There have been many stand-out moments for me throughout the life of The Grants Hub. Turning ten is another one.
I always believed that The Grants Hub had the potential to be big. The very idea for the business came from the sheer volume of need there was, and still is, for an easy-to-use grants directory to serve Australia's grant-seeking community.
New grants continue to be launched, new rounds are opened for existing grant programs, and deadlines shift on an almost daily basis. Finding, tracking, and maintaining Australia's (arguably) best and most loved grants directory is an epic mission.
With 60,000+ charities, 500,000+ community groups, 9,500+ schools, 70,000+ sporting clubs, 500+ local governments, and innumerable businesses and government subsidiaries, Australia's grant-seeking community is buzzing with activity.
Finding grants isn't a game for many of these groups, or just a lovely ‘little extra”. For most organisations, grants are essential to the daily operation (let alone growth) of their work.
For the homeless to be fed, we need grants.
For animals to be rescued, we need grants.
For schools to deliver much more than the minimum, we need grants.
For medical cures for sick kids to be found, we need grants.
It's this community of self-sacrificing, big-hearted people that I’ve had the privilege of serving through The Grants Hub over the last ten years.
Here are just ten of my stand-out moments from the past ten years:
1. From paper to product
My first sketchings of what The Grants Hub would look like were done on my daughter’s roll of IKEA paper on our dining room table. I roped in my brother, who is a Web Designer, and he knew a Developer. The three of us set out to turn my idea into a reality.
We designed and built The Grants Hub after work hours. They both had other full-time jobs, and I was the mum of a toddler. I spent most evenings manually adding hundreds of grants into a spreadsheet, and it would later be imported into our CMS (Content Management System - basically, the information database of the Directory).
Those grants kept changing while The Grants Hub was being built, so I would go back over them, again and again, to check for accuracy and keep updating the details.
My husband, Justin, and I sold our family home. The small amount of money we had after paying out our mortgage funded the build of The Grants Hub.
It was a busy, but totally amazing, time of life.
2. The week before launch
The week before launch, the search didn’t work. At all.
I would type something into the search field, let’s say “children”, and get literally no results. Step one of product testing = fail. To say it was a stressful moment is an understatement.
There I was, 38 weeks pregnant with an almost 2-year-old running around, with The Grants Hub’s launch running so late it was reaching the “it’s now or next year" moment. I mean, who would launch a business so close to giving birth?!
I had been two weeks overdue with my first baby, so I hedged my bets on my second pregnancy also going past 40 weeks. If I could launch at any time up to 39 weeks, I was willing to push ahead. If it was any time after that, I knew I’d have to delay until this unborn baby was much older.
He ended up being five days overdue.
I mean, who wouldn’t launch a business at 39 weeks with child number two?!
3. The launch
The short story is we fixed the search - enough to launch anyway. We knew there was room for improvement, like any tech product, but we also knew that it was doable further down the track. Looking back now with the knowledge of what was just around the corner (skip ahead to #5 if you can’t wait), I’m thankful that I didn’t let perfectionism get in the way. This is an ongoing battle for me, and I need to frequently remind myself that we value excellence at The Grants Hub, not perfection.
We set the website live, I sent an email to let ‘everyone’ on the list know, and I went and watched ‘The Internship’ at a cinema. There were only about 200 people on the email list for launch day, so it was too nerve-wracking to sit and see if even one person would click on the website and sign up for a free trial.
To come out of that movie and see that people had already signed up for free trials was an incredible moment.
4. The first member
Mind blown, truly thankful, forever grateful, etched in my memory.
These are just a few thoughts that come to mind when I think about Concern Australia, who became The Grants Hub’s very first paying member. And you know what? They’re still members today - a testament to the incredible team of people who have worked at The Grants Hub over the past ten years.
5. Adversity, right from the get-go
For those who have been part of this community for a while, you will know that The Grants Hub’s story isn’t without adversity in the early days.
The son I was very pregnant with at launch was diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease when he was only a couple of weeks old. He had emergency open heart surgery at four weeks, and a second open heart surgery at seven months.
I found myself in the first year of business, with two kids and two open heart surgeries under my belt. There were endless cardiology, paediatric and GP appointments. Most days I would wake up wondering if this was another day we would end up back in hospital. I took an overnight bag with me to most cardiology appointments, in case my son would be admitted instead of being able to go home again.
The earliest milestones of The Grants Hub are all very closely aligned with my son’s health and trauma. I have a mixed sense of achievement yet also a ‘squiggly’ feeling when these milestones come around.
I’ve written more about business and adversity before here on The Grants Hub’s blog, and also on my own personal blog, which you might like to read. For the sake of this ten-year post, I’d just like to encourage anyone facing adversity that you can get through really hard personal situations, with a business or not-for-profit still standing on the other side. It’s definitely not easy, but if there’s any way, try not to lose yourself or something you’ve poured your heart and soul into and still believe in.
For me, it was important to have something bigger to focus on that was outside of the situation I was facing with my son. Especially something that was doing good for others.
Post open-heart surgery, six weeks following the launch of The Grants Hub.
6. Looking at the first version of our website ten years later and knowing it’s still true
Here’s a snapshot from our ‘About’ page ten years ago:
What We Do
Helping great projects get funded is what motivates us. We are continually adding new grants, updating deadlines, making sure information provided is accurate and ultimately, working hard to take the pain out of finding grants.
There is nothing we like more than hearing back from satisfied members who have found funding for their project. This could be a new community garden, re-painted wall, restoration of a heritage building, funding for a business plan, instruments for a school, an allowance for an artist, fence for a farm, support for a research project, equipment to care for animals or a new facility for a community.
It could also be planting trees, running a multicultural event, training young people in new skills, helping the homeless, buying sports equipment for a local hockey club, funding a new arts facility for a primary school, helping an organisation or business become more accessible or attracting tourists to a region. It is one thing listing the grants available for these projects, but another thing altogether when we hear that they have been funded.
What Drives Us
Simply put, we love to help create vibrant communities, thriving businesses and inspired individuals.
This is so poignant to me, because we could have the exact same summary on our website today, except that we now have thousands of grants listed, not hundreds.
The mission and heart of The Grants Hub has remained the same since 2013, whether it was me working alone, or now with a team of people.
7. Launching the Grants Uncovered podcast
In 2021, I launched the Grants Uncovered podcast. I loved it.
Interviewing members, funding providers and other influential people in the grants/funding space and getting real about grants through a medium I tried and fell in love with, has been a professional highlight for me.
I’m a firm believer that we need to get real about grants - the great things and huge potential of them, but also the frustrations of grants, difficulties, application processes, waiting times, good and bad communication from funding providers, and the desperate need for more unrestricted grants, that put better trust in the organisations who know what they need funding for.
Stay tuned for the next season, launching soon!
8. Being able to award grants through our own grants program
The 1,000+ Make It Happen Grant applications we've had come in over the past 2 years? I've read every single one of them.
The applications that came in for our grant programs in the years before that? I read all of them.
Owning a growing for-purpose business means we can also grow our grants program. We also keep increasing our other non-publicised giving and donations throughout the year. I love being able to pour money back into community.
Giving is my biggest ‘why’, so keep watching for more growth in this area.
9. Reading all of the incredible messages of support and love for our 10th birthday giveaway
This stand-out moment is very recent, but honestly, is one of the biggest highlights for me in ten years of The Grants Hub.
I’m in Europe at the moment, so woke to an outpouring of love and support for The Grants Hub on our birthday giveaway post. It’s one thing working on this side of the screen and assuming our members find The Grants Hub helpful, as they keep renewing their subscriptions. But generally, specific messages of thanks and support don’t come readily. Why? Because most of us are time-poor. How many of us actually take time to thank a business that we use every day, for providing a service we love?
I scrolled, scrolled, and scrolled some more (with tears in my eyes) to message after message like this:
The Grants Hub is a game changer for not for profits. The search and filter functions make it easy to navigate to fit your criteria. The emails with updates and new grants are great too.
We find the Grants Hub an incredibly useful subscription to determine grants we should apply for AND it saves us time from searching the internet for grants! Thank you!
Such a Success Story - 10 Years - Happy Birthday to The Grant Hub's Team. The easiest, most helpful, and user friendly, system for all.
The Grants Hub has proven themselves to be an indispensable tool in sourcing grant opportunities. I know of no other entity to compare with The Grants Hub, all the grants available are listed so as to easily identify the grants to suit our needs and relevant criteria. It is so worthwhile and I recommend it to anyone wishing to be kept up to date with all the latest grants.
So much gratitude to The Grants Hub. I'm new to grants and have found it easy to scan through the directory.
This is the best source of grant information and it's easy to use. Happy Birthday and well done. Keep on with the good work.
Happy Birthday The Grants Hub. All not for profits in Crows Nest Qld utilise your services. Such a vital tool for organisations that struggle to keep afloat. Here's to another 10.
The Grants Hub is my one-stop-shop for grants. It saves me so much time and energy.
Love the work you do at The Grants Hub.
Awesome grants directory and staff.
I couldn’t have asked for a better 10th Birthday present.
10. Being inspired by our members, every single day
To our members:
My care factor is so high for you and the people and causes you're serving. I knew the first 1,000 of you almost by memory. Now, it's a little harder to keep track. But don't be surprised if we meet one day and I start following your socials and checking out your website. If you ever see me, please come and introduce yourself.
Your work motivates me like nothing else. You are the lifeblood of The Grants Hub, and the game changers of Australia. As members of The Grants Hub, know that you are part of such a rich and diverse service-focused community. I would love to get you all in a room one day so you can see what we see, first-hand.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all you do.
Jessie Ballantyne
Founder
