4 Making applications on-line
27. Making grant applications on-line can improve
the cost-efficiency of a grant process, the quality of applications
received and the experience of the grant applicant. In the culture,
media and sport sector, development of an on-line application
process was at an early stage and we questioned why grant-makers
had not made more progress. We were surprised to see that out
of the four grant-makers, only one, Sport England, had the ability
to process applications online. All applicants to Sport England's
Community Investment Fund programme could apply online,
and Sport England was planning to introduce a single on-line application
form for all of its grant programmes from September 2008. For
other grant programmes, grant-makers continued to receive large
numbers of paper-based applications.[28]
28. The Big Lottery Fund told us that it hoped to
have on-line applications in 2010 across all of its programmes.
Based on earlier trials and research, it considered that online
applications could significantly improve the cost-effectiveness
of its grant programmes. The Big Lottery Fund had looked at the
systems of other organisations including the Arts Council and
the Heritage Lottery Fund and, outside the sector, Esme Fairburn,
the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation. It had also looked
at the retail banking sector to help establish the best possible
online processes. Big Lottery Fund told us that it was looking
to develop a system which could be applied at other grant-makers.
The Arts Council was also looking to move towards an on-line process
during the current spending period, although it considered that
some of its applicants would still want the opportunity to make
paper-based applications.[29]
29. Grant-makers saw the introduction of an on-line
application facility as going some way towards reducing the time
taken to process applications and of improving the accuracy of
the applications they received. The Big Lottery Fund had found
from its People's Millions programme that by accepting
on-line applications it had almost 'obliterated' incomplete applications
as applicants could only move to the next stage of the process
by attaching the right information.[30]
30. In the United States, 26 Federal grant-making
organisations share a common website. The website lets applicants
know about grant-making opportunities and enables them to submit
applications on-line. Lottery distributors in the UK currently
run a website together called www.lotteryfunding.com, which directs
anyone seeking grants on the internet to relevant opportunities,
although excludes exchequer funded opportunities. Once an applicant
has identified a suitable grant programme they can print out an
application form and the rules and process for applying for the
grant, but they could not yet make applications on-line as happens
in the USA on the grants-gov website.[31]
31. The Department was cautious about the merits
of a one-size fits all system, given the diversity of the sector
and the applicants for grants. In the case of the arts, for example
a choreographer, painter or writer was likely to approach only
the Arts Council for funding, so a central website may not offer
any advantages to such an applicant. Nevertheless, the Arts Council
conceded that if there was an opportunity to attach an online
applications facility to the existing lottery website that would
be a great improvement.[32]
28 Qq 12, 40 Back
29
Qq 12, 14, 39, 52 Back
30
Q 38 Back
31
Qq 13-14 Back
32
Q 53 Back
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