Hobart hosts top grantmakers

The intensive all-day event at the RACV Hotel in Hobart this month drew dozens of the southern state’s best grantmaking professionals. The free Tasmanian gathering was the latest of several in-person musters hosted this year in several Australian states and in Wellington, New Zealand. Scottish grantmakers held the first of several gatherings planned for the UK, as SmartyGrants expands its presence there.

SmartyGrants chief impact officer Jen Riley, one of several SmartyGrants staff in attendance, said the Hobart gathering had attracted government and departmental leaders from several important departments.

These included representatives from State Growth, Active Tasmania, Jobs Tasmania, the Premier’s office, Natural Resources and Environment, Education, and Heritage Tasmania. Other attendees represented large local councils, foundations, industry bodies and the Tasmanian Institute of Sport.

As at the other musters this year, grantmakers were keen to discuss the “standardisation” trend, which is especially evident in government agencies.

Standardised processes are being widely adopted to increase efficiency, transparency and fairness in grantmaking, with tools to support that approach now embedded in the SmartyGrants system.

A roundtable discussion explored how standardisation was advancing in the organisations represented, some of the big challenges and benefits, and tips for those about to begin working with standardised processes.

State Growth’s acting manager of grant services, Adrian Gordon, summed up the views of many participants by describing the rollout of standardisation as a “continuous journey”.

Riley said the Tasmanian experience of standardisation reflected that of grantmakers across the nation, but it was clear there was much more scope to standardise timeframes and risk management processes, and to document standardisation procedures.

Riley said that grantmakers using standardisation had noticed they could now respond faster, scale programs more efficiently, and find more time for “high value” work. But practitioners were also being held back in the transition by staff and leadership turnover, the “unique requirements” of certain programs, and finding time to plan the changes.

That’s not to say that standardisation is possible in all instances.

“Many grants are ad hoc, such as election commitments or response grants, rather than part of ongoing granting programs,” Riley said. “Standardisation is particularly challenging to roll out for those programs.”

She said the roundtables helped distil the best advice, which she summed up as “Start with the end in mind, consider grantee benefits, use standardisation as a lens for full program reviews, have a central champion to drive the work forward, and document not just the decisions but the why behind them.”

Riley also gave attendees a tour of the capabilities of the SmartyGrants Outcomes Engine, which is now free to all users.

Other SmartyGrants staff who led discussions included managed services lead Alex McMillan, who hosted the roundtable discussions and a session on best-practice standardisation, and training team leader Simon Di Berardino, who showcased tools on the SmartyGrants platform.

It is understood that SmartyGrants is considering new ways of getting grantmakers together in the coming year, with alerts to be sent to users and newsletter readers early next year.