Grantmaking in a COVID-19 world
The novel coronavirus has caused an unprecedented global health and economic crisis that is…
Revolutionising Grantmaking
SmartyGrants Users
Forms Submitted
Grants Administered (per year)
$7 billion+
What people say...
“Your on-line system is less daunting, more user-friendly than similar systems. In particular, the capacity to save work paragraph by paragraph mitigates the risk of losing hours of work by an accidental touch of the wrong key.”
“We had a committee session yesterday that finalised 99% of the applications and the overall comment was how easy SmartyGrants had made this process.”
“I am enjoying (using SmartyGrants) so much. You have thought of everything. The videos and text help are comprehensive, and the help desk is spot on.”
“We’d never used the program before and had to stand it up in breakneck speed. It was a resounding success and the system was so easy to use and made an impossible task possible.”
Now there’s a new currency that’s powering social reform
Our Community’s Innovation Lab is where we seed ideas to do old things better or new things first. Learn more about our latest data projects and our upcoming events and meetups.
If you want your funds to go to the right place, start with the beneficiaries
Posted on 04 May 2023
A research centre working to understand and combat the scourge of child sexual abuse believes that…
Grants watch: Major audits, investigations and reviews
Posted on 04 May 2023
Recent developments related to grants investigations and findings, regularly updated.
Grants assessment program is tuned to its audience
Posted on 04 May 2023
When it comes to funding community broadcasters it makes sense to go to the experts, and that means…
Resource equips grantmakers for measuring, evaluating and learning
Posted on 04 May 2023
As the old saying goes, "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." In evaluation,…
Awards nomination for SmartyGrants Outcomes Engine
Posted on 04 May 2023
The SmartyGrants Outcomes Engine has been shortlisted for a national social sector award, after…
Entry 4371869
Posted on 01 May 2023
Not-for-profits and charities are leaping onto the ChatGPT bandwagon for a range of reasons, and…
Grants-sorting tool opens up new insights for funders
Posted on 30 Mar 2023
Australia’s first automatic grants classification tool will give funders the power to instantly…
Big funder wants a bigger impact
Posted on 21 Feb 2023
One of Australia’s biggest philanthropy funders, Equity Trustees, has reaffirmed its commitment to…
Social impact stars show how groups can better measure their work
Posted on 21 Feb 2023
A housing organisation, an outfit helping more women into business, a regional project to help…
How can grantmakers not miss out the smaller not for profits?
Posted on 14 Feb 2023
Small and medium not-for-profits, those that turn over less than $0.5 million and less than $3m a…
New platform for grantseekers a boost to their fundraising powers
Posted on 02 Feb 2023
The go-to tool for grantmakers, SmartyGrants, has developed a platform for grantseekers too.
Scientists fine-tune our social sector definitions
Posted on 21 Dec 2022
An updated version of the SmartyGrants social sector classification system, CLASSIE, continues the…
Queensland boosts transparency and grants maturity with $2.8 billion review
Posted on 02 Nov 2022
The Queensland Audit Office has generated a taste of the future with its recent audit Improving…
When are 'outcomes' not really measuring anything at all?
Posted on 04 Oct 2022
Just one in four “grantseeker outcomes” is actually an outcome, an analysis of data entered into…
Grants conference keynote: It’s time for pork barrelling to end
Posted on 02 Sep 2022
Australian grantmakers at SmartyGrants’ annual conference for funders were the first to hear…
Grants gurus swap notes at the 2022 Grantmaking Intelligence Conference
Posted on 02 Sep 2022
This year’s sold-out SmartyGrants Grantmaking Intelligence Conference continued to build on the…
Grant nerds’ great tips for better funding
Posted on 02 Sep 2022
What do you get if you arrange hundreds of Australia’s most capable grantmaking professionals in a…
A sneak peek at future SmartyGrants improvements
Posted on 01 Sep 2022
One of the most popular sessions of the 2022 SmartyGrants Grantmaking Intelligence Conference was…
Grantmakers already know they need to be more data driven, the more important question to ask is how
Posted on 29 Aug 2022
Grantmakers understand well the role that effective data practices can play to increase the impact…
SmartyGrants stats report reveals grants funding roller coaster
Posted on 11 Feb 2022
A landmark study into more than $6 billion in grants funding over eight years involving more than…
Not-for-profits rely on technology too – so where’s the funding?
Posted on 31 Jan 2022
Grantmakers are not keeping up with the demand for funding for information and communications…
SmartyGrants joins global battle to ‘fix the form’
Posted on 13 Dec 2021
As a global campaign to streamline and simplify grantmaking applications dubbed “Fix the Form”…
Being a public sector manager in times of crisis
Posted on 24 Jun 2021
New research explains why COVID-19 is a "game changer for public administration and leadership".
Data collaboration: Knowledge is power and it’s time to share
Posted on 15 Mar 2021
Not-for-profit data experts Seer Data & Analytics say there are good reasons why for-purpose…
Being a public sector manager in times of crisis
Posted on 16 Dec 2020
How can you manage stakeholders, political masters and collaborative networks during times of…
SmartyGrants and the COVID-19 emergency
Posted on 21 Sep 2020
When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Australia, grantmakers were quick to respond.
Social impact measurement awards now open – with extra impact
Posted on 17 Sep 2020
How do you measure the social impact of anything when the nation has been thrown into disarray by…
COVID-19 lessons are close to home for survey prize winner
Posted on 17 Sep 2020
Improvements to your grantmaking can come from unexpected quarters, and the onset of the pandemic…
Equitable grantmaking: Why you shouldn’t treat all grant applicants equally
Posted on 17 Sep 2020
Recent global events have brought equity back to the top of the agenda. The COVID-19 pandemic has…
Innovation Lab data scientist selected for prestigious leadership program.
Posted on 08 Sep 2020
Our Community Innovation Lab data scientist Paola Oliva-Altamirano has been selected for a…
Grantmakers shift focus, funding and processes in their COVID-19 response
Posted on 13 Aug 2020
Enter the SmartyGrants Grantmaking Toolkit, brought to you by the team behind behind Australia’s…
Commonwealth, states and territories flag more grants audits
Posted on 20 Jul 2020
Grantmaking professionals can expect greater scrutiny of their programs, with state and territory…
Grantmakers shift focus, funding and processes in their COVID-19 response
Posted on 16 Jul 2020
Funders are being forced to make big changes to maintain their effectiveness in the wake of the…
Tips for funding climate change mitigation – a practical guide for funders
Posted on 02 Jun 2020
The world is at a climate crossroads. The science is unequivocal: we need to limit global warming…
Putting a dollar value on your social impact: a primer
Posted on 02 Jun 2020
One of the biggest challenges for grantmakers is proving that the grants they fund have the desired…
Sports grants controversy puts national entities on notice
Posted on 10 Mar 2020
A high-profile audit of the handling of the Community Sport Infrastructure Grant Program continues…
Upcoming on the Festival of Community Directors calendar
Posted on 05 Mar 2020
The Festival of Community Directors is well underway for season 2020, and over the next two months…
SmartyGrants anniversary: we've come a long way in 10 years
Posted on 01 Mar 2020
At Our Community, we’ve been working with grantmakers and grantseekers since the 1990s, and just…
Federal volunteer grants now by invitation only
Posted on 01 Mar 2020
Politicians will have increased powers to select grant applicants after changes to a Commonwealth…
First winner of the LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Diploma of Governance scholarship round announced!
Posted on 24 Feb 2020
Our Community's data science program: Widening the circle
Posted on 07 Feb 2020
At Our Community, we've always had an outward focus. We aim to share the lessons we learn to…
Grantmaking in the wake of a disaster
Posted on 06 Feb 2020
Australia is in the midst of an unprecedented bushfire crisis, but how should grantmakers respond?
Data hackathon sparks new fundraising model for climate-change group
Posted on 05 Feb 2020
Not-for-profits have nothing to fear and everything to gain from data science, but they need to be…
CLASSIEfier: From scikit-learn to SageMaker in multilabel text classification
Posted on 05 Feb 2020
Impact Fund's big ambitions
Posted on 09 Jan 2020
The Australian Communities Foundation has directed its Impact Fund carefully in 2019, with a…
Philanthropic fund giant's shift to outcomes-oriented grantmaking
Posted on 17 Dec 2019
Having distributed more than $124 million worth of grants in the 2018-19 financial year, Equity…
Data visualization: ICDA Not-for-Profit Governance Roadmap 2020
Posted on 04 Dec 2019
In December 2019, the Institute of Community Directors Australia launched a major study into…
Capacity-building grants find the sweet spot for NFPs
Posted on 01 Dec 2019
As part of a regular feature in Grants Management Intelligence, we’ve asked fellow Our Community…
What makes a good grantmaker?
Posted on 21 Nov 2019
You would expect that the Grantmaker of the Year would have a good handle on what makes a good…
Festival of Community Directors to return bigger and better in 2020
Posted on 18 Nov 2019
As the door closes on the 2019 Festival of Community Directors, the Institute of Community…
Communities in Control Conference
Posted on 01 Nov 2019
The talent that will illuminate Australia's most important community conference has been locked in,…
Second Virtual Disability Conference
Posted on 20 Oct 2019
The Festival of Community Directors is dedicated to providing the best tips, tools and training to…
How Sunsuper makes grants shine
Posted on 18 Oct 2019
Our Community sister enterprise, the Funding Centre, helps charities, not-for-profits and…
Grant partnerships will avoid the pain
Posted on 09 Oct 2019
Port Phillip Community Group executive officer Karen Sait has sat on both sides of the table when…
Adelaide council's grants innovation
Posted on 08 Oct 2019
The City of Onkaparinga on Adelaide's southern fringe takes its name from an indigenous word for…
Not evaluating your grants? It'll cost you
Posted on 08 Oct 2019
The Ian Potter Foundation is building a strong reputation for its laser-like focus on evaluation…
When you're asking for evaluation, put yourself in 'Sonia's' shoes
Posted on 07 Oct 2019
Impact specialist Andrew Callaghan from the Australian Social Value Bank (ASVB) urges grantmakers…
Talking innovation: Bendigo Invention + Innovation Festival
Posted on 02 Oct 2019
Last month I headed to Bendigo in central Victoria to take part in the Bendigo Invention +…
Using machine learning to paint a picture of social sector trends
Posted on 02 Oct 2019
The resident data scientist at Our Community's Innovation Lab, Dr Paola Oliva-Altamirano, spoke at…
Five-step plan helps ease the data burden
Posted on 25 Sep 2019
It's no secret that measuring the impact of a grants program means you will need to collect a lot…
Are your grants costing more than they're worth?
Posted on 24 Sep 2019
A UK study that's crunched the numbers on charities there has found that up to 46% of grants…
Great grantmaker team's future focus
Posted on 17 Sep 2019
Australia's best grantmakers aren't short of ideas for providing funding more effectively, with the…
Canadian research reveals funders' evaluation role
Posted on 16 Sep 2019
Extensive research into the state of evaluation in Canada's charities has examined trends,…
Grantmakers fine tune skills, nous and networks
Posted on 21 Aug 2019
Hundreds of Australia’s leading grantmakers have recharged their enthusiasm for one of the toughest…
Top grantmakers shine a light on our funding future
Posted on 12 Aug 2019
A team of NSW Government grantmakers overseeing a heritage grants budget of around $3 million per…
SmartyStats reveal how applicants are lodging forms
Posted on 03 Jul 2019
Analysis of data on applicants using the SmartyGrants system reveals that more than half of all…
Insights on core funding from UK foundation
Posted on 27 Jun 2019
When it comes to granting core funding, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation stands out from the pack.…
US grant organisation's push to boost grants management professionals
Posted on 26 Jun 2019
If you don't know about PEAK Grantmaking's Grants Management Professional Competency Model, you…
What it means to buy into the 'change economy'
Posted on 25 Jun 2019
I think many of us can agree that oftentimes the reporting relationship between grantees and…
Why funders and the not-for-profits they help 'need to talk'
Posted on 19 Jun 2019
United States research reveals a disconnection between funders' perceptions of the way they're…
Are social impact bonds still the grants of the future?
Posted on 18 Jun 2019
A few years ago, it seemed that everyone was talking about social impact bonds, a "pay for success"…
Measure twice, cut once: Why social impact measurement is an essential skill
Posted on 18 Jun 2019
Grantmakers are in prime position to steer their masters towards best practice when it comes to…
Don't sap the life out of the organisations you're trying to help
Posted on 06 Jun 2019
Grantmakers in the United States can no longer escape the latest in “disruptors”, with the growth…
Funders faster to reply to applications
Posted on 06 Jun 2019
Federal government agencies have made the biggest strides in reducing the time it takes to make a…
Assess yourself: Time for a grants health check?
Posted on 20 May 2019
The Australian Institute of Grants Management is keen to help you get the most out of your grants…
Five grants funding trends to watch
Posted on 18 Apr 2019
At the Australian Institute of Grants Management, we're constantly learning about new ways of…
Five ways to improve the social impact of your grants
Posted on 19 Mar 2019
Impact specialist Andrew Callaghan of the Australian Social Value Bank reveals some simple concepts…
Buzzwords watch: Here's the jargon phrases you'll keep hearing in 2019
Posted on 18 Mar 2019
Self-professed "philanthropy wonk" Dr Lucy Bernholz publishes an annual forecast about the way…
Whatever happened to evidence-based policy making?
Posted on 21 Dec 2018
Few in government deny that evidence-based policy-making is important to good outcomes, and…
A better measure of value: The Universal Commons
Posted on 21 Dec 2018
Leading Australian philanthropist Alan Schwartz is tackling one of the hardest challenges the…
How evaluation can kill: Why we can't just keep evaluating to justify
Posted on 19 Dec 2018
Suicide, family violence, homelessness, inter-generational poverty: they are all huge social…
Cracking the code: Funders the key to unlocking evidence-based practice
Posted on 17 Dec 2018
Our Community's Chaos Controller and executive director Kathy Richardson examines how we might…
Don't hate me, I'm a grantwriter
Posted on 10 Dec 2018
The founder and director of Grant Professionals, Robert Palmaricciotti, provides specialist grant…
Grantwriters: Villains or modern-day heroes?
Posted on 23 Nov 2018
Many grantmakers see professional grantwriters as siphoning valuable funds from grants programs,…
Transforming your intentions into outcomes
Posted on 20 Nov 2018
As the grantmaking world comes to grips with the rapid rise of outcomes measurement, there's no…
Tune in to the power of community
Posted on 15 Nov 2018
If anyone doubted the power of community to connect us, keep us healthier, and battle disadvantage,…
The future of grantmaking
Posted on 09 Nov 2018
I want to start by making a confession. I'm a grant nerd. For five years I edited The Australian…
Grantmakers look to future at sold-out conference
Posted on 25 Sep 2018
The two-day ‘Prepare for Impact’ Grantmaking in Australia conference at Melbourne’s RACV club last…
How to connect with under-represented communities
Posted on 21 Sep 2018
Tailoring your communication style is critical if you want to connect with groups that are…
Grantseekers rate their funder's performance
Posted on 13 Sep 2018
Each year, as part of the Grants in Australia research study we ask grantseekers to rate the…
High trust, low-doc: Is this the future of grantmaking?
Posted on 04 Sep 2018
In a world of grantmaking often spun around lengthy applications, mid-term evaluations, detailed…
DSS to revamp grants for families and children
Posted on 17 Aug 2018
The Federal Department of Social Services (DSS) is expected to make major changes to its $217…
Are you granting wishes or spreading curses, when it comes to evaluation support?
Posted on 17 Aug 2018
Once upon a time, there was a grantseeker fairy godmother, who provided more funding for…
Reef grant is hardly gold standard
Posted on 17 Aug 2018
The Federal Government has just given close on half a billion dollars in a grant to the Great…
Who is evaluating the evaluators?
Posted on 17 Aug 2018
Social impact measurement isn't new, but the demand for quality practitioners is growing rapidly.
Why those holding the purse strings must do data better
Posted on 17 Aug 2018
Dr Lucy Bernholz, a world-recognised thinker on digital and data trends, says funders must take…
Winners sum up mood in biggest grants survey
Posted on 02 Aug 2018
This year's Grants in Australia study is set to generate the most detailed insights into the state…
How are you measuring your social impact?
Posted on 10 May 2018
There are some big players in the world of social impact reporting, with think tanks and technology…
Are you measuring what matters?
Posted on 07 May 2018
This is a new data-driven era, and if you claim that your grants programs have had an impact, you…
Meet the trainer: Gina Cirillo
Posted on 04 May 2018
You're Our Community's principal trainer for SmartyGrants. What's SmartyGrants? SmartyGrants is…
Good grants need a kernel of truth, says Squirrel
Posted on 04 May 2018
The unforgettably-named Squirrel Main – research and evaluation manager at the Ian Potter…
How FRRR is taking grants to the next level
Posted on 24 Apr 2018
The Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) has reviewed more than 26,000 grant…
The Geelong Project's outcomes focus gets results
Posted on 19 Apr 2018
How a small city slashed homelessness, boosted school results and became a model for the world
The dangers of data on autopilot, a 'biased' view
Posted on 19 Apr 2018
At Our Community – the home of the Australian Institute of Grants Management, SmartyGrants, and the…
ACNC's grant study reveals big surprises
Posted on 15 Apr 2018
Australian grantmaking charities provide more than $4 billion annually in grants and donations, and…
Astrophysicist turns her mind to the grants universe
Posted on 09 Apr 2018
Galaxy formation? That’s nothing. Try understanding the impact of grants.
No rush, give me the good oil about quick response grants
Posted on 30 Mar 2017
Quick is good. Ordinary grants aren't marketed as "slow response grants", but they may as well be.
In case of emergency, activate grants
Posted on 30 Mar 2017
As Cyclone Debbie carves a path of destruction in north east Queensland, authorities there have…
"Insufficient and unsustainable" - approach to disaster-related philanthropy and grantmaking not working: US research
Posted on 29 Nov 2016
Nearly 75% of disaster-related grants and philanthropic funding from US-based foundations is…
Through Fire and Flood: Q&A with Natalie Egleton, FRRR CEO
Posted on 05 Sep 2016
The AIGM recently chatted with FRRR CEO Natalie Egleton about disaster recovery grantmaking,…
Inefficient, not Sustainable - PC scathing of Australia's natural disaster funding arrangements
Posted on 23 Sep 2014
Current government-led natural disaster recovery funding efforts are "not efficient, equitable or…