What Funders Usually Ask For

The core of any grant application is a clear and compelling description of what you plan to do with the money and why it matters. Funders typically ask for:

• Project or business description — A concise explanation of what you do, what you propose to fund, and who will benefit. Avoid jargon and be specific about activities, timescales, and outputs.
• Statement of need — Evidence that the problem you are addressing is real and significant. This might include local data, beneficiary testimonials, research, or statistics. Show why your project is needed now.
• Project plan and milestones — A realistic timeline for the project with clear milestones and deliverables. Funders want to see that you have thought through the practical steps.
• Budget — A detailed breakdown of costs, distinguishing between eligible and ineligible costs, and showing all sources of income (including confirmed and anticipated match-funding). Budgets must be realistic and justified.
• Outcomes and impact — What will be different as a result of the funding? Funders increasingly want outcomes (changes for beneficiaries) rather than just outputs (activities delivered).

Financial documentation is required by almost all grant funders to assess your organisation's financial health and capacity to manage grant funds. Common requirements include:

• Most recent audited or independently examined accounts — Typically for the last one to three financial years. New organisations without accounts may need to submit management accounts or financial projections instead.
• Current year management accounts — To show your financial position between annual account filing dates.
• Cash flow forecast — For projects involving significant upfront expenditure, funders want to see that you can manage cash flow while waiting for grant payments.
• Bank statements — Some funders, particularly local authorities, require recent bank statements to verify financial position.
• Board or trustee list — For charities and community groups, a current list of trustees or directors is usually required.

Keep your financial documents up to date and ready to submit. An application that stalls because you cannot produce required documents quickly may miss a deadline.

Public funders in particular require evidence that your organisation is properly constituted and governed. Documents commonly requested include:

• Constitution or governing document — For charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs), trusts, or unincorporated associations, this is the constitution or trust deed. For companies, it is the memorandum and articles of association.
• Charity registration number — If you are registered with the Charity Commission (England and Wales), OSCR (Scotland), or CCNI (Northern Ireland).
• Company registration number — If you are a registered company, provide your Companies House registration number.
• Policies — Depending on the funder and project type, you may be asked for safeguarding, equal opportunities, data protection, and/or health and safety policies.
• Insurance certificates — Some funders require evidence of public liability and employer's liability insurance.

Funders increasingly expect grant recipients to monitor project delivery and evaluate impact. Your application should describe how you will:

• Collect data on outputs (activities, participants, products) during the project
• Measure outcomes (changes for beneficiaries or the wider community)
• Report to the funder at agreed intervals (typically quarterly or at project milestones)
• Share learning from the project more widely

For smaller grants, monitoring requirements are usually straightforward — a final report with a financial statement. For larger grants, funders may require a formal evaluation by an independent evaluator, Theory of Change documentation, or an agreed outcomes framework such as Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis.

Be honest in your application about evaluation capacity. Over-promising on monitoring and evaluation and then failing to deliver is a red flag that can affect future funding relationships.