for funding.
Part I, GrantTalk Secrets, brings together insights from funders, grantees, nonprofit leaders, and subject-matter experts across the United States and Canada. Readers learn how decisions are made, what captures attention, and why strong proposals rise above the rest. This section covers program development, project design, needs statements, budgeting, evaluation, communication with funders, and the full grant lifecycle. It provides a comprehensive foundation for writing grants with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
Part II, Marketing and Visibility, explains why strong platforms must support strong programs. Libby guides readers through branding, social media strategy, content creation, blogging, trending topics, and podcasting. This section helps organizations increase recognition, communicate their mission, and stand out in a crowded funding environment.
Part III, The 20 Day Platform Challenge, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the GrantWatch team as they complete a full website refresh on a tight timeline. Through daily journals and reflections, readers see how ideas take shape, how obstacles are overcome, and how collaboration strengthens progress. This section provides a relatable model for teamwork, problem-solving, and organizational readiness.
Part IV, AI in Grant Writing, shows organizations, by example, when to change systems to work smarter. Libby introduces five new AI tools developed for GrantWatch subscribers and explains how the AI Grant Writing Tool and AI Grant Finder support research and drafting why and how the AI Grant Writing Tool and the AI Grant Finder can support grant search and drafting, how to use AI responsibly, and where human judgment and storytelling remain essential. She also describes how the AI Foundation Directory and Grant Recipient search were built from public data and 990 reports, which gives writers faster access to information and saves hours of research. The final section highlights innovations to the Grant Calendar.
The Queen of Grants 2 blends real stories, practical strategies, and forward-looking tools to help readers strengthen their platforms and succeed in a new era of grant writing.
Hikind, Libby: - Libby Hikind is widely known as the "Queen of Grants" and is the Founder and CEO of GrantWatch, a leading grant funding search engine serving nonprofits, businesses, educators, and institutions across the United States and Canada.Libby's professional journey began in special education within the New York City Department of Education, where she worked directly with students who required additional resources, adaptive tools, and individualized support. It was in this role that her path into grant writing first took shape. Faced with limited funding and growing classroom needs, Libby began seeking grants to secure technology, materials, and opportunities for her students. What started as a necessity quickly became an area of expertise.Over more than twenty nine years with the NYC Department of Education, Libby taught Business Careers, Entrepreneurship, and Computers at the intermediate school level, blending practical skills with real world applications. She later transitioned to elementary education, teaching across grade levels with a focus on balanced literacy. In addition to her classroom work, Libby authored balanced literacy curriculum for the NYC Department of Education, contributing to instructional frameworks that supported reading, writing, assessment, and student engagement.Libby's success in securing funding led her to district level work with the Brooklyn school district, where she won millions of dollars in grant funding in just two years. In 1994, she founded her first grant writing agency and launched NYCGrantsWatch, a weekly curated grant newsletter distributed to nonprofit organizations and institutions.In 2010, Libby founded GrantWatch, a platform designed for grant writers, organizational leaders, and board members. Today, GrantWatch features thousands of active grants across more than sixty categories and is supported by public data, IRS 990 reports, and recipient insights. The platform attracts more than 350,000 monthly visitors and is widely regarded as an industry leader. Libby is also the founder of GrantWriterTeam and the host of the GrantTalk podcast, where she shares candid conversations with funders, grant recipients, and nonprofit leaders.Libby is the bestselling author of The Queen of Grants: From Teacher to Grant Writer to CEO and the forthcoming The Queen of Grants 2: GrantTalk Secrets for the New Era of Funding. She is also the author of Organizing My Thoughts, Manifesting My Goals 2026, a planner journal focused on reflection, structure, and intentional achievement. In addition, she has written seven children's books: Ziva the Zebra Runs Away, Bailey Bullied Me: And I Am Kinder Now, Rikki Wants a Pet, Why Won't You Go to School, Kiki Kangaroo?, Twig Literacy, Mr. Squirrel's Spring Cleaning Lesson, and Why Won't You Fly, Sky?, along with accompanying activity and coloring books that emphasize values based education, kindness, compassion, and social emotional learning.Libby has been featured on television news segments, podcasts, and radio programs including Bloom TV and Lifestyle Today. She has been an invited guest speaker at nonprofit conferences, and her insights have appeared in Forbes, Inc., and Business Insider. She is a wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother and continues to teach, write, and build tools that help others turn ideas into opportunity.
