The future of grantmaking

I helped found the Australian Institute of Grants Management (AIGM) and was part of the team that envisaged and built SmartyGrants.

I apply for grants on behalf of some of the not-for-profit organisations I'm involved with, and I serve on grants assessment panels as well.

I've read auditors' reports that have picked grants practices apart and I've listened to so much grantseeker "grants rage" that my straight hair turned curly. I've listened to grantmakers' "grants rage" too, at countless conferences, events and AIGM Musters.

Before I joined Our Community in 2003 I had no idea that there was such a thing as a grant. But over the years this whole grantmaking thing has gotten under my skin.

As a result, I now care deeply about the work, and I understand how hard it is, and how rewarding it can be. Above all, I understand the enormous difference grants can make to the world when you get it right.

While I accept I'm no grants oracle, I've been able to develop a bird's eye view of the sector during that time. Here's what I've learnt.

The grants industry: How far we've come

Grantmakers like to say, "If you've seen one grantmaker, you've seen one grantmaker." Each one tells us that they are unique. But if you take a broader look, you will see that you're more alike than you think.

But before we look to the future, let me make a few observations about the journey here.

A grantmaking community

Fifteen years ago, it was hard to find a community of grantmakers. Philanthropy was a thing, but government grantmakers, by and large, tended to define themselves through other roles, such as community development officers or economic development officers or administrators.

Back then, people were scared of putting themselves out there as people who knew a thing or two about getting money from A to B.

That's changed. And our most recent sold-out conference was evidence of that, where the one thread that drew those delegates together was delivering money via grants.

It may seem a subtle change, but I think it's significant. It's an acknowledgement that grantmaking is a profession, and some would say an art. That there are particular skills involved, and you can be good or bad at it. And that factor - how well you do it - can make an enormous difference to how much value is derived from those precious funds that are offered up to the cause.

Siloes breaking down

The rigid lines that once separated grantmakers are dissolving. Once, philanthropic, corporate and community grantmakers didn't associate with government grantmakers, and vice versa. They just didn't think they had anything in common. But it also meant opportunities for sharing information, lessons and even funding were lost.

We still have a bit of a way to go on that front, but I do think we're making progress.

Higher standards, better governance

The field has largely moved on in terms of governance, with discretionary funds (councillor or MP slush funds) and election war chests becoming harder to find.

Guidelines are becoming clearer - at the AIGM we're now mostly able to draw a line from policy outcome goals to application and assessment forms.

Grant rules are clearer now - people know more about timelines and process. And the outcome of that is - generally - fairer, more transparent, more effective grantmaking.

More respectful relationships

We've also seen an erosion of once widespread "master-servant" relationships between grantmakers and recipients. Grantmakers largely seem to have come around to the view that their grantees also have skin in the game and something valuable to offer.

At the AIGM we often hear from grantmakers asking how to do a better job of working with grantees, and to ease their administrative load.

Grantmakers are also taking note of the clarion call from grantseekers to improve feedback about unsuccessful applications. There's still work to do, but the situation is improving, and I have observed a genuine desire by most grantmakers to improve.

Embracing technology

Technology has played a big role in the changing grantmaking landscape over the past decade and a half. Our annual grants survey noted in 2013 that grantseekers' preferences for application forms had shifted to online forms, and most grantmakers have responded.

Most grantmakers have made the shift away from paper and spreadsheets, and into online systems like SmartyGrants, creating enormous efficiencies. That has led to a greater awareness of, and emphasis on, data governance. We're part of that discussion, given that we hold so much of the data that you and your grantees produce through the SmartyGrants system. We talk about data governance and ethics daily at Our Community, and we are working hard to stay well within the lines of what grantmakers and grantees rightly expect.

Top trends in the sector: how the AIGM is involved

Outcomes the big move in grantmaking

My top pick on this front is the sharp reorientation towards outcomes-focused grantmaking.

Nobody knows precisely how much money is given away in grants each year in Australia, though by pulling together figures from various sources, we've come up with an estimate of about $80 billion.

We all have an obligation to make sure that that money is going to the right places, for the right projects, and to know if we are creating the outcomes we're aiming for.

That's not to say that no one can ever try anything new or risky - I'm a big fan of innovation - but I think that people are growing intolerant of programs that just throw money at the wall to see what'll stick.

And with better and better evaluation models and data collection and analysis tools coming online all the time, we're really running out of excuses.

We are working on a system to help grantmakers and grantees to learn more about outcomes, and to use that knowledge to make better funding decisions.

We've called that tool the Outcomes Engine and we plan to have have something pretty exciting to show you next year. Obviously, we're taking our time with this one, because it's very easy to stuff it up. Contact us if you'd like to know more. Part of the project involves mapping, which I'll discuss later in this article.

Visualisation changing the way we see data

Visualisations are reshaping how we perceive the world and helping us make more sense of the data we're all producing mounds of, every minute of every day.

This includes infographics, short and often animated videos, and "scrollers" such as those used on news sites.

Grantmakers, too, are starting to benefit from the growing ubiquity of data visualisation tools.

One of our first efforts was to release a dashboard into SmartyGrants last year showing insights about application submission numbers, application approval and submission rates, which focus areas money is flowing to, and which population groups are benefitting. We're expecting to add more "widgets" as we can.

Our newest tool is SmartyGrants Maps, part of the Outcome Engine project, which lets grantmakers see their grants geographically, whether across a region or a particular point. We expect the tool will enable grantmakers to learn about over- and under-funded areas, or areas with unusual application levels.

Collegiality

Many grantmakers are natural connectors and collaborators. But this impulse appears to be growing, with more openness to initiatives to share resources, contacts and knowledge.

Our sold-out conference was a strong indication that people want to learn from their peers, while our networking events and Grantmaker Musters across Australia and New Zealand are well attended.

There has also been a spike in activity on our online grantmaking forum. AIGM members and SmartyGrants users have free access to the many good discussions about issues such as speeding up processes, tracking KPIs and many more.

Data and technology: Come up to the lab

Much of our most interesting work involves data science initiatives, driven by members of our Innovation Lab. You can read more about their activities elsewhere in this edition, and by visiting The Innovation Lab