About Grant Tracker and Frequently Asked Questions

Grant Tracker is the only website dedicated to helping the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland to fundraise.

You can freely browse the website for fundraising news and guidance or register for free to access additional tools and features.

Subscription costs from £100 and provides full access to the database of funders and a range of dedicated grant search tools.

Grant Tracker provides:

  • information on all the funding sources available to voluntary and community organisations.
  • a range of online tools for tracking down funds to support an enormous range of good causes.
  • guidance on how to fundraise and links to a huge library of other resources.
  • helps funders promote their news and funding criteria.
  • helps funding specialists in advising others.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Visitor FAQS

Registration and Subscription FAQ

Using the Website FAQs

About Grant Tracker FAQs

 

Visitor FAQs

Who is Grant Tracker for?

Grant Tracker is for anyone involved in fundraising for good causes in Northern Ireland. It is for volunteers, employees or a committee members of voluntary or community organisations. It is also for you if you work or for organisations such as a trust, government body or company which generous supports charitable activity. Grant Tracker is also for you if you advise others where they can source money to help do good things.

Why Grant Tracker?

Grant Tracker is the only fundraising site of it's kind that focuses specifically on funding available in Northern Ireland . It is developed by a charity for the benefit of charities and other good causes in the community.

What sort of money can I track down?

Grant Tracker provides access to funding schemes offering a few pounds to potentially millions of punds. Each scheme is flagged with one or more of the following grant range categories;

  • Micro - up to £1,000
  • Small - £1,000 to £5,000
  • Medium £5000 to £50,000
  • Large Over £50,000 to unlimited
  • In Kind Support

How easy is it to get a grant?

This very much depends on what you are looking funding for. Grant Tracker is designed to help you find the best match between your funding need and a funder willing to fund it. We also try to give guidance that will improve your applications and make it easier to succeed. Hundreds of projects successfully receive a grant each year from the wide variety of sources on Grant Tracker.

Do I have to pay to get help from Grant Tracker?

We publish free fundraising news on a daily basis and provide all the latest guidance on fundraising using many fundraising methods and techniques so you may wish to add us to your favourites list to visit us often.

To get the most benefit from Grant Tracker we do recommend you buy annual subscription to get access a database of hundreds of funding opportunities you couldn't access otherwise. Subscription starts from £100.

Can I use any of the information on Grant Tracker?

You can use any information you find on Grant Tracker as long as you credit us and do not use the information for commercial activities. We have licensed all of the information on Grant Tracker through Creative Commons. Basically It means that you can use the information as long as you credit Grant Tracker and do not use the information for commercial activities. You may simply want to take an RSS feed for example from our news pages.

I'm a funder, how can I promote my funding schemes?

As a funder you can use Grant Tracker to get your key messages to grant-seekers. Use Grant Tracker to:

  • Promote your funding opportunities
  • Publish a funding deadline
  • Publicise news on your successful awards
  • Guide applicants to make a better application
  • Offer further guidance to your applicants

Like any user of the Grant Tracker website, you can register for free to track news and guidance articles and to add comments and share articles via email. To get full access to the website and database of funding schemes you will need to subscribe but as a funder we can provide you with free access assess the site. If you are a funder of voluntary and community organisations in Northern Ireland you are probably already featured on Grant Tracker. Contact us on grant.tracker@nicva.org.

If you are not featured on the website we would like to hear from you.
Simply send articles on your funding schemes to grant.tracker@nicva.org or Telephone 028 9087 7777 and ask to speak to Neil Irwin or James Laverty.

What if I want to fundraise in the Republic of Ireland?

NICVA has worked with the Wheel in the Republic of Ireland to develop a Grant Tracker website for the south of Ireland, namely Funding Point. Funding Point will was launched on 4 July 2008. http://www.fundingpoint.ie/

  

Registration and Subscription FAQ

What is Registration and Subscription?

We offer two options for signing up to the Grant Tracker website. The first is free and we call it registration. The second option we call subscription and it costs from £100. To subscribe you have to first register on the website.

  • Registration is the free way of interacting with the website beyond just visiting the website.
  • Subscription provides full access to the database of funders and gives full use of all the tools and views on Grant Tracker to help you fundraise successfully. Subscription costs from £100 and runs for a full year.

Why would I need to subscribe if I can register for free?

If you only register on the website you will not be able to access the database of hundreds of actual funding sources which is only available to subscribers. Many of the tools on the website will be unavailable to you unless you subscribe.

What do I get when I register?

When you register you get personalised login details chosen by yourself and use of the NewsTracker and GuidanceTracker tools. These tools enable you to save favourite articles to your own MyTracker homepage.

What do I get when I subscribe?

With subscription you get access to the database of information on over 1,000 funding schemes - something you can't do when you only register. You can use all the tools and views in the MyTracker toolbox. As a subscriber you have 24/7 access to funding information through the QuickTracker and SuperTracker searches - so if your funding situation is keeping you awake at night - simply visit Grant Tracker on your lap-top or Blackberry and ask us to show you the money.

When you take the next step after registration and subscribe you get all the features of registration plus the following tools and features:

  • Access to the comprehensive database of funding schemes
  • Full details of key dates associated with funding schemes
  • Simple funding searches using QuickTracker - a google-like search to match your funding needs
  • Advanced search and filter features using SuperTracker
  • Manage the information you need using the MyTracker views including MySchemes, MyFunders and MyDates
  • The warm feeling of supporting a charity to help other charities

Help me compare what I get if I just visit the site with the registration and subscription options?

Here are the different user levels:

User Level comparison chart

Who typically registers on the website?

A typical person to register on the website is someone who wants to keep an eye on local fundraising news and to organise some guidance materials. This person may be considering taking out subscription and wants to sample the news and guidance content first.

Many of those who register on the site and doing so as the necessary first step to subscription.

Who typically subscribes to Grant Tracker?

A typical subscriber is someone trying to source funding for their organisation or projects. Another typical subscriber is someone working in a place that provides advice to voluntary and community organisations on funding.

How much does it cost?

Costs for Grant Tracker subscription will be as follows from 1 October 2008:

  • NICVA Member rate £100
  • NICVA Subscriber Rate £145
  • Other Voluntary and Community Organisation £145
  • All others including Statutory Organisations, Private businesses £300

Each subscription covers one user. By adding additional users to your account they also can benefit from the personalised content. Additional users from your organisation costs £25 each.

To find out if you are a NICVA Member or NICVA Subscriber or for more information on becoming a NICVA Member or Subscriber see the Membership page on the www.nicva.org website.

How do I register

You register online by choosing register from the top of banner of the website 

How do I subscribe?

You first need to register on the website. When you have done this you will simply then tell us you want to take out subscription as well.

How can I pay?

When you register on the Grant Tracker website and then respond by asking to subscribe you will be given the payment options. At the moment we accept payment by cheque or BACS. More information is available by contacting us on grant.tracker@nicva.org or by telephone 028 9087 7777. We can invoice you organisation for the cost. Subscription begins when payment is received and your subscription activated.

You can subscribe by first registering on the website. Alternatively you can contact NICVA by telephone or email and request subscription. Telephone 028 9087 7777 and ask for Grant Tracker Subscription or email: grant.tracker@nicva.org.

 

Using the Website FAQs

What is MyTracker?

The MyTracker homepage is the area of the website where Grant Tracker subscribers or registrants can save their favourite articles and use the various tools on Grant Tracker.

Registrants can access the following tools on the MyTracker Homepage:

  • MyNews - a view of all your tracked news articles
  • MyGuidance - a tool for storing guidance articles
  • Comment - an opportunity to comment on news and guidance articles.

Subscribers can do all this but also have access to all the Grant Tracker tools including:

  • QuickTracker - a quick and easy funding search tool. It matches your projects with potential funders
  • SuperTracker - a more focused search tool for narrowing down actual funding sources even further
  • MySchemes - A personalised directory for all your tracked funding schemes
  • MyFunders - A personalised directory for tracking funding organisations
  • MyDates - A personalised diary for those important funding dates you want to track

What is NewsTracker?

The NewsTracker tool enables those who are subsribed to or registered with Grant Tracker to save News articles to their MyTracker homepage and view them in the MyNews area.

What is GuidanceTracker?

As you use Grant Tracker's fundraising guidance articles you may from time to time wish to store them to your MyTracker homepage. The KnowledgeTracker is the tool which organises all your tracked fundraising guidance articles into one place for future reference. To use it you need to be either a Grant Tracker subscriber or registered on the website.

What is QuickTracker?

Quick Tracker is a simple but sophisticated grant search tool. Is uses a google-like search to produce a quick list by matching the keywords you enter.

What is SuperTracker?

SuperTracker is the more advanced grant search tool which is used to match a list of criteria to funding schemes on the database. It is used instead of Quick Tracker when you want to further filter you search results.

What is DateTracker

DateTracker is the tool available to subscribers to save important funding dates to your MyDates view on your MyTracker homepage. This tools means you see only the dates you personally have tracked in this area.

How often is the information updated on the website?

Funding scheme information is updated on an ongoing basis. We are in daily constant contact with funders and update schemes immediately. We always try to be the first to break local funding news and to provide details on new and upcoming funding opportunities. Our guidance articles are often the only source of this information freely on the internet. You can see when our articles have been updated as we publish these opening

Who updates the information?

NICVA's grant tracker team harnesses years of experience in fundraising and grant-making to deliver quality fundraising content to your desktop and your mobile. You can even contact our research team to quiz us on the information we provide.

About Grant Tracker FAQs

Who's behind Grant Tracker?

Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) is behind Grant Tracker. It is a charity that supports voluntary and community sector development.

How do I contact the Grant Tracker Team at NICVA?

You can email us at grant.tracker@nicva.org or telephone 028 9087 7777. Our office address is 61 Duncairn Gardens, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT15 2GB.

What is Grant Tracker trying to achieve?

The overall aim of Grant Tracker is to help Northern Ireland voluntary and communty organisations find additional sources of funding by supporting fundraisers to find funds for good causes.

How is Grant Tracker funded?

Grant Tracker is funded through modest annual charges for subscription. Costs are from £100 and helps cover the cost of the research, keeping it all up-to-date and improving your experience of using the website.

What happens to the money Grant Tracker raises through subscription?

The money raised through Grant Tracker subscription is used to help promote the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland. Unlike some other funding directories, databases and websites which are either privately run or UK-wide, NICVA's Grant Tracker and NICVA as a charity are dedicated to helping Northern Ireland causes develop.

What are the future plans for Grant Tracker?

We are dedicated to the continuing improvement of Grant Tracker. Now in its fourth incarnation we are still looking to improve the site by adding new tools and views and improving even further the quality and comprehensiveness of the information we provide. Help us improve Grant Tracker - give us your feedback on the site or by emailing grant.tracker@nicva.org or commenting on articles as you use the site.

We have lots of ideas which we will seek to introduce over the coming months so keep an eye on developments.

Tell me About the History of Grant Tracker?

Grant Tracker began back in 1999 when a Grant Tracker Advisory Group was formed to ensure the needs and expectations of potential grant tracker user groups were taken on board. Today Grant Tracker is a fully integrated and interactive website.

As a resource it is viewed by on average over 5,000 visitors a month and a large proportion of NICVA's members (67%) had used the site to access funding. Over three quarters of NICVA members stated the website was a valuable resource and information was easy to find.

A major part of the Advisory Group's work centred on the development of the classification system, software options and funder research. With support originally from Community Foundation for Northern Ireland and the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Northern Ireland there was considerable consultation, research and testing of the the Grant Tracker software until its celebrated first launch in June 2001.

The development of the website is very much an ongoing process responding quickly to user feedback and technical developments in Information Communications Technology (ICT). NICVA's Member Services has ambitious hopes for the future development of Grant Tracker.

Grant Tracker was first launched in the summer of 2001 as a CDROM only version. All members of NICVA received the trial version 1.1 at this time. The CDROM was then updated 3 times until March 2002 when the development of the website and complementary CDROM began. The completely revamped web version (Version 2.0) was launched ahead of schedule in February 2003. Much more was made possible than was originally envisaged because of technical advancements in software and internet access.

The development of the website version was first funded by Belfast Regeneration Office (BRO) to assist in building the capacity of local groups to become self-sustaining. Version 3 was launched in July 2005 with further enhancements added to the site. Version 4, the latest and most current was launched in 2008 a further significant improvement in the service.

Grant Tracker now receives no direct grant support for the service it provides to the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland, hence the need to make a modest charge for subscription to contribute to the costs of maintaining and developing the service. NICVA continues to offer the best service we can with the limited resources available. www.grant-tracker.org