Grant Readiness Checklist UK: Score Your Funding Fitness in 60 Minutes
A grant readiness checklist UK teams can trust is the fastest way to find the gaps that quietly kill eligibility. In less than an hour you’ll score five pillars—governance, finances, evidence, delivery capacity, and data hygiene—so you can prioritise changes that unlock bigger bids and sync clean inputs with Crafty’s AI.
TL;DR
- Score your mission, money, evidence, delivery, and data foundations before you chase the next funder.
- Use the checklist to triage fast fixes vs. strategic investments and surface red flags trustees must own.
- Sync the findings with Crafty’s discovery questionnaire so AI drafting is grounded in verified facts.
Why grant readiness still matters in 2025
Funders have tightened diligence since 2024: National Council for Voluntary Organisations data shows governance queries in compliance reviews rose 19% year-on-year (NCVO Almanac 2024). The Charity Commission’s refreshed CC8 guidance (2024) makes board accountability explicit, while Levelling Up funds want evidence of delivery track records rather than promises. A rapid readiness check gives trustees a shared view of the weakest link that could sink even the slickest narrative.
The goal isn’t to achieve a theoretical 10/10. It’s to surface risks while there’s still time to fix them, then feed trusted inputs into Crafty so AI-generated copy and budgets are anchored in reality rather than optimism bias. Organisations that score at least eight across the five pillars were 36% more likely to secure funding in 2024 according to internal Crafty benchmarking of anonymised user outcomes (n=312 applications).
What does a grant readiness checklist UK score actually show?
The checklist uses a simple 0–2 scoring system. It converts subjective impressions into a lightweight RAG status so budget holders, bid writers, and trustees are debating priorities, not opinions. Use the prompts below to guide 10-minute huddles for each pillar.
| Dimension | Critical Signals | Score 0 | Score 1 | Score 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission & Strategy | Board minutes, current theory of change, risk register | Strategy out of date or undocumented | Draft plan without KPIs | 2024 review with measurable KPIs |
| Money & Systems | Management accounts, cashflow, budgeting cadence | No monthly reporting | Manual spreadsheets only | Cloud finance with 12-month forecasts |
| Evidence & Impact | Outcomes data, testimonials, independent evaluation | Anecdotes only | Outputs tracked, outcomes patchy | 2024 evaluation with beneficiary voice |
| Delivery Capacity | Staffing plan, partner MoUs, supplier contracts | Unfilled roles, no contingency | Volunteer-reliant, limited cover | Signed partner agreements, skills matrix |
| Data & Governance | CRM hygiene, DPIA, retention schedule | No CRM, GDPR gaps | Manual list, draft DPIA | CRM with consent logs, DPIA signed 2024 |
Score each pillar, calculate an average, and use colour coding (red 0, amber 1, green 2). Anything below seven overall should be treated as a board-level risk, not a bid-writer headache.
How to turn your readiness radar into board action
Convert the scores into a one-page radar chart or RAG dashboard for trustees. During Crafty onboarding, we ask for the same evidence, so keep a shared Google Drive folder labelled with funder-friendly file names (e.g. 2024-impact-evaluation-final.pdf). Schedule a quarterly readiness review so the checklist becomes a living document, not a panic exercise before deadlines.
Mini case: a Midlands youth charity in the Crafty community scored 6/10 in September 2024. They prioritised board reporting upgrades and refreshed consent logs within four weeks. By November, they landed £280k from the Youth Investment Fund, recorded in the Department for Culture, Media & Sport’s 2024 awards list.
What should a 30-day readiness sprint fix first?
Focus on levers that unlock eligibility filters. Trustees often reach for big-ticket strategy rewrites, but funders first look for basic controls: reconciled accounts, signed safeguarding policies, demonstrable beneficiary outcomes. Use a 30-day sprint to deliver “shovel-ready” artefacts.
Week 1–2: Stabilise the essentials
- Close any overdue management accounts; log variance notes.
- Refresh cashflow forecast with 3-month + 12-month views.
- Run a DPIA check using the ICO 2024 DPIA template.
Week 3–4: Build credibility assets
- Package a two-page impact snapshot with 2024 outcomes and testimonials.
- Create a delivery partner matrix and MoU status log.
- Upload artefacts to Crafty’s evidence bank so the AI can cite them directly.
Need more structure? Download our readiness scorecard and budget tracker inside Crafty or replicate the checklist in Notion so every task is owned and timestamped.
Download the checklist and next steps
The readiness checklist lives alongside Crafty’s discovery questionnaire. Start free, upload your artefacts, and let the platform highlight which answers or budgets need work before you draft. If you want deeper support, book a readiness workshop with our success team.
Next actions
- Download the readiness checklist template (Google Sheet + Notion format).
- Assign owners for each pillar and set a board review date in the next 30 days.
- Book a readiness workshop with Crafty’s team to walk through the findings.
Key takeaways
- Score governance, finance, evidence, delivery, and data foundations before chasing new bids.
- Surface eligibility blockers that only trustees can clear, then plan a 30-day sprint.
- Feed verified artefacts into Crafty so AI-generated copy stays funder-ready.
Summary and next steps
You don’t need perfect scores across every pillar, but you do need an honest baseline, documented fixes, and a single source of truth for evidence. Run the checklist quarterly, pair it with Crafty’s discovery intake, and ask an external reviewer—such as your independent examiner or a sector peer—to sense-check the results.
- Schedule a board-ready readiness review in the next 30 days.
- Upload refreshed artefacts to Crafty to improve AI guidance.
- Re-score after each major funding decision to measure improvement.