July and August are usually busy at The Grants Hub as many funding providers announce grant rounds at the start of a new financial year. Over the past month we’ve added or updated nearly 300 grants!
This year, we’ve also seen a big uptick in new grant rounds and opportunities responding to the current COVID-19 outbreak.
Here are the grant trends we’ve noticed lately:
2021 isn’t 2020
We shared some statistics when the pandemic escalated in 2020. Between 25 March and 20 April 2020 we saw 52 new grants responding to COVID-19, 25 deadline extensions, and 9 grants cancelled or postponed. Grantmakers across sectors used descriptive words for new grants like ‘rapid’, ‘resilience’, ‘quick response’, and ‘relief’. Later, new grants responding to COVID-19 started to shift focus from crisis and emergency to recovery, and common use of ‘kick-start’, ‘recovery’ and ‘support’.
In 2021, the Delta variant outbreak has delivered a different scenario to grant seekers. While many new programs have been introduced, the range of programs opened in response to COVID-19 is narrower and there is a strong trend of government grants for small businesses and ‘business support’. Depending on which state you’re in, you may notice grant programs re-named from 2020, or earlier in 2021, frequently re-emerging with changing eligibility requirements and funding caps that respond to distinct periods of lockdown and business interruption.
Some funding providers have tried to adjust processes based on learnings from 2020 to make access to non-competitive grants easier. The sustained short term uncertainty of lockdowns in some states is still making staying on top of grant updates challenging. A resource like our Grants Directory is an invaluable tool to help you stay up-to-date with the latest announcements.
Aside from small business grants, there have not been as many new grants targeting charities, community groups or not-for-profit organisations in response to COVID-19 - but the number is increasing.
Funding provider uncertainty
While we noticed some funders getting back to normal funding schedules earlier this year, this has not been the case for all funders - and many grant opportunities that were routine in the past have still not been reintroduced in 2021. On top of this, some grant rounds that were anticipated to launch in July and August have not yet been announced.
Some funding providers are not updating their communications to let grant seekers know about their plans to postpone funding programs, or the reasons for these decisions. For some, their websites are indicating that funding will be ‘opening soon’, yet no clear dates have been provided. Grant seekers rely on clear communication from grantmakers about upcoming or anticipated funding opportunities, particularly if there has been a change to their regular funding rounds.
However, in most circumstances, the reasons for a delay in funding announcements is being communicated. Many funding providers are reflecting either on their rapid grant rounds introduced in response to COVID-19 in 2020 or on their entire program before launching new grant rounds - or they continue to support only their existing grantees. Funding providers are however showing increased flexibility in response to unexpected project amendments and redirected funding, yet the administrative burden of this and delayed impact reporting for trustees and other stakeholders may affect decisions to release new funding due to funder capacity.
Advice for grant seekers
Many grant seekers have reduced resources and capacity in a competitive grants landscape. You and your team may also be exhausted from re-planning programs or projects that have been repeatedly cancelled, postponed, and/or moved online, and the funder reporting that follows these decisions.
The Grants Hub is here to help you find the right grants that match your needs. We provide the latest grants updates including COVID-19 response grants, with advanced directory search and filter capability as well as automated alerts and other features to help save you time and focus on pulling together your best grant application.
Now more than ever, as you search for new grants you should:
Have a project and/or strategic plan and budget in place
Identify funding gaps
Streamline your search in our Grants Directory
Always read grant guidelines and ensure you meet eligibility requirements
Only proceed if you can deliver within the parameters of the grant program
Click here to search current COVID-19 grants in the Grants Directory.