6 Resources Charities Can Use to Strengthen Their Grant Applications

Securing grant funding depends on considerably more than a well-written proposal. Grant makers evaluate the organisation behind the application just as carefully as the application itself. They want to be satisfied that the charity is financially sound, properly governed, credible, and genuinely equipped to deliver the outcomes it is committing to.

Charities that perform consistently well in competitive funding rounds have typically built the organisational infrastructure that makes these qualities visible to funders. They can generate accurate financial reports quickly, back up their impact claims with data, and present their work in a way that instils confidence well before any formal conversation begins. The following six tools each support a different aspect of that capability.

1. Sage Intacct: Financial Management and Fund Accounting

Before awarding funding, grant makers scrutinise how a charity handles its finances. The capacity to produce accurate reports showing income and expenditure broken down by fund, to demonstrate that previous restricted grants were spent as agreed, and to present a well-reasoned budget with transparent financial assumptions has become a standard expectation among serious institutional funders, not an added advantage.

Sage Intacct is designed around the fund accounting principles that underlie charity finance, making it practical to track expenditure against individual grants, generate the financial reports funders need at both application and reporting stages, and uphold the governance standards that give grant makers assurance. Charities that cannot produce clear fund-level financial information are at a measurable disadvantage before their application has been read in full.

Why it matters: Financial credibility is not assessed only at the point of application — it is evaluated throughout the entire grant relationship. The right accounting system keeps that credibility visible at every stage.

2. Impact Mapper: Outcomes Measurement and Reporting

The move toward outcomes-based funding has gathered considerable pace. Grant makers now routinely expect evidence not simply that activities were delivered, but that those activities produced demonstrable changes in the lives of the people or communities a charity exists to serve. Organisations that approach impact measurement systematically and with supporting data are assessed very differently from those that rely primarily on anecdote and individual case studies.

Impact Mapper is a platform built specifically for impact measurement, helping charities construct measurement frameworks, gather outcome data, and produce the kind of evidenced impact reports that funders increasingly require at application, mid-grant, and close of grant.

Why it matters: In competitive grant rounds, demonstrating impact is no longer a way to stand out — it is a baseline requirement. A structured approach, supported by a dedicated platform, meets that requirement reliably.

3. Eventbrite: Community Engagement and Event Management

Grant makers focused on community-based or place-based work in particular want to see that an organisation has genuine roots in and the trust of the communities it serves. Evidence of engagement through events, workshops, consultations, and public activities is among the most persuasive forms of this proof, provided it can be quantified and documented clearly enough to be of use in an application.

Eventbrite offers a practical platform for organising and promoting events, and produces attendance records and registration data automatically — information that can be referenced directly in grant applications and funder reports as concrete evidence of community reach.

Why it matters: Funders increasingly focused on participatory models place significant weight on quantified community engagement. Eventbrite generates that evidence as a natural consequence of running events the charity would be holding regardless.

4. Benevity: Workplace Giving and Corporate CSR Platform

A number of institutional funders view established corporate partnerships positively — both as a form of external validation and as evidence that a charity is not financially dependent on a single source. Benevity is a corporate social responsibility and workplace giving platform used by hundreds of major companies to administer their charitable giving programmes, employee volunteering activity, and wider community investment.

Being listed and active on Benevity opens access to corporate giving budgets that many charities are not currently reaching. The corporate relationships that develop through the platform also provide tangible evidence of broader stakeholder support, something grant makers respond to positively.

Why it matters: Corporate funding relationships signal external credibility and income diversification, both of which improve a charity's standing in competitive grant processes.

5. Canva for Nonprofits: Communications and Design

Every piece of communication a charity sends shapes the impression a grant maker forms of the organisation — including how professional and consistent its application documents, annual reports, and supporting materials appear. A charity that presents its work through well-designed, coherent materials communicates that it understands how to represent its cause effectively and takes that responsibility seriously.

Canva for Nonprofits gives registered charities access to Canva's professional design tools at no charge, making it possible to produce polished application documents, impact reports, and funder-facing presentations without a design budget or a specialist in house.

Why it matters: Strong presentation does not secure grants independently, but weak presentation can introduce doubts that weaken an otherwise compelling application. Canva for Nonprofits eliminates that risk without any cost to the charity.

6. Salesforce Nonprofit: Stakeholder and Donor CRM

Institutional grant makers tend to look more favourably on organisations that can demonstrate support from a broad range of stakeholders rather than reliance on a single funder. A charity with an expanding individual donor base, active corporate relationships, and visible community engagement presents a more resilient financial model than one that depends almost entirely on institutional grant income.

Salesforce Nonprofit is a CRM platform developed specifically for the sector, enabling charities to manage relationships with donors, volunteers, corporate partners, and beneficiaries within a single system. The data it holds — covering supporter growth, retention rates, and engagement levels — is directly relevant to the income diversification and community backing questions that appear in many competitive grant applications.

Why it matters: Income diversification and demonstrated stakeholder support carry growing weight in grant assessment. A well-maintained CRM makes that evidence readily accessible when it is needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much weight do grant makers place on a charity's filed accounts?
Considerable weight. Most grant makers review a charity's most recent filed accounts as part of their due diligence process, examining reserves levels, income mix, significant cost lines, and whether the accounts contain any audit qualifications or matters of emphasis. Accounts that are filed late, carry qualifications, or reveal financial patterns that prompt concern can substantially reduce the likelihood of a successful application, regardless of how persuasive the written case is. Filing accurate and timely accounts is a fundamental obligation, not an optional formality.

What level of reserves will grant makers generally want to see?
Expectations differ across funders, but most want to see that the charity holds a documented reserves policy, that trustees have given deliberate thought to the appropriate level, and that the current position can be explained clearly. The specific figure matters somewhat less than the quality of governance thinking that underlies it and the clarity with which it can be communicated during a funding conversation.

Can smaller charities compete effectively in grant rounds against much larger organisations?
Yes, especially in rounds where the funder is actively seeking to support smaller or community-led organisations. For smaller charities, the priority is ensuring that the standard of their financial management, governance, and impact evidence is proportionate to their scale but demonstrably sound. A well-organised small charity with clear fund-level financial records and a systematic approach to measuring outcomes will consistently perform better than a larger organisation with weak governance in rounds that are designed for its profile.

What should a charity do to prepare for a due diligence visit from a grant maker?
A site visit provides an opportunity to demonstrate in person everything that a written application can only describe in words. Being in a position to walk through financial systems and processes, show how impact is tracked, and introduce key members of staff — and, where possible, beneficiaries — all reinforce what the application set out. The finance lead should be prepared to demonstrate the systems used for fund accounting and grant reporting, which is an area where Sage Intacct's fund-level reporting capabilities are particularly useful.

What is the most frequently cited avoidable reason a credible charity is turned down for a grant?
Weak financial presentation is the most consistently identified avoidable failure. This covers accounts that do not clearly show how restricted funds have been managed, budgets that do not connect logically to the charity's actual financial history, and an inability to explain the financial model of a proposed project with confidence and precision. Sound financial management systems that produce clear, accurate, fund-level reporting address each of these issues directly.