Advisory for Canadian nonprofits
Your programs are strong. Your operating system isn't.
A 90-day advisory that untangles your systems, puts AI to work with guardrails your board can sign off on, and rebuilds your funder strategy around fit instead of volume.
No pitch deck, no pressure. If we're not the right fit, we'll say so on the call.
- Registered charities & nonprofits
- Ontario · National
- Built by grants-ease.ai
- Board-ready documentation
One source of truth
Everything your team pulls from, in one place
- Budgets
- Deadlines
- Case-for-support library
- AI workflows
- Grant history
- Reports
6 disconnected tools. Nothing talks to anything else.
The pressure
Demand is climbing. The dollars behind it are not.
2/3
of Canadian charities report they cannot meet the demand for their services.
−17%
decline in the share of Canadians claiming charitable donations over the past decade.
Source: CanadaHelps, The Giving Report 2026
Program data lives in three spreadsheets and one person's head.
Grant reporting takes two weeks that should take two days.
Every funder application starts from a blank document.
Staff are already using AI tools, quietly, with no policy behind them.
The CRM was set up for a version of the organization that no longer exists.
Impact is real, but the evidence for it is scattered.
The reframe
“You don't have a fundraising problem. You have a capacity problem that shows up on the revenue line.”
Most nonprofits respond to a funding squeeze by writing more applications. It's the visible lever, so it gets pulled. But more applications against the same operating system produces the same result more expensively: thin submissions, missed deadlines, and reporting that arrives late and light on evidence.
The organizations that pull ahead do something less obvious first. They fix the plumbing — where data lives, who owns it, how it moves. Then they add AI where it removes real hours, not where it looks modern. Then, and only then, they choose funders on fit and apply to fewer, better-matched opportunities.
That sequence is the whole method. Systems, then AI, then funder strategy.
The method
Ninety days, in four moves.
01
Weeks 1–2
Diagnostic
We map how work actually moves — tools, handoffs, data, reporting. You get a written read of where hours and dollars are leaking.
02
Weeks 3–5
Systems rebuild
One source of truth for programs and contacts. Fewer tools, clearer ownership, documented processes staff can follow without you.
03
Weeks 6–9
AI with guardrails
Two or three high-value AI workflows, plus a board-ready use policy covering privacy, consent, and review.
04
Weeks 10–13
Funder strategy
A ranked pipeline built on fit, a reusable narrative library, and a calendar your team can run on their own.
What you get
Eight artifacts you keep, whatever happens next.
A written operations diagnostic.
Where hours go, what each tool is actually doing, and the five changes with the highest return.
One consolidated data model.
Programs, participants, and funders in one structure your team agrees on.
Documented core processes.
Intake, delivery, and reporting written down so they survive staff turnover.
Two to three live AI workflows.
Built into real work — reporting drafts, case notes, application first passes.
A board-ready AI use policy.
Privacy, consent, human review, and vendor rules in language a board can approve.
A ranked funder pipeline.
Scored on fit, timing, and effort, with the long shots removed on purpose.
A reusable narrative library.
Core program, impact, and need language you stop rewriting every cycle.
A 12-month operating calendar.
Deadlines, reporting, and review points, owned by name and date.
Fit check
Honest about who this suits.
This is for you if
- You're a registered Canadian nonprofit or charity with at least one full-time staff member.
- Annual budget somewhere between $250K and $10M.
- Someone with authority — ED, DO, or board chair — will be in the room.
- You're willing to retire tools and habits that no longer earn their place.
- You want systems your team owns, not a consultant you have to keep.
This isn't for you if
- You need someone to write a single grant application by Friday.
- You're looking for the cheapest possible vendor.
- Leadership isn't aligned on whether change is happening at all.
- You want AI added to the website because it should be there.
- You're all-volunteer and pre-revenue — start with the free tools instead.
Engagements
Three ways in. Start wherever it's honest.
Diagnostic
$495
One-time · 2 weeks
A written read on where your operating system is costing you money.
- 90-minute working session
- Systems and data audit
- Written diagnostic memo
- Ranked list of five fixes
- Credited toward the roadmap
90-Day Roadmap
$4,500
or 3 × $1,600 · 13 weeks
The full engagement: systems, AI with guardrails, and funder strategy.
- Everything in the Diagnostic
- Consolidated data model and process docs
- Two to three live AI workflows
- Board-ready AI use policy
- Ranked funder pipeline and narrative library
- Biweekly working sessions
Ongoing Advisory
$950
per month · month to month
A standing second opinion once the roadmap is built.
- Monthly strategy session
- Async review of applications and reports
- Funder pipeline maintenance
- Policy and workflow updates
- Cancel any time
Questions
The things people ask first.
Steal our board-ready AI Use Policy template
The same document we hand to clients. Free, no follow-up sequence.
Who you'd be working with
Mina
I build the operating systems behind small and mid-sized Canadian nonprofits — the data models, the processes, the documentation nobody puts on a website but everyone depends on. Before this I spent a decade inside operations roles, watching good programs get held back by bad plumbing.
I also built grants-ease.ai, a funding-discovery tool used by Canadian nonprofits to find opportunities they actually qualify for. This advisory practice is the part software can't do: the decisions, the sequencing, and the uncomfortable conversation about what to stop doing.
I take a small number of engagements at a time, and I'll tell you plainly when the timing isn't right.
- Founder, grants-ease.ai
- BusinessPath Consulting
- Nonprofit operations since 2016
- Toronto, Canada
Start with 15 minutes.
One call, no deck. We'll look at where your organization actually is and tell you whether this work is worth doing right now.
Prefer email? Write to mina@grants-ease.ai.
Also available: live cohort training
Prefer to learn it with a group instead of 1:1?
A six-week, live online program pairing sound grant strategy with practical AI workflows, for Canadian nonprofits.
Co-facilitated by a former funder and an AI builder, the program helps fundraising teams strengthen their funding systems, improve proposal quality, and build AI skills they keep after it ends. The focus is winning the right grants, not sending more.
The Grant Foundation
Crack the Funder Code
AI Foundations
Mission Amplification
AI-Powered Workflows
Your AI-Enhanced Grant System
Format: Six 2-hour live online sessions, weekly, October 6 – November 10, 2026 (Wednesdays). Fully online, open to participants across Canada. Cohort of 15.
Waitlist
$1,000
Lock in the lowest rate
Early bird
$1,500
Until Sep 7, 2026
Standard
$2,000
Full registration
What's included
- Six months of post-program office hours with Sara and Mina
- Password-protected learning portal with session recordings
- Participant handbook + curated list of Alberta funders
- One-year grants-ease.ai subscription ($250 value)
- One-year Impact Insider subscription ($175 value)
- Certificate of completion
Led by Sara Stepa (Circles of Impact) — a former funder who teaches grant strategy from the funder's side of the table — and Mina Demian ( grants-ease.ai / Business Path) — 15+ years in nonprofit funding, building practical AI workflows for fundraising teams.
Not sure if you want 1:1 advisory or group training? The Advisory track above is built for organizations that want a dedicated strategist inside their systems. The Accelerator is a live, cohort-based training — same core method, taught alongside other nonprofits.