# Grant application tracker: what to record and why

A grant application tracker records every funder from first research to final report: stage, route, dates, amounts, outcome, feedback and when you may reapply. The fields that matter and why each earns its column.

- Author: OpenGrant
- Topic: [Prospect research](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/category/prospect-research)
- Published: 2026-10-26
- Updated: 2026-10-26
- Source sites checked: 2026-10-26
- Canonical URL: https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grant-application-tracker-what-to-record
- Part of: [Trust fundraising prospect research: how to find out who funds charities like yours](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/trust-fundraising-prospect-research)

## Key facts

- A tracker needs five groups of fields: identity (funder, programme, links), qualification (eligibility, fit, award, route), timing (target month, decisions), money (requested, awarded) and aftercare (reporting).
- Decision dates come from published timescales: 16 weeks for Awards for All England, 40 weeks for Reaching Communities England, three to four months at Trust for London, 16 March 2027 for City Bridge's Economic Justice.
- Reapplication rules are the most often lost field: Trust for London allows one application a year and asks unsuccessful applicants to wait 12 months.
- Grant agreements set reporting dates and conditions that outlast the application; the tracker should carry them until the final report is accepted.
- A spreadsheet is enough; OpenGrant's saved grants, alerts and calendar files feed it, and the CSV export in the paid tier moves a search straight in.

A grant application tracker records every funder you approach from first research to final report, so that nothing is applied for twice, missed, forgotten or reapplied for too early. It needs about twenty columns in five groups: identity, qualification, timing, money and aftercare. This guide explains each field and the mistake a missing one causes.

## Why a tracker and not a list

A list of funders tells you who you might ask. A tracker tells you what has happened with each, when the next thing is due and what you learned. The difference shows up in three ways. A tracker stops two people approaching the same trust in the same quarter. It stops a [rolling programme](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/rolling-programme) with no deadline from drifting for a year. And it carries the funder's reapplication rule and the reason for a decline to the next person who opens the row, which may be you in eighteen months. [How to build a trust fundraising pipeline](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-build-a-trust-fundraising-pipeline) describes the stages the tracker records; this guide is about the fields.

## Group one: identity

- **Funder.** The legal name and the [charity number](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/charity-number) or company number, so the register entry is one click away. Use the name on the register, not the brand.
- **Programme.** The specific scheme, because a funder with four programmes has four sets of rules.
- **Links.** The funder's guidance page, its OpenGrant funder page and the scheme record. OpenGrant's [saved grants](https://opengrant.co.uk/saved) hold a shortlist of scheme records and show when each changes.
- **Source.** How the funder came up: a peer's accounts, a GrantNav search, the peers lookup, a directory. This tells you later which research methods work.

## Group two: qualification

- **Eligibility.** Legal form, income band, geography and cause, checked against the funder's rules, with a note of anything marginal.
- **Fit.** One line on why this funder funds work like yours, with the evidence: three similar grants in its list, a stated priority, a programme name.
- **Typical award and source.** The median recent grant from 360Giving on the funder's OpenGrant page, or the range in its trustees' report, with the date you read it. Never the maximum in the guidelines.
- **Realistic request.** What you will ask for, informed by the typical award.
- **Route.** Open programme, rolling applications, round with a closing date, letter, [expression of interest](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/expression-of-interest) or invitation only. [Which trusts accept unsolicited applications](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/do-uk-trusts-accept-unsolicited-applications) explains how to establish this.
- **Contact and last contact.** The person, the date and a line on what was said. Trust for London asks applicants to book a call with a grant manager before applying; the call belongs here.

A missing qualification field produces the commonest wasted application: the one to a funder that does not fund your legal form, your county or your amount.

## Group three: timing

- **Stage and date reached.** Identified, qualified, approached, submitted, decided, with the date of each move.
- **Target submission month.** Every prospect gets one, including rolling programmes. Garfield Weston accepts applications all year round; your tracker still needs to say which month.
- **Deadline.** For rounds, the closing date and time. City Bridge Foundation's Economic Justice round closed at 12 noon on 3 November 2026; "3 November" alone would have lost an afternoon's applications. OpenGrant's [deadline pages](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines) list closing dates by month, and the paid tier's calendar files put them in your diary.
- **Submitted date.** The day it went in, and how.
- **Expected decision date.** From the funder's published timescale: 16 weeks for Awards for All England, 40 weeks for Reaching Communities England, two months to shortlist and three to four months to decide at Trust for London, stage two by 11 January 2027 and final by 16 March 2027 for City Bridge's Economic Justice round. Esmée Fairbairn says its whole process usually takes six to eight months.
- **Actual decision date.** So that next year's expected dates are your own experience.

A missing timing field produces the late application and the project that starts before the money.

## Group four: money

- **Amount requested.** The figure on the form.
- **Amount awarded.** Often less; record both.
- **Restricted or unrestricted.** Whether the award is [restricted](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/restricted-funds) to the project or cost lines you named, or given for general purposes, because it decides what you may do with an underspend.
- **Instalments.** Dates and conditions of payment. Heritage Fund grants, for example, are usually paid in stages tied to spending and completion.
- **Match.** Any [match funding](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/match-funding) the award depends on, its source and status.
- **Weighted value.** Realistic request multiplied by a probability for the stage and funder, so the tracker totals into a forecast.

A missing money field produces the budget that counts a £15,000 request as £15,000 of income before the decision.

## Group five: aftercare

- **Outcome and feedback.** Awarded, declined or withdrawn, and what the funder said. NCVO's advice on feedback is to treat it as fair and accurate even if it feels otherwise, and to look up the funder's rules on when you may reapply.
- **Earliest reapplication date.** Trust for London allows one application per organisation each year and asks unsuccessful applicants to wait at least 12 months. Most trusts have a rule; some state it only in the decline letter. This is the field most often lost, and losing it costs a good prospect.
- **Conditions.** Acknowledgement, evaluation, safeguarding, insurance, whatever the agreement requires.
- **Reporting dates.** Interim and final reports, with who is responsible. [How to write a grant monitoring report](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-write-grant-monitoring-report) covers the content.
- **Changes agreed.** Any variation to the project, budget or timescale the funder has agreed in writing, as [changing a grant-funded project after the award](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/change-grant-funded-project-after-award) explains.
- **Relationship notes.** Thank-you sent, visit offered, newsletter added. Funders remember.

A missing aftercare field produces the late report, the unspent restricted balance nobody mentioned, and the reapplication that arrives three months early.

## The template

Copy these column headings into a spreadsheet, one row per funder approach: Funder; Charity or company number; Programme; Guidance link; OpenGrant link; Source; Eligibility notes; Fit evidence; Typical award (source, date); Realistic request; Route; Contact; Last contact (date, note); Stage; Stage date; Target month; Deadline (date, time); Submitted; Expected decision; Actual decision; Outcome; Feedback; Amount requested; Amount awarded; Restricted?; Instalments; Match (source, status); Probability; Weighted value; Earliest reapplication; Conditions; Reporting dates; Changes agreed; Relationship notes. Freeze the first column, filter by stage, and add a second sheet that sums weighted value by month of expected decision.

## Feeding the tracker

Research fills the qualification fields: the registers and accounts for trusts without a website, GrantNav and OpenGrant's funder pages for published grants and typical awards, as [how to use 360Giving data to find funders](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-use-360giving-data-to-find-funders) explains. OpenGrant's [alerts](https://opengrant.co.uk/alerts) add new schemes that match a saved search as funders publish them, and the paid tier's CSV export moves a whole search into the tracker with deadlines and amounts in place. A funder's trustees' report refreshes the typical award once a year.

## A monthly routine

Once a month, re-read every open row. Move prospects that have sat at identified for three months to qualified or out. Check every target month and deadline against today and the [deadline page for next month](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-11). Compare expected decision dates with actual, and chase decisions that are overdue by more than the funder's stated margin. Total the weighted value against the budget. And read the aftercare group for every live grant: a report due in six weeks needs its data gathering to start now.

## A worked example

A fictional arts charity in Bristol keeps a tracker of thirty rows. In its November 2026 review it finds a trust declined in October 2025 with a 12-month wait recorded, now eligible again, and schedules a new approach for its December meeting. It finds a rolling prospect at qualified since June with no target month, sets one, and finds an Awards for All England submission from July whose 16 weeks are up, and makes the call. Two live grants show reports due in January, so data gathering is assigned. The weighted total for the year to March is £8,000 short of budget, so two qualified community foundation prospects are moved to the submitted stage before Christmas. Without the tracker, the first trust would have been missed and the second approached a year late.

## Frequently asked questions

### What should a grant application tracker include?

One row per funder approach with: funder and programme, links to the funder page and guidance, stage and the date it was reached, route and deadline, eligibility and fit notes, typical award and your realistic request, contact and last contact date, target submission month, submitted date, expected and actual decision dates, outcome, amount awarded and whether restricted, feedback, conditions, reporting dates and the earliest reapplication date.

### Do I need software for a grant tracker?

No. A spreadsheet with the right columns does the job for most charities and most freelancers, and it is portable between people and clients. Software helps when several people update the same pipeline or when you want reminders; OpenGrant's saved grants and calendar files can feed either. The discipline of recording every stage matters more than the tool.

### How often should I update the tracker?

Every time something happens, and in a monthly review regardless. Record a submission, a call, a decision or a report the day it happens, because details are lost within a week. Once a month, re-read every open row: move stale prospects on or out, check expected decision dates against today, and look at the weighted total against the budget.

### What is the most common thing charities forget to record?

The reason for a decline and the earliest date they may reapply. Without the reason, the next application repeats the mistake; without the date, a strong prospect is approached too early and declined again, or forgotten and never approached. Record both from the decline letter or the funder's guidance the day the decision arrives.

### Should the tracker continue after a grant is awarded?

Yes. The agreement brings reporting dates, payment instalments and conditions such as acknowledgement or evaluation, and funders judge future applications partly on how you handled the last grant. Carry each award in the tracker until the final report is accepted, and record any change to the project you agreed with the funder.

## Find grants

- [Grants for charities and community groups](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/for/charities) (Markdown: https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/for/charities.md)
- [Grant deadlines by month](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines) (Markdown: https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines.md)
- [Grant deadlines in November 2026](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-11) (Markdown: https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-11.md)
- [Save grants to track your pipeline](https://opengrant.co.uk/saved)

## Related guides

- [How to build a trusts and foundations pipeline (with a tracker template)](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-build-a-trust-fundraising-pipeline): A trusts pipeline is a dated list of funders at five stages, from identified to decided, sized so that realistic success rates still deliver the income you need. How to build one and the fields to track.
- [How to write a grant monitoring report: a practical UK guide](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-write-grant-monitoring-report): Write a clear grant monitoring report with a practical structure, a worked example and checks for spending, outcomes and missing evidence.
- [Grant application rejected: what to do next](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grant-application-rejected-what-to-do-next): Turn a rejected UK grant application into a clear next step: request useful feedback, decide whether to reapply and improve the evidence in your bid.
- [Can you change a grant-funded project after an award?](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/change-grant-funded-project-after-award): Learn how to request changes to a UK grant-funded project, with a budget example, an email template and a checklist for recording approval.

## Sources and further reading

- [The National Lottery Community Fund: Awards for All England](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/funding-programmes/national-lottery-awards-for-all-england)
- [Trust for London: Apply for funding](https://trustforlondon.org.uk/funding/apply-for-funding)
- [City Bridge Foundation: Economic Justice](https://www.citybridgefoundation.org.uk/funding/economic-justice)
- [NCVO: After you apply](https://www.ncvo.org.uk/help-and-guidance/funding-income/all-about-grants/after-you-apply/)

All guides: https://opengrant.co.uk/blog.md · Glossary: https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary.md · Agent index: https://opengrant.co.uk/llms-guides.txt