About June · Guadalupe, California
Curiosity with an intelligence-gathering framework
I’m June Eastham, a grant writer, researcher, and editor. I have worked in grants and fundraising for over 13 years, and I have developed specific roadmaps for researching governmental, corporate, and private grantors, as well as community need, that allow nonprofits to understand what information needs to be provided in any given proposal, and why.
June Eastham · Central Coast, California
The work
What holds my attention?
A program director knows why a service changed. An outcome report records what happened. Funders ask questions that neither document quite answers.
The work that I enjoy is asing questions, following the information, and filling the gaps to make a complicated subject understandable, and to make financial support a compelling proposition.
The writing
Why does the sentence need a foundation?
My writing background predates my grants career. I wrote and edited for the at the Anchorage Daily News and studied creative writing with a nonfiction emphasis at the University of Redlands Johnston Center.
I write true stories, written for specific micro-audiences of proposal reviewers.
The learning
How do you write across unfamiliar subjects?
I have worked as a consultant, and I have been employed long term, developing grant strategies and proposals, providing services across affordable housing, health, education, and human service organizations. I have worked with people who have a deep understanding of their work and are invested in improving the lives of community members.
My role is to listen, learn the working vocabulary, locate and test the evidence, and help bring that knowledge into a proposal an outside reader can understand and evaluate.
The full process
What happens beyond the draft?
From 2018 to 2026, I led the grants function for supportive services at People’s Self-Help Housing. The role brought together research, proposals, budgets, reporting, review, program data, and coordination across program staff, finance, and leadership.
I had a high level understanding of organizational operations, and an on-the-ground view of how services were delivered. One of the under-appreciated truths about grant writing is that the focus on evidence-based-practices in service delivery frequently uncover simple changes that can improve the lives of our neighbors.
The judgment
New depths of insight
I use AI to support parts of my research and drafting process, with a focus on enhancing the depth of my work and research. I verify sources by hand, personally evaluate and develop the analysis, and document every information source, so that I can be confident in taking responsibility for the final work.
I’m also the author of The Fundraising Compass, a public workbook that helps nonprofit teams examine organizational memory, funding dependencies, program evidence, networks of support, scenario triggers, and contingency choices.
Employment & professional inquiries
Could my experience fit a role or project?
I welcome conversations about work involving grant writing, research, data storytelling, proposal development, editing, and project coordination.