The Grants Hub aims to increase the capability of grant seekers in Australia to find the right grants in one place.
Drawing on insights from grants available in 2021 and our community’s needs, we’re inviting you to take a deeper look inside the grants directory at trends that will help you with your grants search. [download our full Grants Insights infographic here]
Overall Trends
The Grants Hub team updates the grants directory daily, bringing you the latest information on grant announcements from national and international funding opportunities right down to grants available only in your local area.
We include grant rounds that are open for a set period of time, as well as hundreds more grants that do not have a defined deadline.
Across all grants available in 2021, we observed that:
The grants landscape in Australia permanently shifted in response to the compounding impacts of COVID-19
There was strong activity both in the number of new grant programs and rounds
There were also still a number of grant opportunities that had been routine before the pandemic, that remained indefinitely on hold or were offered by invitation only.
Focus on Mental Health
The impact of COVID-19 was evidenced in the grants directory by a strong focus on mental health grants. ‘Mental health’ was consistently the #1 searched for term at The Grants Hub in 2021.
COVID-19 was also a popular search term - but did not make the top 10, owing to grant seekers’ more specific project-based and operational funding needs.
Trending Grant Topics
There was and continues to be a strong emphasis on local community building, youth education, equality and inclusion in grants in our grant seeking community.
Although the climate crisis was a focal point for many in 2021, grants with environment specific outcomes accounted for only 17% of grants available. This suggests to us that a connection between the environment and community is not always articulated in grant program objectives.
Who’s Who
At The Grants Hub we know that being able to find grants from different types of funding providers is important to our community. That’s why we make it easy for you to filter grants for funding provider type.
In 2021, grants we listed were available from a good variety of sources across government, philanthropy and other funders:
![[download our full Grants Insights infographic here]](/s/2021-Grant-Review-Infographic.png){kind=link}
Grants from state governments, trusts and foundations are the most sought after funding providers with our not-for-profit, community group, and business members. Happily, these grants accounted for more than 60% of all grants with closing deadlines in 2021.
Note: by taking funding provider type into consideration when comparing grants, you will maximise your chances of success and ensure you’re investing time and resources into the right opportunities. No two funders are alike; however, in general, philanthropic funding providers may have more flexibility in their grant programs than government providers - especially for smaller organisations without DGR status, and start-ups and other organisations still building a grants track record.
How do we use insights like these to maintain the strongest grants directory possible?
We have seen unprecedented grant activity this quarter - 650+ grant rounds closed, and we added more than 280 NEW grant listings. We hope this trend continues so that more funding gets to those who need it most!
We continue to monitor grant announcements, our community’s interests, trends and insights in grants to ensure we are responsive and innovative, providing the best possible grant directory and features to our members in 2022 and into the future.
If you’ve enjoyed learning more about The Grants Hub, or you have any questions about these insights, please don’t hesitate to connect with us.