Grants are an important topic for those in the nonprofit world, and it is necessary that charities and NFPs stay up to date with what is going on in the industry. Despite the fact that over $25 billion in grants is given out each year (approximately 20% of the state and federal expenditure), there is still much competition for the funding.

Grants in Australia 2017 is the largest survey of community organisations and nonprofits in Australia and opens up the conversation of grants to a wider audience. It provides relevant information and key reference points for grantmakers and grantseekers and others interested in the field.

1,227 grantseekers who had applied for a grant in the previous 12 months completed the survey, and it is extremely telling. For those in the nonprofit industry or just curious about the topic of grants, it is well worth a read.

You can use the knowledge you garner from the survey to help focus your grant applications in the coming year.

Here are the top 10 takeaways offered by the survey although there are many more interesting facts to be found scattered throughout the document.

1. Big organisations are picking up smaller grants, and seeking more help

It seems that large organisations are not only applying for large grants but smaller ones as well. The larger the organisation, the more grants they seem to apply for.

2. Local governments are shouldering more of the grants load

Local governments are offering more grants and are becoming more reliable as a source of funding for small nonprofits. The larger the business, the more likely they are to apply for Federal Government grants.

3. Corporates continue to lag as a funding source

Corporate grantmaking has been in serious decline since 2010 and is struggling to reach the popularity it had gained during the period between 2007 and 2010.

4. Grantseekers report increasing success

Many NFPs are reporting stable or increased grantseeking success. This is great news for the industry as a whole.

5. Unsubmitted applications are still a huge waste of time

More than half the organisations surveyed spend countless hours on grant applications which fail to be submitted.

6. There’s lots of room for improvement in good practice grantmaking

Grantseekers are finding it difficult to create good relationships with grantmakers. As there is little feedback provided to grantmakers on their performance, this will likely remain this way for a while.

7. Grantmakers, if you only do one thing this year …

Grantseekers are extremely keen for grantmakers to give feedback to unsuccessful applicants so they can improve on their applications.

8. Grantmakers like outcomes reporting.

Grantseekers have to fund in-house outcomes measurement activities to be eligible for specific grants. It is a common request by grantmakers and grantseekers are left with the cost of financing the results.

9. Online forms are the future

Grantseekers now prefer online electronic forms despite the fact that many grantmakers continue to offer offline forms such as fillable PDFs and Word documents.

10. Habits of successful grantseekers

Successful grantseekers are more likely to try to form a relationship with their grantmaker. They are also more likely to complete applications forms in their entirety and submit them.