The most important decisions in grants management are made before the first application arrives — not during assessment. A well-designed grant programme has clear purpose, defined eligibility, structured assessment criteria, and proportionate accountability. A poorly designed programme creates problems that are difficult to fix once applications are flowing.
This checklist covers the decisions every grant programme needs to make before opening applications.
What is the programme trying to achieve? Articulate the specific change the programme is meant to produce — not just the activities it will fund. "Funding community sport" is an activity. "Increasing youth participation in organised sport in low-decile communities" is an outcome. Clarity about intended outcomes shapes every subsequent design decision.
Who are the intended beneficiaries? Who will benefit from the funded work? How are they defined — geographically, demographically, by need, by identity? The answer shapes eligibility criteria and assessment frameworks.
What's the theory of change? Why do you believe that making grants of this type will produce the intended outcome? What assumptions underlie that theory? What evidence supports it?
What is the programme's relationship to the rest of the funder's strategy? Is this programme the funder's primary instrument for achieving the intended outcome, or part of a broader portfolio? How does it relate to other programmes?
Who can apply? Registered charities only? Incorporated organisations? Individuals? Businesses? Iwi? Schools? Define eligible entity types explicitly — and explain the rationale for any exclusions.
What activities are eligible? Is the programme for project grants, operational grants, capital grants, or some combination? What activities are in scope?
What is the geographic scope? NZ-wide? Specific regions? Specific communities?
Are there minimum or maximum grant sizes? Minimum grant sizes focus the programme on organisations of sufficient scale; maximum grant sizes ensure the programme is accessible to smaller applicants.
Are there restrictions on grantee history? Do applicants need to have been incorporated for a minimum period? Have filed accounts? Had a track record of prior work in the focus area?
What information do you need to assess applications? Start from what you need to know to make a good decision, then design questions to collect that information. Don't design forms based on what's standard or what's easy — design based on what you need.
What supporting documents are required? Financial accounts (how recent?), constitutions, auditor reports, CVs, project plans — be specific about format, recency, and what you're looking for in each document.
What's the word limit for narrative questions? Word limits force applicants to be concise. They also signal how much you want to read. Set word limits that are appropriate to the complexity of what you're asking.
How long will the application take? Test your application design on someone who isn't familiar with the programme — how long does it take? Is that proportionate to the grant size?
What are the assessment criteria? Define the criteria that will be used to assess and rank applications. Criteria should be specific, directly relevant to the programme's purpose, and capable of being assessed from the application.
How are criteria weighted? Which criteria matter most? Explicit weighting guides assessors and demonstrates fairness to applicants.
Who will assess applications? Internal staff, external experts, peer assessors, community representatives? How will you ensure assessors have the expertise to assess the specific applications?
How will COI be managed? What process will assessors follow to declare COI? How will declared COI be managed — exclusion from the application, partial exclusion, or flagged to the panel chair?
What is the decision-making process? Who has authority to make the final decision? Is it staff, a committee, or the board? What is the delegation threshold?
What is the total budget for the programme? How many grants do you expect to make? What is the average grant size?
Are there minimum and maximum grant amounts? Should these be fixed or indicative?
Is the programme open or competitive? Does everyone who meets eligibility criteria get funded, or is the programme competitive with more eligible applications than funding?
What are the grant conditions? What can the grant be used for? What activity must be completed? By when?
What reporting is required? Progress reports? Final reports? Outcome data? Financial acquittal? Be specific about what format, what data, and by when.
What happens if a grantee doesn't report? Reminders, follow-up process, consequences for future applications?
What happens if a grantee misuses funds? Recovery process, notification requirements, relationship consequences?
What is the record retention requirement? How long must the funder and grantee retain records?
How will the programme be evaluated? What evaluation questions matter? How will data be collected? Who will conduct the evaluation?
How will programme design be reviewed? After each round, what process will review what worked and what needs adjustment?
Tahua supports grant programme design with configurable application forms, assessment frameworks, and accountability workflows — helping funders build processes that work from the first round.