Grants For Charities

Grants can offer a critical revenue stream to charities, assisting with the costs of projects, programs, and even operating overheads. Many charities rely on and would not be able to continue without the support of grants.

Charities and other not-for-profit organisations who are looking for grants can find more than 1,000 grants through joining The Grants Hub.

How much is a typical charity grant?

The value of a charity grant might be small, say from $100, up to thousands and even millions of dollars. This will depend on:

- The size and objectives of the funding provider
- The total funding pool
- The size of the charity organisation
- The scope of the project or initiative.

For example, a community based charity run by volunteers and/or part-time employees might start looking at small grants of a few thousand dollars. 

A large state based or national charity with an operating budget of more than $1M might be aiming for grants of $5,000 - $10,000+.

Who makes grants for charities?

Charity grants are available from many different types of funding providers, including:

- Local councils
- State government
- Federal government
- Local businesses
- Private foundations
- Public foundations (including corporations).

What’s the difference between a charity donation and a grant?

From a tax perspective, donations and grants may be treated similarly (but not necessarily always). Donations are generally made ‘’no strings attached’’. Your charity can use a donation towards whatever purpose you see fit. 

Grants almost always come with some form of expectation, requirement, or restriction. This may be that the grantor expects you to use the money toward a certain project, that they require you not to use it for certain expenses, and/or that they would like some form of report showing how the money was spent. 

Funding providers use grant agreements to outline how they expect their contribution to be treated by the recipient grantee.

What should you consider before applying for charity grants?

Before you apply for a charity grant you should consider if your organisation is ‘grant ready’. In other words:

- You have scoped out what your organisation is aiming to achieve
- You have resources that you can commit to grant seeking, grant applications, delivery of projects, and grant reporting.

Does this seem a bit like a catch-22? You may feel like you need a grant to be able to afford the resources for grants!

Here’s the rub. There is a common misconception that a grant is ‘free money’.

However, most grant programs require your time and resources, and almost every funding provider will have expectations they want you to fulfill. Grants come with strings attached.

You should expect to spend valuable time looking for grants and preparing grant applications - for example: a project plan; quotes; a budget; letters of support; and/or other materials. If your application is successful, you will also spend time on contract negotiation, project execution, and reporting to the funding provider about what you used the money for.

If you don’t do any part of this well, you may put the organisation at risk of not being able to secure grant funding in the future: it can affect your reputation.

How can you be successful with grants?

Once you are grant ready, make a plan about the types of grants you want to seek out and how you will manage your grants program. For example, smaller charities may want to focus on small, local grant opportunities. Many of these types of charities may decide to apply for state or national grants where there is a significant funding pool, increasing the chance of their success if they invest time in an application.

Some charities use volunteers, including board members, to seek out and apply for grants while larger charities may invest in an employee or contractor who is responsible for grants research and development activities. 

Regardless of size, many charities also invest in tools and services to help them on their grants journey. 

A grants finder like The Grants Hub makes it easier to find grants that align with your organisation’s objectives so that you’re only putting your time and energy into grants you’re eligible for.

Below are just a few of the many charity grants you’ll find as a member of The Grants Hub: