about us
In 2003, Heather Denkmire was working as a “virtual assistant” for a literacy consultant for nonprofit organizations. One of that consultant’s clients asked Heather if she could prepare a grant application for them. Heather said yes. Heather then went to the library and got out the book, “Grassroots Grants” by Andy Robinson as well as some other less-memorable how-to-write-grants books. (The Internet wasn’t what it is today.) The grant application Heather prepared was funded, and another organization asked her to prepare an application. This began her work as a grant writer. Heather then worked with other consultants offering support to nonprofit organizations, mostly in southern Maine. In 2004, she also worked part-time at York County Community College as a grant writer, helping establish YCCC’s nursing program. It was around this time that grantwinners.net was born.
Today, grantwinners.net is a team effort. Heather Denkmire does the bulk of the research, writing, and communications with nonprofit clients and funders; Jennifer Peavey oversees the dense and complicated administrative side of managing the grants programs for their clients; Ingrid Baily brings her career as a nonprofit executive into her work preparing proposals, reports, and providing other grants consulting services.
Heather Denkmire is a writer and business owner with a passion for issues of social justice. She enjoys designing websites and other publications, hanging out with her teenaged daughters, and growing spiritually in her Quaker community
She graduated from Skidmore College in 1991 where she majored in sociology and minored in English. In the early 1990s, she worked at the National Women’s Political Caucus in Washington, DC to increase the number of women elected to political office. She went on to assist in the development activities for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s department of Campus Ministry in St. Paul, Minnesota. Heather has provided grant-seeking services for non-profit organizations across the country with great success.
Since the inception of grantwinners.net in 2003, Heather’s work has helped grantwinners.net clients acquire over $5,500,000 in grant funds. In 2004, Heather became the grants coordinator for York County Community College. In addition to coordinating the grants proposal process in a 4 million dollar capital campaign, Heather’s work included locating and securing funding for a new Associate Degree of Science in Nursing program, a new Entrepreneurial Center, and a variety of departmentally specific projects. After just one year, Heather’s proposals were instrumental in raising over $200,000 for YCCC. In September of 2005, Heather left YCCC to focus on grantwinners.net clients more effectively.
Heather’s freelance writing assignments have ranged from regular columns for young adult magazines to corporate coverage for publications like the Houston Business Journal and Mainebiz. In 2004, she wrote a book entitled The Truth About Fear and Depression (Facts on File, 2004) that is part of a nationally recommended high school curriculum. In addition to talking with nonprofit organizations about their grant winning needs and managing projects for her team, she continues other forms of writing on a freelance basis.
Heather lives in Portland, ME with her two daughters.
Jennifer Peavey graduated from the University of Richmond and studied French and journalism. Since then her career path has included teaching English, human resources, writing, and college recruiting. Jennifer helps grantwinners.net with organizational, research, and administrative needs.
Jennifer currently lives in Portland with her husband and their young daughter.
Ingrid Baily is an experienced grant writer and nonprofit manager with a special interest in helping charitable organizations strengthen their missions and serve their communities. She has written grants and fundraised for causes she is passionate about for more than fifteen years, and joined grantwinners.net in 2011. Her career includes being the executive director of an adult literacy organization, being part of an Ivy League college development office, and serving nonprofits in volunteer roles.
Ingrid grew up in the western Maine foothills and earned a B.A. in Latin from Bryn Mawr College and an M.A. in Classical Studies and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Michigan.