Input requested to help #FixTheForm decide next steps
Melanie May | 1 March 2022 | News
Fundraisers are being asked to help #FixTheForm decide on its next steps.
#FixTheForm is a grassroots international movement working to identify and fix the top pain points in grant applications that waste time and money, and to influence funders to make practical changes so applying for funding is simpler, more efficient, and fairer. It was inspired by 2,500+ anonymous reviews on GrantAdvisor.org and is fronted by Kari Aanestad, Co-Director of GrantAdvisor.org and Associate Director at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and Laura Solomons, a fundraiser for a social mobility charity and former Trustee and Chair of a grant-giving foundation.
Last year a #FixTheForm survey saw 500 people from the nonprofit sector in nine countries share their biggest pain points for funder application forms. Top was not being able to see the full grant application ahead of time, followed by the time taken to fill in the form being disproportionate to the funding amount awarded, and forms that can’t be saved and returned to.
Advertisement
Since then, it has partnered with Technology Association of Grantmakers to recruit 130+ grantmakers to address the top pain point, also partnered with TAG to recruit five grants management systems vendors in making permanent changes to their tech platforms to address this number one pain point, and reached thousands of grantmakers through webinars and conference presentations.
It is now asking people to guide it with the next steps for the campaign by responding to a survey with questions including where #FixTheForm should focus its efforts in this next phase, and with which type of foundations and trusts.
The form can be found here.
According to an earlier survey by Brevio, 1 in 8 charities were spending 3 working days a week or more in 2020 on grant applications.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.