SESSION DESCRIPTION

Securing sustainable funding is essential for keeping free, live music thriving in communities nationwide. This 75-minute virtual workshop, led by fundraising expert Joanna Drew of Hilo Consulting, will provide practical strategies to strengthen your fundraising and grant writing efforts. Participants will explore the current funding landscape, assess grant readiness, and learn approaches to research, storytelling, proposal writing, and building strong budgets. The session will also highlight how AI tools can streamline fundraising work. Following the workshop, attendees will receive practical resources—including a grant readiness self-assessment, sample grant materials, and AI prompts—to support ongoing learning and organizational sustainability through effective fundraising.

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PRESENTER

Joanna Drew is a grants management consultant who works with international NGOs and US-based nonprofits, building organizational capacity to pursue grant funding successfully. Since founding Hilo Consulting in 2020, she has secured over $3.5 million in private foundation grants for clients including Global Fund for Women, Limitless Horizons Ixil, and Yamba Malawi, among others. In 2023, Joanna began working at the intersection of AI and Social Impact, with the belief that AI holds great promise to transform the field of impact. She has presented on AI at philanthropy and nonprofit conferences in Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul, and recently launched an AI for Social Impact Newsletter. In her leisure time, Joanna enjoys being in nature, reading, playing the ukulele, and spending time with loved ones.

Joanna holds a BSc in Business Administration from Boston University and an MA in International Development from the University of Kent Brussels School of International Studies. She is fluent in Spanish.