Grant Eligibility Checklist: How to Tell if Your Organisation Qualifies

The fastest way to waste a weekend is to write a grant application for a grant you were never eligible for. It happens all the time, usually because an important rule was buried on page nine of the guidelines.

This checklist helps you work out, in about 15 minutes, whether a grant is worth applying for. Use it every time a new opportunity looks promising, whether you found it on a government website, in a newsletter or through a tool like GrantFinder Pro.

Eligibility and fit are two different things

There are two questions to answer for every grant:

1. Are we eligible? Do we meet every hard rule in the guidelines? If not, we cannot apply, or our application will be rejected without being assessed.
2. Are we a good fit? Does our project genuinely match what the funder wants to achieve? Being eligible does not mean being competitive.

The checklist below covers both.

Part 1: Hard eligibility checks

Go through the guidelines and answer each of these. One "no" usually ends the conversation.

Legal structure

• What types of organisation can apply? Common examples are incorporated associations, companies limited by guarantee, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations, co-operatives, registered charities and, for business grants, companies, sole traders and partnerships.
• Are we that type of organisation?
• If we are not incorporated, does the grant accept an auspice organisation applying on our behalf?

Registrations

• Do we need an ABN? Do we have an active one?
• Do we need to be registered with the ACNC as a charity?
• Do we need Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status? Many foundations require it; most government grants do not. See our guide to DGR status.
• Is our registration with our state regulator current, including annual returns?

Location

• Does the grant require us to be based in a specific state, region or council area?
• Or does it only require the project to benefit people in that area?
• If we operate in several areas, which address counts?

Organisation size and age

• Is there a minimum or maximum annual turnover?
• Is there a minimum trading or operating history?
• Is there a limit on staff numbers?

Who the grant is for

• Is the grant restricted to particular groups, such as young people, older people, people with disability, First Nations communities, women and girls, or culturally diverse communities?
• Is our project clearly aimed at that group?

Previous funding

• Do we have any overdue acquittals with this funder? Many funders, including most councils, will not accept new applications until previous grants are acquitted.
• Has the funder already funded us this year, and does it limit how often you can receive funding?

Required documents

• Can we provide everything required, such as incorporation certificate, financial statements, insurance certificate, quotes and letters of support, before the closing date?

Part 2: Project fit checks

If you pass the hard eligibility checks, test the project itself.

Objectives

• What is the grant trying to achieve? Write it down in one sentence.
• Does our project directly help achieve that? Can we explain how in two sentences?
• Are we reshaping our project to fit the grant, or does it genuinely fit already?

Eligible activities and costs

• Does the grant fund what we want to do: equipment, capital works, a program, an event, staff time, training?
• Does it exclude anything we need, such as ongoing running costs, wages for existing staff, travel, catering or items already purchased?
• Is the amount available right for our project? A grant capped at $5,000 will not fund a $50,000 project, and asking for a large grant for a small project can look poorly planned.

Co-contribution

• Does the grant require a cash or in-kind contribution from us?
• Can we genuinely provide it?

Timing

• When does the round close?
• When must the project start and finish?
• Can we deliver in that window?
• Does the grant exclude costs incurred before approval? Most do.

Part 3: Capacity checks

A grant you can win but cannot deliver is a problem, not a solution.

• People. Who will write the application, manage the project and do the reporting? Do they have time?
• Money. Can we manage cash flow if the grant pays in instalments or reimburses costs after we spend?
• Reporting. Can we collect the data and receipts the funder will want? See our guide to grant acquittals.
• Approvals. For building work, do we have landowner consent and any planning approvals we need?
• Risk. What happens if a key volunteer leaves or costs rise?

Part 4: Is it worth the effort?

Finally, a quick reality check:

• How long will the application take?
• How much is available, and how competitive is the round likely to be?
• Is there a smaller, more local grant that would suit this project better?
• Would the time be better spent on a different application?

Council and state community grants are often a better first target for small groups than large national programs. See our guide to council community grants.

A worked example

A volunteer-run community garden in a regional town finds a state grant for "community projects that reduce social isolation".

• Legal structure: the garden is an incorporated association. Pass.
• Location: the grant is open across the state. Pass.
• Target group: the grant focuses on older people and people living alone. The garden's members are mostly retirees, and it plans weekly shared lunches. Pass, if the application makes that link clear.
• Eligible costs: the garden wants to fund a covered outdoor table area and the lunch program. The guidelines fund programs but exclude building works over a small amount. Partial pass, so the request is narrowed to the program and portable furniture.
• Previous funding: the garden has an overdue council acquittal, but that is with a different funder. Pass, but it is acquitted anyway before applying.
• Capacity: two members agree to run the lunches and keep attendance records. Pass.

The outcome is a smaller, sharper application that fits the grant, rather than a larger one that would have been rejected.

When you are unsure, ask

If the guidelines are unclear on an eligibility point, contact the funder before you start writing. Most guidelines list a contact person or email. Keep a record of the answer. A two-minute phone call can save a day of wasted writing.

A one-page version

Print this and keep it in your grant folder:

• Legal structure matches the guidelines
• ABN active; ACNC, DGR and state registrations as required
• Location rules met
• Size, turnover and age limits met
• Project clearly aimed at the grant's target group
• No overdue acquittals with this funder
• Project directly supports the grant's objectives
• Activities and costs are eligible; nothing we need is excluded
• Amount requested suits the project and the grant range
• Co-contribution available if required
• Timeline achievable; nothing purchased before approval
• People, cash flow and reporting capacity in place
• Required documents available before the deadline
• Worth the time compared with other options

How matching tools fit in

Matching tools can do the first rough filter for you. GrantFinder Pro compares open grants with your state, organisation type, location and description, and shows the ones that look like a fit. That saves hours of searching, but it does not replace this checklist. A match is a rough guide to eligibility, never a guarantee, so always run the checks above against the funder's own guidelines.

Find grants worth checking

See which grants match your organisation, free, at grantfinderpro.com.au/find, then run your shortlist through this checklist before you start writing.