The team behind your team.

Bottom line, we “get" grants: we understand the grant seeking process, how to interpret the grant making patterns of funders, and how to guide nonprofit leaders to strategically grow their grant revenues.

We partner with organizations as their trusted advisors to identify funders, recommend grant strategies, write compelling proposals, and make long-term gains.

Grants Plus is the nation's leading strategic grant seeking firm. We have received the Weatherhead 100 Award for seven consecutive years, a Smart Business Progressive Organization Award, and a Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award from the American Psychological Association.

We practice multiple ways of giving back, from sponsoring company-wide volunteer days, to adopting a cause at the holidays, to growing a philanthropic fund at The Cleveland Foundation.

Combined, our professional team of grant seeking experts bring hundreds of years' experience in the nonprofit sector. We have walked in our clients' shoes as executive directors, development directors, foundation officers, and grant writers.

Grants Plus is a proud member of The Giving Institute, which consists of member organizations that have embraced and embodied the core values of ethics, excellence and leadership in advancing philanthropy.

Grants Plus strives to be an anti-racist firm and an Equal Employment Opportunity workplace. From our founding, we’ve been a mission-based, values-driven firm that welcomes and nurtures the unique talents, contributions, ideas, and experiences of our team. We seek to intentionally grow the diversity of our staff across geography, gender, sexuality, race, belief, ability, and other realms and identities, in order to be reflective and inclusive of the diverse communities and missions of our client organizations. We take proactive steps to ensure a diverse applicant pool for any open positions.

MEET OUR LEADERSHIP

Lauren Steiner, JD

PRESIDENT + FOUNDER

Since Lauren founded Grants Plus in 2007, the firm has secured more than $230 million in grant funding for organizations around the country. With a team of more than 30 full-time grant professionals, Grants Plus is the national leader in grant writing, research, and strategy consulting.

Lauren is past president of the Grant Professionals Association Ohio–Northern Chapter as well as an active member and former board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Greater Cleveland Chapter. She was awarded AFP Greater Cleveland’s Outstanding Fundraising Professional award in 2017 and was featured as a 2019 Notable Women in Entrepreneurship by Crain’s Cleveland Business. She sits on the board of the Giving Institute and Giving USA, where she also co-chairs the editorial review board. Lauren teaches a graduate-level course in philanthropy at the Mandel School of Applied Social Science at Case Western Reserve University. She holds a B.S. from Ohio University and a J.D. from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University.

Sarah Dave

MANAGING DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Gail Dancy Heim, MA

MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CLIENT SERVICES

Dana Textoris

MANAGING DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT

In her role as Managing Director, Sarah focuses on equipping team members with the tools and support they need to serve our nonprofit clients and the philanthropic community. She has extensive experience in nonprofit management, donor strategy building, special events, direct marketing, and information management. Sarah’s favorite conversations include helping partners solve challenges through coaching, strategic planning, and finding data-driven solutions. Sarah sits on multiple committees with The Giving Institute and volunteers with several regional nonprofit organizations, serving youth, women, and young professionals. Sarah holds a B.S.E. from Bowling Green State University.

Throughout her tenure at Grants Plus, Gail has guided staff growth to help team members reach their full potential in identifying, pursuing, and winning grants on behalf of clients. As Managing Director of Client Services, Gail leads our team to provide excellent service to our clients, and to foster positive client experiences and relationships. Gail currently sits on the board of the Grants Professionals Association (GPA) of Greater Cleveland and volunteers with multiple regional nonprofit organizations. A native New Englander, Gail holds a Bachelor of Music from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford and a Master of Arts from New York University.

Since she joined Grants Plus in 2013, Dana has advised key clients, influenced the formation of our team's grant writing standards, and delivered educational trainings to thousands of nonprofit professionals across the country. Today as a member of the Executive Team, she leads the growth and expansion of the firm's impact across the nonprofit sector. Earlier in her career she led fundraising for organizations including the ACLU of Northern California and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Dana is active on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force of The Giving Institute and serves on the Board of Directors for a small community organization, Neighborhood Pets. She received her B.A. from The Ohio State University.