Attracting high-quality applications is just the first step in grant funding. Ensuring grant seekers can submit their applications without unnecessary issues is also critical.
Many funders require organisations to repeatedly enter the same information and upload the same documents every time a new funding round opens. This may seem to be a minor inconvenience but the cumulative impact can be significant.
Repetitive admin increases applicant frustration, contributing to higher drop-off rates. It also introduces avoidable data entry errors, and creates inconsistent records that grant administrators must spend time reconciling.
As government schemes face increasing pressure to manage grants and disburse funds efficiently, it’s important to reduce unnecessary barriers in the application process. In this article, we explore how grant management software helps address this challenge.
When applicants are asked to repeatedly gather and upload the same information, the grant application process becomes unnecessarily time-consuming. This burden is particularly significant for smaller organisations that have limited administrative capacity. Applicants are also likely to be applying for funding from multiple organisations, so they may be duplicating the same effort across numerous application processes.
The impact extends beyond the time required to complete applications. Repeated data collection can create frustration, increase the likelihood of errors or inconsistencies, and contribute to application fatigue. Applicants may abandon applications part-way through, submit lower-quality responses, or decide not to apply at all if grant processes appear overly complex relative to the funding available.
In fact, form length and usability issues are key drivers of drop-off, and nonprofits have reported form abandonment rates as high as 77.9% in some surveys.
There are also wider implications for government funders. Complex and repetitive application requirements can disproportionately disadvantage smaller organisations with fewer resources, reducing the diversity of applicants and potentially excluding organisations that are well placed to deliver programme outcomes. As a result, schemes may receive fewer applications, a narrower range of perspectives, and miss opportunities to support high-impact projects.
Every time an applicant manually re-enters information, there's a risk that details will differ from previous submissions. Staff may then need to:
In high-volume schemes, these inefficiencies quickly scale. Discrepancies can also affect reporting accuracy, regulatory compliance processes, and audit readiness.
A modern grant management system should address both sides of the challenge. It should reduce effort for applicants and improve data quality for administrators.
Leading grant management platforms are designed to streamline the entire grant lifecycle, from application to award management, monitoring, and reporting.
In terms of applications, modern platforms like Flexigrant allow grant seekers to store information and re-use it for other applications. As a result, much of the information they provide remains unchanged between grant rounds.
Our funding management software allows grant seekers to create a profile. This gives them a centralised location within the platform to store essential information and documentation that’s typically required in applications.
When they apply for future funding opportunities, the platform automatically attaches the relevant profile information to the application. They can then can focus on the information specific to each funding opportunity.
Aside from getting more eligible applications, how else can funders benefit from the My Profile feature?
Centralising applicant information in a single profile means funders can collect consistent data across applications. Instead of submitting multiple versions of documents at different points in time, applicants can update their profile information as circumstances change, ensure that the most current information is available whenever they apply.
This reduces the risk of outdated, incomplete, or conflicting information entering the assessment process. Better data quality also supports more informed decision-making, enabling reviewers to manage applications with greater confidence and providing funders with more accurate data for programme monitoring, reporting, and impact measurement.
Applicant profile functionality may seem like a relatively small feature, but its impact can be substantial. Over time, improvements contribute to more scalable funding operations, better applicant engagement, and stronger programme outcomes.
Applicants should know exactly what's required before they start an application. Clearly explain what supporting documentation they’ll need, what file formats they should use, information about deadlines, and other essential details. This allows them to prepare the everything in advance and reduces the likelihood of applications being abandoned midway.
Every question should have a clear purpose. Avoid requesting information that won’t be used in the assessment process unless it's required for regulatory or reporting purposes. Shorter, more focused forms reduce the burden for applicants and help funders gain high-quality responses.
Using grant management software with configurable application forms makes it easier to tailor requirements to specific funding programmes. For example, Flexigrant's configurable form and workflow builder enables funders to easily create and update application forms (no coding required). Reusable question banks save time and help maintain consistency across programmes.
Applications should be organised into logical sections, making the overall process easy to follow. Grouping related questions together reduces cognitive load.
Accessible grant management systems help ensure that funding opportunities are available to the widest possible range of applicants. Features such as screen reader compatibility, clear form design, and accessible colour contrast can help remove unnecessary barriers. Also consider how the platform handles translation.
Applicants should be able to identify and correct errors before moving onto the next page or submitting their application. Features like mandatory field checks, file format validation, and character count indicators on each page reduce frustration and prevent avoidable delays caused by incomplete submissions. This approach has shown to reduce errors by 22%, and reduce the time taken to complete forms by 42%.
Applicant feedback can provide insights into where friction exists within the process. Regularly reviewing feedback alongside drop-off rates allows funders to identify opportunities for improvement and create a more user-friendly experience over time.
In summary, repeated requests for organisational details and supporting documents creates additional work for applicants and administrative overhead for grant managers. This can lead to abandoned applications, inconsistent records, and increased operational costs.
Online grant application software offers a more effective approach. It allows applicants to store essential information and files in a central location and automatically reuse them across funding opportunities.
Speaking more broadly, reducing duplication throughout the grant management process should be a key consideration when selecting software. Flexigrant, the UK's sovereign grant management platform, helps you meet that objective.
Along with the My Profile feature and reusable forms, it offers several AI features that pass procurement. It also includes financial management tools, API integrations to enable automated workflows, and much more. To learn more or request a demo, contact us today.