Grants Application Checklist

It is disheartening to miss out on a grant. It is even more disheartening to miss out simply because you failed to supply the information requested.

It is of utmost importance to get the details right in any grants application or proposal. Some funding programs can attract hundreds of applications. Some of the Federal Government programs will sift through thousands of applications and when you are looking through so many - and there are so many good ideas and projects among them - it is hard to justify spending a lot of time going back to groups and asking them to do what they should have done in the first place.

Before you send off your application, go through the checklist below and make sure you have completed absolutely everything the funding body has asked of you. At least that way you ensure your application gets to be considered on its merits.

Remember that the funding body isn't giving money to an issue, they're giving money to people who are able to do something about an issue - people who are competent, efficient, attentive to detail, able to work with other organisations and have demonstrated an understanding of the funding body and its aims and missions. They don't want to give money to people who don't listen and can't handle paperwork and don't treat their funders with respect.

Grants application checklist

• Read the guidelines carefully and make a list of all the main aims of the grants program. Now prepare another list detailing how your project achieves those aims.
• Research the funding body and discover what types of projects they have previously funded and the types of projects they are most likely to support.
• Re-read the guidelines and prepare a list of all the supporting documents you might need - CVs, ABN, annual reports, letters of support, certificate of incorporation etc.
• Check the application closing date and aim to have yours submitted at least five days early (allow a few days if mailing).
• Prepare a NEW application that answers all the particular requirements of the granting body you are applying to. DO NOT get out the application you sent off to the last funding body and just change the name. Funding bodies can spot a standard application a mile off because they rarely address the issues they think are important.
• Answer EVERY SINGLE QUESTION on the application, even if it is to say NOT APPLICABLE just to show that you have read it and understood what was asked.
• Follow the guidelines. If the funding body asks for a maximum of four pages, ensure you supply no more than four pages. If you can't make your argument in the space required go back and workshop it until you can.
• Check that everybody who has to sign the application has signed it, and in the right spaces.
• Proofread your application for spelling and grammar (don't just automatically spell-check it - that misses too much and can often change names and words that are right!). If you are cutting and pasting parts out of another grant application (and honing it to suit the new application) make sure you don't leave in the old information.
• Check that you've stipulated the amount of money you are seeking - and that your budget calculations add up and the figures are consistent throughout the document.
• Check your page numbering so there is no confusion over pages missing or pointing to a page or attachment that is not there.
• Check that your application is legible (and don't use a tiny type to squeeze more information in). Make it easy to read.
• Get someone who hasn't been involved in preparing the application to read it through and check it off against all the guidelines. Ask them to judge whether you have made a compelling argument for funding, whether they understand what you are asking for or if there is something that should - or could - be better explained or simplified.
• Re-read the guidelines and ensure you have completed everything and answered every question.
• Go through the list of all the documentation that is to be included and tick it off as each page goes in the envelope or is attached to your application and is in the right order.
• Make sure that the address you have for sending the application to is correct and get it off in plenty of time.
• Leave yourself enough time to be able to go through and check and double-check everything.