6 Resources That Give Charities a Stronger Position When Applying for Grants

Securing grant funding depends on far more than the strength of a written application. Funders evaluate considerably more than the text submitted on a form. Their assessment is ultimately a judgement about whether the applying organisation is credible, financially sound, properly governed, and genuinely equipped to deliver on the outcomes it has committed to.

Charities that achieve consistent success in competitive grant rounds have typically invested in the underlying systems that make that credibility apparent. They can generate accurate financial reports at short notice, substantiate their impact with data rather than anecdotes, and present their organisation in a way that builds funder confidence well before any formal meeting. The following six tools each support one or more of these capabilities.

1. Sage Intacct: Financial Management and Fund Accounting

Before awarding funds, grant makers scrutinise how a charity handles the money it already holds. The capacity to produce accurate reports showing income and expenditure at fund level, to demonstrate that previously awarded restricted grants were spent in line with their conditions, and to present a well-reasoned budget with transparent financial assumptions has become a baseline requirement among serious funders rather than anything that sets an organisation apart.

Sage Intacct is designed around the fund accounting principles central to charity finance, making it practical to track expenditure against individual grants, generate the financial reports funders need both at application stage and during the grant period, and uphold the governance standards that give grant makers confidence in an organisation's stewardship. Charities that cannot produce clear fund-level financial information are at a material disadvantage before any element of the written application has been considered.

Why it matters: Financial credibility is evaluated across the entire grant relationship, not only when the application is submitted. The right accounting system keeps that credibility visible at every stage.

2. Eventbrite: Event Management and Community Engagement Platform

Funders focused on community or place-based work, in particular, want to see genuine evidence that an organisation is embedded in and trusted by the communities it exists to serve. Documented engagement through workshops, public consultations, events, and community gatherings is among the most persuasive forms of this evidence, but it must be quantified to carry weight in an application.

Eventbrite offers a straightforward platform for organising and promoting events, and produces attendance records and registration data automatically, materials that can be referenced directly in grant applications and progress reports as concrete evidence of community reach. This data is generated as a natural byproduct of running events the charity would be holding regardless.

Why it matters: Quantified community engagement evidence is growing in importance for funders committed to participatory approaches. Eventbrite creates that evidence without requiring any additional effort beyond the events themselves.

3. Benevity: Corporate Giving and Social Responsibility Platform

A number of institutional funders view established corporate partnerships positively, both as a form of external validation and as an indicator of diversified income. Benevity is a corporate social responsibility and workplace giving platform used by hundreds of major companies to administer charitable giving programmes, employee volunteering, and community investment activity.

Being listed and active on Benevity opens access to corporate giving budgets that many charities are not currently reaching, and the corporate relationships that develop through the platform provide tangible evidence of the broad stakeholder support that grant makers consider reassuring when assessing an organisation's resilience.

Why it matters: Corporate funding relationships signal external credibility and income diversification, two factors that consistently strengthen a charity's standing in competitive grant processes.

4. Canva for Nonprofits: Communications and Design Platform

Grant makers draw impressions of organisations from every item of communication they receive, including the clarity and professionalism of application documents, annual reports, and any supporting materials submitted alongside them. A charity that presents its work through well-designed, visually consistent materials signals that it communicates with care and appreciates the importance of representing its cause compellingly.

Canva for Nonprofits gives registered charities access to Canva's full professional design platform at no cost, enabling them to produce high-quality application documents, impact reports, and presentations for funders without requiring a design budget or an in-house designer.

Why it matters: Polished presentation alone cannot win a grant, but weak or inconsistent presentation can introduce doubts that damage an otherwise sound application. Canva for Nonprofits removes that risk without adding financial cost.

5. Impact Mapper: Impact Measurement and Reporting Platform

The move toward outcomes-based funding has gathered considerable pace in recent years. Funders increasingly ask not just whether activities were carried out, but whether those activities produced measurable change in the lives of the people or communities the charity is there to serve. Organisations with a structured, data-driven approach to measuring outcomes are evaluated very differently from those whose evidence base relies primarily on anecdote and selected case studies.

Impact Mapper is a dedicated platform for impact measurement that supports charities in building measurement frameworks, gathering outcome data, and producing the evidenced impact reports that funders now routinely expect at the application stage, at interim points, and when the grant closes.

Why it matters: Demonstrating impact is no longer a quality that distinguishes a strong application from a weaker one. It is a standard requirement. A systematic approach supported by a purpose-built platform meets that requirement reliably.

6. Salesforce Nonprofit: CRM and Stakeholder Management

Institutional grant makers are generally more willing to fund organisations that can show broad support from a range of stakeholders, rather than a structural dependence on a single funder or income stream. A charity with an expanding individual donor base, active corporate relationships, and documented community backing presents a more resilient financial picture than one that depends primarily on institutional grants.

Salesforce Nonprofit is a CRM platform developed specifically for the charity sector, bringing together the management of donors, volunteers, corporate supporters, and beneficiaries in a single system. The data it holds on supporter growth, retention rates, and engagement levels is directly applicable in applications that ask charities to describe income diversification and the depth of their community relationships.

Why it matters: Stakeholder support and the breadth of income sources carry increasing weight in competitive grant assessment. A well-maintained CRM makes that evidence consistently accessible and easy to present.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much weight do filed accounts carry in a funder's assessment process?
Considerable weight. Most grant makers examine a charity's most recently filed accounts as a standard element of due diligence, reviewing reserves levels, the spread of income, key expenditure lines, and whether the accounts include any audit qualifications or matters of emphasis. Accounts that are submitted late, carry qualifications, or reveal financial patterns that prompt concern can significantly reduce the likelihood of success, irrespective of how well the written application is constructed. Producing accurate, timely accounts is a fundamental obligation rather than an optional standard.

What reserves position do funders generally look for?
Expectations differ across funders, but most want to see that the charity holds a documented reserves policy, that trustees have made a considered judgement about an appropriate level, and that the current position can be clearly explained and defended. The specific figure matters less than the quality of the governance thinking that underpins it and the confidence with which it can be communicated in a funding conversation.

Can smaller charities compete effectively with larger organisations in open grant rounds?
Yes, particularly where the funder has a stated interest in supporting smaller or community-led organisations. For smaller charities, the priority is ensuring that the quality of their financial management, governance, and impact evidence is proportionate to their scale but demonstrably rigorous. A small, well-organised charity with clear fund-level financial records and systematic outcome data will consistently outperform a larger organisation with weaker governance in grant rounds suited to their profile.

How should a charity approach preparation for a due diligence visit?
A site visit offers the opportunity to demonstrate in person everything that a written application can only describe. Being ready to walk funders through financial management processes, show how outcomes are tracked and measured, and introduce key staff and, where possible, beneficiaries all reinforce the written case. The person responsible for finance should be prepared to demonstrate the systems in place for fund accounting and grant reporting — an area where Sage Intacct's fund-level reporting capability is particularly relevant.

What is the most frequently cited avoidable reason that strong charities are turned down?
Inadequate financial presentation is the failure point mentioned most consistently. This includes accounts that do not clearly reflect how restricted funds have been managed, budgets that sit disconnectedly from the charity's financial history, and an inability to explain the financial model of a proposed project with confidence and precision. Financial management systems that generate clear, accurate, fund-level reporting address this weakness directly.