Guide to grantmaking
This step-by-step guide can help you or your foundation focus your intentions and give you the tools to develop a program of environmental giving.
Step 9. How are you going to administer your funding?
It is important to complete the grantmaking cycle by deciding how structured you want your funding to be.
There are many resources that can help you here. The Australian Institute of Grants Management offers those who want to follow best practice a comprehensive administrative process and useful templates in the Grantmaking Toolkit: The Smart Way to Build, Review or Refresh your Grants Program (pdf).
The book Savvy Giving provides some great guidelines which you can dip in and out of. Of course you don’t need to take all of the steps below but they can be used in a comprehensive giving program.
- Choose your priorities and funding mix
- Draw up guidelines
- Establish systems to monitor and manage information
- Invite applications or gather proposals informally
- Research and assess funding applications received
- Shortlist and refine the selection of proposals to consider
- Meet to make grantmaking decisions
- Communicate grant decisions to applicants
- Release the grant and receive receipt from grant recipient
- Maintain contact throughout the life of the grant
- Request report and acquittal of grant
- Receive report and acknowledge
- Take stock of your progress and achievements
- Disseminate and share the learning
- Review where you have been, where you are going
- Celebrate
Ask yourself
Are you taking the right steps in the funding cycle? Check the worksheet to see where you are at and record your answers in the worksheet (pdf).