Federal Way workshop walks nonprofits, small businesses through 'grant sleuthing'

Federal Way — Collaborative Partners Initiative presenters Angela Silva and Arianna Garfellow led a standing-room workshop in Federal Way that walked local nonprofit and small-business representatives through practical steps to find and pursue grants, including which databases to use, how to check eligibility and when to consider contracts or procurements instead of grants.

The workshop aimed to demystify searching for funding and to give attendees tools and next steps. "The prize is finding some money for your organization," Arianna Garfellow, senior grant writer at Collaborative Partners Initiative, told the group. Presenters recommended using grant databases, setting alerts and building a deadlines calendar to avoid missing short windows.

Why it matters: local nonprofits and small businesses often rely on external grants and contracts to operate programs and services. Presenters emphasized that grant searches and applications are competitive and that organizations should plan to apply to multiple opportunities, track deadlines and assemble required paperwork in advance.

Presenters and recommended tools

Angela Silva, presenter with Collaborative Partners Initiative and a former grants-office director at MultiCare Health System, described practical search tools and how to choose among them. She noted Collaborative Partners Initiative is "celebrating our 4th year in business this month," and framed the session around three steps she called "treasure maps," "decoding clues" and "X marks the spot."

The presenters spotlighted several databases and resources: Instrumentl (a higher-budget, feature-rich research and…