I set up autonomous AI workers on Claude and Cowork that handle your funding research, write your bids, track deadlines, and send alerts — on a schedule, without being asked.
A few years ago I built custom GPTs for charities — uploaded their documents, trained a private assistant on their funding history, and it helped them write bids. One client won funding with it. That was the beginning.
But every time you needed something, you had to ask. Open a tab, type a prompt, wait for an answer. It was a smarter tool, but it was still a tool you had to pick up.
What I build now doesn't wait to be asked.
Claude and Cowork have changed the model. Instead of an assistant you query, you now have a worker with a job description — one that runs on a schedule, connects to your Google Drive and email, finds opportunities, writes applications, and sends you alerts when something needs a human decision. You don't prompt it. It runs your function.
"Richard has played a key role in shaping Young Somerset's strategic content through Why Not Bot, enhancing our digital engagement and outreach. His expertise in AI-driven communication has strengthened our ability to efficiently use AI safely in our business processes."Nik Harwood, Chief Executive — Young Somerset
The first worker I've built is a Funding Officer for charities. Here's exactly what it did on its first run — autonomously, without being prompted after setup:
Drop a funder's PDF into a folder in Google Drive and it reads the guidelines, pulls from your charity's own documents and past applications, and drafts a complete funding application — objectives, beneficiary numbers, evaluation, sustainability statement. Saved and ready for your review.
The worker handles every step up to submission. It won't send anything without you. You get alerts when there's a critical deadline, a finished bid draft, or something that needs a judgement call. You stay in control of every decision that matters.
Cowork can connect to every tool your team uses and run any repeatable function on a schedule. If a member of your team does it on a computer, a worker can do it — or at least do 80% of it and hand the rest to a human.
Weekly grant scans, pipeline tracking, bid drafts, deadline alerts, monthly board reports.
Turns survey data and session notes into quarterly impact reports, ready for funders and trustees.
Drafts newsletters, social posts, and case studies from your team's raw notes and updates.
Monitors policy review dates, flags overdue documents, preps board packs from your Drive.
Handles the first 65% of common member queries about funding, governance, and policies — freeing up your development workers.
Reconciles expense reports, summarises budget vs actuals, flags anomalies before your monthly management meeting.
"Thank you, Richard, for your support in developing and implementing the Young Bristol AI Assistant. This innovative tool represents a significant step forward in our commitment to efficiency, quality, and impact. By enhancing our capacity to produce high-quality communications, funding applications, and impact reports, the AI Assistant will enable our team to focus even more on what matters most — empowering young people and strengthening communities across Bristol."Andy Kimber, Chief Operating Officer — Young Bristol
You don't need to understand Claude, Cowork, or any of the technology. I handle all of it. Here's how it works:
I learn about your charity — your mission, your current funding sources, your team's biggest time pressures, and which job functions you'd most like to automate first.
Previous bids, impact reports, annual reports, policy documents, beneficiary data. The same materials you'd give a new member of staff. I upload them to a private knowledge folder.
I configure the skills, connect your Google Drive and Gmail, set the schedules, and run a live test so you can see exactly what happens before it goes live.
No jargon. I show your team what the worker does, what lands in Google Drive, what triggers an alert, and how to add documents to keep it improving over time.
Every Monday morning the scan runs. Every weekday the pipeline is checked. When a bid is ready, you get an email. You review, edit, and press send. The worker handles everything else.
I'm a bid writer and funding strategist who was using AI tools before ChatGPT launched. I've helped charities and community organisations secure funding, develop strategy, and use technology to do more with less.
At Voluntary Norfolk, I supported hundreds of organisations with funding advice, governance, and connections to national funders — and served on an ESF grant panel, which gave me real insight into how funders assess bids and what tips the balance.
At Meridian East, a supported employment charity, I helped secure and manage over £500,000 in government and community funding across bid writing, contract negotiation, and strategic planning.
Through whynot.bot, I now build autonomous AI workers that put that funding expertise on autopilot for the charities I work with — so they can focus on the mission, not the admin.
I used to build custom GPTs in ChatGPT. They were genuinely useful — a knowledge hub trained on your documents, available 24/7. One client used theirs to win a funding bid.
But a custom GPT sits in a tab and waits. You have to open it, remember to use it, type the right prompt, and copy the output somewhere useful. It's a smarter search engine. It's not a worker.
You ask → it answers. Trained on your docs. Helpful when you remember to use it. You still have to do the work.
Runs on a schedule. Connected to your Drive and email. Does the research, writes the drafts, sends the alerts. You review the outputs.
One setup fee covers everything. The only ongoing cost is a Claude Pro or Claude for Teams subscription (~£15–£30/month per user), which you manage directly with Anthropic and can cancel anytime.
No subscriptions to me. No hidden fees. Just a one-off setup and then it runs.
I'll show you a live Funding Worker run — real grant sources, real pipeline output, real bid draft. Then we'll talk about what would make the biggest difference for your team.
No jargon. No pressure. Just a short call to see if it's a good fit.
Book a Free Demo