When I became a freelance EU grant writer in 2013 I assumed I’d know when I was successful. Turns out, I was wrong. Success in grant writing isn’t one thing. Some define it by how often they win. Others by being constantly in demand. Some believe success means earning millions. These aren’t just different outcomes. They’re different games. And you can’t win them all the same way.
If your measure of success is win rate, your main job isn’t “writing”. It’s about selection.
Winning consistently means being extremely selective, almost ruthless, about which EU call, idea, and partnership you go after. You spend more time deciding whether an idea is worth pursuing than drafting it, because you know how the perfect big picture looks like. Every piece of the puzzle must fit in.
Some grant writers do the opposite: they chase every EU opportunity, and hope something sticks. There are many reasons for spreading themselves thin. Regardless the reason, this approach always leads to ruthlessly spinning hamster wheel.
Time is a better teacher than most mentors. As your career unfolds, one truth becomes clear: saying “no” opens space for ideas that are actually feasible. Start practicing it early on. If you are new to this, trust your gut. Old cats have an advantage of being able to rely on their experience. Yet, they were rookies once too, and had no other option than gut feeling.
To be able to say no, you want to be in demand. And for that technical skill isn’t enough. You need persuasion and marketing.
People hire EU grant writers they trust to deliver, and that trust starts long before you type the first word. The best writers explain what they do in a way that makes people want to work with them. They make themselves impossible to ignore—not because they’re pushy, but because they consistently sound like someone who knows exactly how to get things funded.
It’s also fair to say: writers with high win rates sound more convincing. Facts, and past clients already do the talking for them. Their names and reputation are discussed away from social media—at networking events, over delicious buffets, and during phone calls public never knows about.
Those just starting out have a bigger mountain to climb. Their marketing looks different and in contrast to the above, completely relies on social media. These professionals share knowledge, give trainings, and build trust through generosity. It’s slower, but it works, I can attest myself. The truth is, trust must be earned, and if you are just starting out, you’ll have to see it as an investment.
If your definition of success is high revenue, you need both of the above, plus niche positioning.
They say it’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than the other way around. But being the first fish in a big pond is even better, because you can grow at scale. To achieve that you must nurture 3 skills that can help you optimize for the ultimate success.
Just know, that nowadays, the industry rewards specialists more than generalists. Being “good at everything” makes you replaceable. Being “the person who consistently wins digital health proposals using AI responsibly” makes you irreplaceable. High-paying clients don’t want to gamble as they want someone known for solving a very specific, burning problem.
It only makes sense for you to find your sweet spot and dig in relentlessly, as soon as you can. Unfortunately, no one can tell you exactly how to find it or hand you a recipe. You have to stay open-minded, curious, and willing to change direction, even if it scares you. Our ancestors already knew: luck follows the brave. So, is this you?
Three skills that separate winning EU grant writers
Choosing your game is only half the equation. The grant writers who thrive are the ones who develop three rare skills, not many discuss. These are what quietly separate the real players from everyone else.
The first is being a curious long-form thinker.
Great proposals are not just a collection of sections; they’re coherent stories. For a winning grant you will connect dozens of moving pieces (policy, technical work, impact, budget) into one believable narrative. And quite often, these pieces conflict with one another. A strong proposal doesn’t just include them, it resolves their contradictions.
This is where long-form thinking comes in. It’s when you explore complex ideas patiently, following thoughts to their end rather than jumping to fast conclusions. That means unpacking real problems before proposing solutions. It means sitting with ambiguity instead of rushing to box ideas into the work programme. It means crafting logic that holds—across objectives, impact, and implementation.
Long-form thinkers don’t just write grants. They build them—brick by brick—until the whole thing stands on its own. They enjoy intellectual patience, giving proposals depth, substance, and coherence—qualities evaluators instinctively recognize and reward.
The second is being a responsible AI user.
There’s a growing temptation among grant writers to treat AI as a magic wand. Feed in a few keywords, get a beautifully written proposal, and skip the thinking. But that mindset is not just lazy, it’s dangerous.
AI is a powerful amplifier. It will amplify your thinking, your shortcuts, your clarity, your confusion. Good or bad will grow at scale. So the first principle of using AI is simple: don’t outsource responsibility to the machine.
You want to keep ownership of your thinking. Here’s a useful habit: before writing anything, ask yourself what’s hard about this section. What’s your message? What’s unclear? What’s repetitive? Where are gaps in argumentation? Write it down and own it. ONLY then ask AI to help you think through those parts (not just write them). Use it to draft alternatives, test variations, stress-test your logic. I’m sure we agree that using AI responsibly means more than avoiding plagiarism or double-checking facts.
The worst grant writers treat AI like an accelerator. They are passive users, copying the first thing it generates. We both know that evaluators can smell it instantly. However the best grant writers are active AI users. They don’t let AI speak in clichés. They use it to challenge the clichés—and replace them with specifics that matter.
The third skill that makes you in-demand EU grant writer is being an exceptional editor.
You may not agree with this, but AI moved the needle away from “writing”. Now, the real skill is editing, which has, in my opinion, quietly become the central art of grant writing. Anyone can produce text; and we know for a fact now, that flood of poorly AI written EU proposals are overwhelming the system.
The ambition of good editors is to trim away what’s irrelevant, arrange ideas logically, and restore a genuinely human voice. But the best editors do something even more subtle: they operate precisely at the intersection of the 3 key skills, respecting the rules of 3 games. Editing, in this sense, is no longer merely cleanup. It’s the point at which clarity emerges from chaos, where good writing becomes great.
To reach this level, you need to read a lot. Don’t limit yourself to proposals. Essays, for example, are excellent for showing how ideas are structured, connected, and argued. If you can digest them, analyse how they work, and apply those lessons to your own proposals, there’s a good chance you’re a natural-born grant writer.
Why there are no “unsuccessful” EU grant writers
In my opinion, there’s no such thing as an unsuccessful grant writer. This market is brutal in how it filters professionals out. If you don’t know your game, can’t think structurally, edit sharply, or adapt with AI, you don’t plateau—you disappear.
The signs are subtle at first. A client stops calling. A consortium doesn’t invite you to the next proposal. Your name drops off mailing lists. Not because people dislike you, but because someone better filled your spot. And in this field, once someone else replaces you, they don’t switch back. So, there is only one way forward…
Go all in
In fact, I dare you to explore the hardest path: getting your own idea funded. It’s something I’ve seen only a few dare to pursue.
For me, the fourth game represents the ultimate success. But it requires a different mindset entirely. On top of everything above, you need entrepreneurial spirit and a willingness to risk. When you’re writing your own project, there’s no safety net. Fail, and you can’t blame a weak coordinator or bad partners. But succeed, and you’re no longer just a service provider—you’re EU grant writer who shaped an idea and brought it to life. That’s the only version of success that gives you full creative freedom.We prepared 112 Horizon Europe call briefs that may fund your idea, and suggest you to start your journey here.
I mean, why would you work for “success fee only”, when you can collect everything and create a lasting impact?
Author: Kristjan Zemljic
P.S.: Want to use AI effectively in your EU grant writing? Explore how we train grant professionals or get in touch.