Getting Grants Out of the Too-Hard Basket: This is What Working With a Grant Writer Actually Looks Like

16 Sept

Picture this - you’ve found a grant (probably from The Grants Hub).

It looks promising. It fits something your organisation has been wanting to do, and you start thinking about what this funding could make possible.

So, you take a closer look.

There are guidelines to work through (probably a 23-page document), eligibility requirements to check, questions to answer, a budget to prepare, supporting documents and, of course, the online portal.

It’s all doable, but it can quickly start to feel like a lot.

And that’s how a perfectly good grant opportunity ends up sitting in the too-hard basket.

This is where I come in, as your grant writer, working in partnership with you.

I lead the whole grant application process, from checking the opportunity and developing the project through to writing the application, creating the budget and getting everything into the portal. I’ll even press submit for you. When I say the whole process, I mean it!

You bring the knowledge of your organisation and what you want to achieve. I bring the grant-writing expertise, structure and process to help create an application we can actually get done, and be proud of.

You’ve found the grant. Is it actually the right one?

Before we write anything, we need to make sure the grant is genuinely worth pursuing.

This means getting into those guidelines. I normally print them out and grab my highlighter at this point.

Are you eligible? Does your project fit what the funding can be used for? Do the dates line up? Are there co-contribution requirements? Most importantly, do your project objectives align with what the funder is trying to achieve?

Being eligible for a grant and being a good fit for a grant are two very different things.

I help you make a sensible “go/no-go” decision before we invest time and energy into the application.

If it’s a go, great. Now we turn your idea into a grant-ready project.

Next, we develop your project

You might come to me with a well-developed project, or simply the beginnings of an idea. Either is fine. We start where you are.

Together, we brainstorm. What exactly are you going to do? Why is it needed? Who will benefit? What will it cost? What will change, and how will we demonstrate that change?

I will ask lots of questions. Sometimes I’ll challenge an idea or spot a gap. Other times, I’ll hear something and ask, “Have we considered this?”

You are the expert of your organisation, your community and the problem you’re trying to solve. I know how to shape that information into a project that responds to what the funder is asking.

The grant application becomes a project too

Once we know what we’re applying for, I turn the grant application itself into a project, with its own plan and deadlines.

We work out what needs to happen and when. That might include gathering quotes, confirming dates, finding evidence, requesting letters of support (I help draft these), pulling together financial information or getting input from others.

I lead the process and keep us moving towards submission.

And importantly, I don’t send you a giant questionnaire and disappear. That’s not my style - we work through it together.

Then I write, create the budget and build the application

Yes, I write the grant. But by now, you can see the writing is only one piece of the puzzle.

I turn everything we’ve developed into clear, compelling responses that answer the actual questions and tell a consistent story about your project, the need and the outcomes you expect to achieve.

Then I create the project budget. Side note: I love budgets. As a Chartered Accountant, so this is totally my jam!

The budget and application need to tell the same story, so we build realistic costs within the funding parameters while making the most of the opportunity.

And then there’s the online portal.

I enter the responses, manage the word and character limits, upload information and check everything is where it needs to be. I also check the portal against the downloaded application form because, yes, we’ve nearly been caught out by extra questions appearing before!

I definitely don’t hand you a Word document and wish you luck.

I stay with the application through to the end, right up to that confirmation email telling us our project is officially on its way to being assessed.

Ready to get that grant out of the too-hard basket?

Grant applications take time and effort. There’s no magic wand, and there’s really no such thing as “free money”.

But there is a process.

With the right opportunity, a well-developed project and someone leading that process, applying for funding becomes far more manageable.

So, if you’ve found a grant on The Grants Hub and it’s sitting open in a browser tab while you wonder where to start, let’s get it out of the too-hard basket before the round closes.

Simply email me a couple of sentences about your project and the link to the grant. I’ll take it from there.

Bring me your idea and your knowledge of what you want to achieve.

I’ll bring my highlighter.