Milly Grant Writing Academy · Cohort 2 · Summer 2026

You Are
the Grant.

The money is waiting. You just need the words.

There's funding out there for organizations exactly like yours. The problem was never your mission. It was never your community. It was the framework — and nobody taught you one. Until now.

Join the Cohort 2 Waitlist No credit card · Cohort 2 opens July 2026 · Limited seats

Scroll

Sound familiar?

You're not bad at grant writing.
You were never taught.

You've sat in front of a blank page for hours, writing and deleting, writing and deleting — not because you don't know your work, but because nobody gave you the language.

You've written proposals that felt desperate instead of confident — listing every problem your community faces, hoping that showing pain would open wallets.

You've applied to funders who were never going to say yes — wrong geography, wrong focus area, wrong size — because nobody taught you how to research before you write.

You've gotten rejections that stung — not because your work wasn't worthy, but because the funder couldn't see what you see. You just didn't have the words yet.

The methodology

The MILLY Method

Five principles. One complete proposal. Built in honor of a woman who proved that the right words — written with intention — change everything.

Money Follows Mission

Before a word is written, you must believe your mission is worth funding — because funders will only believe it if you do. We begin with identity, not mechanics.

Invest in Your Story First

Asset framing — defining your community by their aspirations and strengths, not their challenges — is not a style choice. It is the strategy. You invest in your story before you ask anyone else to.

Language Opens Doors

The difference between a rejected proposal and a funded one is often not the work — it is the words. Every word choice either opens a door or closes one. We teach you to choose differently.

Leave No Dollar on the Table

Most organizations underapply — wrong funders, missed deadlines, no pipeline. The MILLY Method trains you to research alignment, track submissions, and follow up like a professional.

You Were Always Fundable

This is where the whole program lands. You didn't lack talent. You didn't lack a worthy mission. You lacked a framework, the language, and someone who believed in you enough to teach both. That ends here.

She came to this country with no framework, no cohort, no grant writer. She had a pen, a kitchen table, and the understanding that the right words open doors.

Mervis "Milly" Mills · Teacher. Strategist.

Why MILLY

The woman who proved it works

Milly arrived in America in the 1960s and worked as a housekeeper. She wrote a letter — one letter — and because of what she wrote, her entire family was sponsored to come to this country.

Everyone who is here is here because of what she wrote.

Rosalee Daley — CFC®, founder of this academy — is her granddaughter. First-generation American. And living proof that a single well-written document can change the trajectory of an entire family.

The MILLY Method is built in her honor. Every framework. Every phrase. Every door it opens.

$250K+

Secured for clients

$17,500

First two grants · one new nonprofit

4 weeks

To a complete, fundable proposal

Real result · Recent client

$17,500

Written for a brand-new 501(c)(3) workforce development nonprofit.
Two grants. Two funders. The same framework you'll learn in Cohort 2.

This organization came with a powerful mission and no grant history. No development director. No prior awards. Rose wrote both proposals herself — applying the full MILLY Method: asset framing, a data-backed Statement of Need, and funder alignment research done before a single word was drafted.

The result: a funded grant from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven — and a second award shortly after. $17,500 total for an organization in its first year of existence.

The framework that won those grants is the same one she's teaching in Cohort 2. That's not a coincidence — that's the point.

Cohort 2 · Summer 2026

Four weeks. One complete proposal.
A skill you keep forever.

🧠

Live Weekly Sessions

90 minutes each Wednesday. Not a recorded course you'll never finish — a live room where real feedback happens in real time.

📋

The MILLY Workbooks

Session-by-session fillable workbooks built around the MILLY Method. You leave every week with a completed section of your proposal.

🔍

Funder Research Training

Learn to find funders who are already looking for organizations like yours — before you write a single word. Leave no dollar on the table.

✍️

Live Proposal Feedback

Your actual draft reviewed in the room. Not vague encouragement — specific, strategic feedback from a credentialed grant professional.

🤝

A Cohort Behind You

A private community of nonprofit and small business leaders doing the same work at the same time. Accountability you can't manufacture alone.

🧰

The Digital Toolkit

Templates, LOI boilerplates, budget narratives, and a curated funder database — everything you need to keep writing after the cohort ends.

Let's be honest

What's stopping you
— and the truth.

"I don't have time for a 4-week program."

90 minutes a week. Homework that takes under an hour. You've spent more time on a single rejected proposal. This is the efficient path.

"I don't know if my organization qualifies for grants."

The MILLY Method works for 501(c)(3)s and for-profit businesses. Week 4 covers funder alignment — we'll find who's already looking for you.

"I've tried grant writing courses before and they didn't help."

Most courses teach mechanics. This one starts with identity — because your self-image as a writer determines your results before you type a word. Different framework. Different outcomes.

"I'm not a good writer."

Grant writing is a learnable skill — not a talent. Nobody was born knowing how to write a Statement of Need. You learn a formula, you practice it, and you submit. That's it.

Cohort 2 · Summer 2026

Get on the list.
Be first in the door.

Cohort 2 enrollment opens Summer 2026. Join the waitlist now and you'll be the first to know when doors open — and first access means founding-member pricing.

Seats are limited by design. A small cohort means real feedback, real accountability, and real results. When enrollment opens, the waitlist goes first.

Waitlist · Priority Access

What Cohort 2 includes:

4 live weekly sessions — 90 minutes each, Wednesdays via Zoom
The full MILLY Method curriculum across 5 modules
Session workbooks you keep and use beyond the cohort
Live proposal feedback on your actual draft
Private cohort community for accountability between sessions
The Digital Toolkit — templates, LOIs, funder tracker

CFC® · Certified Fund-Raising Consultant

Rosalee Daley

Founder, Milly Grant Writing Academy · roseaffect.com

I'm Rosalee Daley — a credentialed grant professional, first-generation American, and the granddaughter of the woman this academy is named for.

I built the MILLY Method because I watched too many organizations with powerful missions lose to organizations with better language. The work wasn't the problem. The framework was.

I've secured over $250,000 for clients across nonprofit and for-profit sectors — writing proposals myself using the same methodology I'm now teaching. A brand-new workforce development nonprofit I wrote for won two grants totaling $17,500, including one from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, before finishing their first year of existence.

The MILLY Method isn't something I developed in theory. It's what I use every time I sit down to write. Cohort 2 is me handing you the framework directly — so you can do it yourself.

$250K+

Secured for clients

CFC®

Certified credential

Cohorts & counting

COHORT 2 · SUMMER 2026 · LIMITED SEATS

You Were Always Fundable

Join the waitlist now. Be first in line when enrollment opens. And come July, walk into Cohort 2 already knowing the framework is yours

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”

— Jim Rohn

You Arethe Grant.

You're not bad at grant writing.You were never taught.

The MILLY Method

The woman who proved it works

Four weeks. One complete proposal.A skill you keep forever.

What's stopping you— and the truth.

Get on the list.Be first in the door.

You Were Always Fundable

What’s your Affect?

You Are
the Grant.

You're not bad at grant writing.
You were never taught.

Four weeks. One complete proposal.
A skill you keep forever.

What's stopping you
— and the truth.

Get on the list.
Be first in the door.