The Grant Writer’s Digital Toolkit for Writing, Researching, Creating & Collaborating

April 13, 2026

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The traditional grant writer’s toolkit used to consist of a core set of tools: Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and Adobe Pro. Things have changed, and nonprofits and grant writers have many options for writing, sharing, designing, and collaborating beyond Microsoft and Adobe. We’ve profiled several options below, all produced by companies based outside the United States.

For grant writers, the apps below can be used to organize your background research, write and share notes and drafts, create graphics and tables, and create and edit PDFs. In the second part of this series, we’ll share alternatives to Microsoft and Google for documents and spreadsheets.

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PDF Editors

Grant writers work regularly with PDFs. They download and read PDFs during the background research phase and convert MS Word documents to PDFs prior to submission. Adobe Pro is the gold standard for working with PDFs, but several other PDF editors come close to offering Adobe Pro’s functionality. Two robust PDF editors, Soda and PDF Expert, are profiled below.

Soda 🇨🇦

Soda includes AI-powered features, can create, edit, and convert PDFs, and is accessible on any device. Windows users can access Soda online or through a desktop version. For those using tablets, smartphones, or Macs, Soda can be accessed online. Soda offers a free version that provides access to the tool’s core features, though it is limited to two files per day. Soda Pro is $7.40/month billed annually.

Features:

• Summarize PDFs

• Translate PDF documents

• Create & convert PDFs

• Edit texts & images

• Annotate & review PDFs

• Search PDFs via Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

• Create forms

• Protect PDFs with 256-bit encryption-level passwords

PDF Expert 🇺🇦

PDF Expert is a PDF editor for Apple devices. It includes similar AI features to Soda that allow you to summarize or translate a PDF. PDF Expert offers a free 7-day trial. It can be downloaded from the PDF Expert website or the App Store. PDF Expert has a weekly ($4.99/week), yearly ($1.53/week), and lifetime ($139.99/one-time payment) options.

Features:

• Edit PDFs

• Annotate PDFs

• Markup & take notes

• Convert PDFs

• Sign PDFs

• Comment on PDFs

• Add images

• Manage pages

• Merge PDFs

• Recognize text (OCR)

Writing & Note-taking Apps

The following writing and note-taking apps can be used for background research, meeting notes, and drafting proposal sections. Two of the apps, such as Supernotes and Craft, allow collaboration. The other two, Ulysses and Scrivener, are primarily designed for long-form writing by solo writers. They can be used to write books, journal articles, and blog posts. For the grant writer, Ulysses and Scrivener may be most useful during the background research phase and when drafting background and context or introductory sections for research or more complex federally funded proposals.

Bear 🇮🇹

Bear is a note-taking app by Shiny Frog. It is a Mac-only product, with versions for macOS, IOS, and iPadOS. Intuitive, clean, and with just enough features, Bear is an accessible note-taking app that works as well for quick notes as for longer writing tasks, such as research notes and blog posts. Bear offers a basic free version. The paid version is only $2.99/month or $29.99/year.

Features:

• Export notes into PDF, HTML, DOCX, or JPG.

• Use OCR search to find text in photos and PDFs, whether in a single note or across all notes.

• Resize or crop images.

• Preview option for links and PDFs.

• Use the 250+ icons to make tags stand out.

• Structure notes with headings, and toggl headings to focus on a section and hide others.

• Encrypt notes for extra protection.

Craft 🇭🇺

Craft is a multifunctional app that offers the capability to serve as a notetaker, productivity planner, journal, and blog publisher. Craft offers a free starter plan and several paid plans starting at $8/month for individuals, $15/month for families, and $50/month for up to 10 Plus accounts. Craft works across platforms and allows document sharing, so you can invite others to comment on your writing.

Features:

• Templates

• Whiteboards

• Ability to publish to the web

• Calendar

• Daily notes

• Reminders

• Tasks

Scrivener 🇬🇧

Scrivener is a writing app for long-form writing. Three versions exist: Mac, IOS, and Windows. It can be used for any kind of writing, from academic to novel writing. Its features include the ability to write text in any order and move it into place later via drag-and-drop. For research-based writing, Scrivener has a useful feature that lets you open background notes next to your writing pane for easy reference. Scrivener offers a 30-day trial. It costs $59.99 for Mac and Windows and $23.99 for IOS. Scrivener also offers bundles: If you work on both Macs and Windows, you can purchase Scrivener for both systems for $95.98. Unlike many apps, Scrivener’s licenses are perpetual, per-platform, and per-version. One license also covers your entire household (yourself and any family members living with you). The license includes free updates of the particular software version, but doesn’t cover major updates.

Features:

• Compose text in any order, in large or small sections, and reorder later.

• Reference earlier writing, background research, or notes alongside the text you are working on.

• Compile everything into a single document for printing, self-publishing, or exporting to formats such as Word, PDF, Final Draft, or plain text.

• Use “Scrivenings” mode to put pieces of text together and edit them as if they were one document.

• Add highlights, comments, and annotations, and insert images and tables.

• Import files into Scrivener projects, including Word documents, plain text files, images, PDFs, and web pages.

• Supports footnotes and includes templates for writing papers in MLA, APA, and other common formats.

Supernotes 🇬🇧

Supernotes is a card-based note-taking platform for recording ideas, tasks, and lists, as well as creating flashcards, tables, and maps. While primarily for individual users, it allows for note sharing and collaboration. Supernotes is accessible on all platforms and priced affordably, with a free starter plan and a premium plan for $7.96/month. It also offers discounted pricing for students and educators.

Features:

• Notecard structure rather than nested folders.

• Map layout, which will add the location where you wrote the note.

• Offline access.

• Flashcard layout (maybe less applicable for proposal writers, but ideal for language learning!)

• Notes are private, encrypted in transit and at rest.

• Ability to share notes with anyone via a link.

• Bi-directional links for connecting cards to build a knowledge database.

Ulysses 🇩🇪

Ulysses is a writing app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Ulysses, like Scrivener, is designed for longer writing tasks. Ulysses is $5.99/month or $39.99/year in the U.S. (pricing varies by country), which covers all your Macs, iPads, and iPhones. It also supports Apple Family Sharing, allowing the app to be shared with up to five other family members.

Features:

• Offers a distraction-free interface.

• Built-in proofreader and editing assistant (supports 20+ languages).

• Exports text into PDFs, Word documents, and blog posts.

• Divide text into chunks and reorganize easily.

• Publish blog posts directly to WordPress, Ghost, Medium, and Micro.blog.

• Organize writing for various clients and projects into separate folders.

Visual Communication & Content Creation

During proposal development, team communication may involve using a shared workspace to manage tasks and conduct mind-mapping exercises. The proposal may require organizational charts, graphics, and diagrams. The following tools can be used throughout the proposal process for planning, communicating, and designing. This group of tools includes a free tool (Affinity) and two that offer free starter plans.

Affinity 🇬🇧🇦🇺

Affinity is an application that supports three workflows: graphic design, photo editing, and page layout. The software works with macOS and Windows. Affinity was recently acquired by Canva. In October 2025, Canva and Affinity announced that Affinity would be free. Previously, it was a paid, but extremely affordable product. Affinity and Canva now work together, streamlining workflows between the two creative apps.

Features:

• Built-in vector, pixel, and layout studies.

• Photo editing, including advanced retouching and the ability to create composite images.

• Layered editing that keeps the original layers and files intact.

• Page layout capabilities for books, brochures, or reports, including advanced typography, press-ready docs, and data merges.

Canva 🇦🇺

Canva is an online graphic design platform. It is probably best known as a tool for creating social media graphics, but it can also be used to create presentations, documents, and—importantly for proposal writers—proposal graphics. Canva has several pricing plans, including a generous free tier and discounted pricing for nonprofits.

Features:

• PDF editor

• PDF converter

• Free images, icons, and graphics, media elements, and audio effects

• Whiteboards

• Ability to create docs, presentations, videos, and websites

• Real-time collaboration

• Photo editor

• Asset library, including more than 1.6 million templates

• Sharing and exporting tools

• Color palette generator

• Ability to create a brand kit (Pro account)

Creately 🇦🇺

Creately is a visual collaboration platform. Using an infinite canvas, Creately can be used to create organization charts, diagrams, and Kanban boards in collaboration with colleagues. Creately is reasonably priced, with options ranging from $5/month for a single person to $89/month for the business plan (unlimited users) for growing teams. Creately also has a free plan.

Features:

• Advanced diagramming and whiteboarding, including flowcharts and mind maps.

• 8,000+ professional templates, and more than 1,000 shapes and connectors for diagramming.

• Illustration and annotation with freehand drawing.

• Integrates with other platforms, including Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams.

• A voting feature that allows team members to vote on canvas features.

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Learn More

Click the image below to view and download the list below, which provides additional information on each of the apps above, as well as others. Where possible, we’ve added discount pricing and promotional codes.

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