Grantmaking musters at both ends of the globe

SmartyGrants “musters” bring together experts and top grantmakers from a particular region.

The next event will take place in Hobart, Tasmania, following similar events across several Australian states, New Zealand and Scotland. Each muster offers a rare chance for grants experts to hear about cutting-edge developments in the field, and to share challenges and wisdom with peers.

The Hobart muster will take place on November 13 and will feature SmartyGrants managed services lead Alex McMillan, training team leader Simon Di Berardino and chief impact officer Jen Riley. Like other sessions, the event will feature a local case study.

Each muster in 2024 has focused on the trend towards standardisation, which is sweeping across government agencies and gaining traction in philanthropic organisations.

Standardisation refers to the employment of standardised processes to boost efficiency, transparency and fairness in grantmaking. It is embedded in the SmartyGrants system to increase the capabilities of grant managers and support grant applicants.

Perth event attracts grants experts across the state

The Perth muster in mid-August attracted grantmakers from the Departments of Primary Industries and Regional Development; Fire and Emergency; Communities; and Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, as well as those from the cities of Perth, Swan, Cockburn and Greater Geraldton, and foundations and arts organisations.

A highlight, apart from networking drinks, was the round table discussions that allowed the “grant nerds” in the room to share their experiences of rolling out their own standardisation agendas.

The room agreed there was a great deal of scope to make more of the tools in SmartyGrants that enable better standardisation practices, including standard fields and standard sections.

The Perth event followed on the heels of a similar gathering in Adelaide in early August, which drew a similar mix of representatives from state and local governments.

After the event, one participant praised the event as an opportunity to get “tangible information about the use of Smarty Grants, particularly on the Outcomes Engine”, which they described as “exactly the kind of content I like to see”.

Other attendees suggested it was just “great to connect with other grant managers”.

SmartyGrants UK muster series kicks off in Scotland

The first of SmartyGrants’ northern hemisphere musters has taken place online in Scotland as part of the SmartyGrants rollout in the UK.

SmartyGrants UK lead Kathy Richardson, who hosted the event alongside the company’s platform transformation director, Jodie Shanks, and chief impact officer, Jen Riley, said there were striking similarities in the challenges faced by grantmakers across the globe, including:

• short-term funding and unrealistic timeframes for project delivery
• poor coordination between different funding streams, overcomplicated reporting and slow processes
• small or unpredictable funding allocations
• grantees failing to follow guidelines and rules, weak applications and a lack of capacity in some grantee organisations
• difficulties in measuring and demonstrating the impact of grants funding
• too few staff for too many tasks, inefficient administration tools and practices, and data integrity issues.

Ms Richardson said more UK events, to be rebranded as “round tables”, were planned for the coming months.

More information

About SmartyGrants Musters

Past events: Queensland | Wellington | Melbourne