SME Grants

THE PROBLEM

"Grant applicants face a myriad of challenges to secure funding."
Numerous organizations seek grant funding to allow them to achieve their operational objectives for the betterment of their community and the world at large. However, applicants for grant funding often face a myriad of challenges that include the following:
1) Difficult and time-consuming grant application processes
- Applicants must perform much research to identify potential grant sources
-Grant administrators must expend significant resources to evaluate the applicant’s operations, needs & probability of projected outcomes
- Applicants often apply to grant sources without meeting the necessary fund requirements
- Applicants require specialized expertise and extensive time to collect the necessary data to submit fully completed applications
2) Limited eligibility and high competition for scarce funds
- Grant funds can be limited due to irregular donor contributions and lower investment returns
- Complex sets of rules exclude many organizations that may otherwise be eligible for funding
- Funding sources often change priorities annually, therefore, limiting the availability of funding for specific needs
- Multiple organizations are competing against each other for a diminishing pool of funds due to slow economic growth
3) Barriers to funding due to expenses and cash flow constraints
- Funding may require certain activities to be included in the project, which can increase an organization's expenses
- Approval process for funding can be lengthy, requiring many query sessions
- Funding is often provided on a reimbursement basis, which can strain an organization’s working capital
4) Local politics and bureaucracy creates an uneven playing field
- Awards may be encumbered with regulation and red tape
- Approvals may be subject to political bias
Clearly, a new approach is needed in order to build the capacity of organizations, especially SMEs which represent the cornerstone of the global economy.