Grant programme communications are often an afterthought — something funders do reactively rather than strategically. But how a funder communicates about its grant programmes shapes who applies, what quality of applications it receives, the experience of applicants, and the depth of relationships with funded organisations. A communications plan is not a luxury — it's infrastructure for effective grantmaking.
A grant programme communications plan is a structured document that defines:
- What the funder needs to communicate to whom, at each stage of the grant cycle
- Which channels will be used (website, email, social media, events, one-on-one conversations)
- Who within the funder organisation is responsible for each communication
- What tone and style will be used
- How communications will be evaluated for effectiveness
Communications planning is relevant whether you're running a $50,000 community grant round or a $5 million strategic fund. The scale differs; the need for intentionality doesn't.
Pre-application (promotion and awareness):
- Announcing the grant round (when it opens, how much is available, what it funds)
- Promoting the grant round to target applicant communities
- Publishing application guidelines and FAQs
- Running information sessions or webinars
- Responding to pre-application enquiries
- Encouraging pre-application conversations with programme officers
During the application round:
- Responding to questions as they arise (FAQ updates, direct responses)
- Sending reminders as the deadline approaches
- Acknowledging receipt of applications
- Communicating any changes to timelines or criteria
Assessment and decision period:
- Acknowledging that applications are under assessment
- Managing applicant expectations about timelines
- Communicating delays if assessment takes longer than expected
- Notifying applicants of any additional information requests
Outcome notification:
- Notifying successful applicants of grant awards
- Notifying unsuccessful applicants of decisions
- Providing decline feedback
- Publishing a grants register of awarded grants
During the grant period:
- Onboarding communications for new grantees (grant agreement, reporting schedule, contacts)
- Milestone check-in communications
- Responding to grantee queries
- Managing variations and amendments
- Sharing relevant news, events, or sector information with grantees
At grant completion:
- Requesting and receiving acquittal reports
- Acknowledging completed grants
- Gathering feedback on the grant experience
- Communicating about renewal opportunities (where relevant)
The pre-application phase is where communications have the greatest equity implications. Who you reach before a grant round opens shapes who applies — and therefore who gets funded.
Passive promotion (publishing on website, sending to existing mailing list) reaches organisations that are already connected to the funder. These tend to be larger, more established organisations with existing relationships.
Active outreach (contacting specific communities, working through trusted intermediaries, running targeted information sessions) reaches organisations that wouldn't have found the grant through passive promotion. This is how funders reach small, new, and community-embedded organisations.
Language and accessibility in promotional materials affects who receives the message — and whether they understand it. Plain language, multiple languages where relevant, and accessible formats (audio, video) all extend reach.
Intermediary organisations — peak bodies, community networks, sector associations — are often the most effective channel for reaching target communities. Partnering with them to distribute grant information is more effective than relying on direct reach.
How a funder communicates during the application period significantly affects applicant experience:
Responsiveness. Applicants who email questions want timely responses. A standard of responding within two business days is reasonable and achievable with good systems. Queries that sit unanswered for weeks create frustration and signal that the funder doesn't value applicant time.
Transparency about process. Applicants should know what happens to their application after they submit — when it will be assessed, by whom, what criteria will be applied, when they'll hear back. Lack of information creates anxiety and erodes trust.
Consistent information. When multiple staff respond to enquiries, they should be providing consistent information. FAQs that are updated and shared with all staff prevent contradictory advice reaching applicants.
Proactive timeline communication. If assessment takes longer than expected, communicate this proactively rather than waiting for applicants to chase. "We're still in assessment, you'll hear by X date" is a brief but respectful communication that maintains trust.
How funders notify applicants of grant decisions is often one of the worst aspects of the funder-applicant relationship. Common failures:
Notifying successful applicants before unsuccessful ones. Organisations that see other organisations announcing grant awards before they've received a decision know they've been declined before anyone told them. This is needlessly harsh.
Providing no feedback to unsuccessful applicants. A template decline letter with no explanation of why the application wasn't funded is one of the most significant sources of frustration in the sector. Substantive feedback — even a few specific sentences — is enormously valued and costs little.
Delayed notification. Applications that take many months longer to assess than advertised, with no communication during the delay, create significant distress for organisations that may have made plans based on anticipated funding.
Good practice:
- Notify all applicants at the same time
- Provide substantive feedback to unsuccessful applicants
- Communicate timelines and adhere to them, or communicate delays proactively
- For significant grants, a phone call before a formal letter is good practice
- Publish awarded grants publicly
Once grants are awarded, many funders significantly reduce their communication with grantees — often appearing only to request reports. This is a missed opportunity.
Welcome and onboarding. New grantees benefit from clear onboarding — who is their programme officer contact, what are the reporting requirements, what should they do if they have questions or problems. A welcome call or meeting at the start of the grant period establishes the relationship.
Regular contact. Programme officers who stay in contact with grantees — not just at reporting time — develop relationships that produce better information and allow earlier identification of problems. Occasional check-in calls, invitations to funder events, and sharing relevant sector news all maintain the relationship.
Two-way communication. The best funder-grantee relationships are genuinely mutual — funders sharing what they're learning from the sector, not just collecting information from grantees. Sharing sector reports, learning from other grantees (appropriately anonymised), and being transparent about funder thinking all deepen the relationship.
Crisis communication protocols. What happens when something goes seriously wrong with a grant — a key staff member leaves, a programme fails, an organisation faces a governance crisis? Funders who have protocols for these situations respond better. Grantees who know they can contact their programme officer when things go wrong rather than hiding problems are better for everyone.
Grant management systems can support communications significantly:
- Automated acknowledgement emails on application submission
- Templated communications for common notifications (decline letters, grant offers, reporting reminders)
- Bulk communication to groups of applicants or grantees
- CRM-style relationship tracking (recording call notes, scheduling follow-ups)
- Applicant/grantee portals where status updates are visible without requiring staff to respond to individual enquiries
The goal is to automate routine communications so staff time is freed for the relationship-building that only humans can do.
Tahua's grants management platform includes the communications infrastructure that professional grant programmes require — automated notifications, templated correspondence, grantee portals, and the relationship management tools that support genuine funder-grantee partnerships.