How grant administrators can get the best outcome from their funds

Successful grants programs demand a relentless focus on outcomes. Grants administrators require evidence-based eligibility and swift reporting of results. Grant recipients, on the other hand, want to enjoy a smooth customer journey, where it’s easy to apply and where they’re paid promptly and accurately.

In the second episode of the series, host Tim Smith talks outcomes with Michael Cooper, Senior Civil Servant and Head of Defra’s (UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Group Grants Hub, and Matt Wilson, EY EMEIA Grants and Relief Funds Management Leader.

With over 120 grants schemes and highly complex policy objectives, Defra is determined to achieve a positive impact and give the UK taxpayer value for money, by allocating funds efficiently and tracking their performance.

Defra is looking to leverage exciting areas of innovation to increase the coverage and responsiveness of monitoring controls, and enable holistic data-led decision-making, while ensuring customer experience remains at the heart of their grant making approach.

The podcast is also available to listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Podbean.

Key takeaways: 

• A central grants hub can rapidly drive benefits in large-scale departments, through driving consistency across a diverse set of grant programs, producing central management information and conducting Second Line of Defense assurance.
• Innovative remote monitoring techniques can increase the coverage of controls and reduce the feedback loop, while improving customer experience.
• A single source of the truth database is essential to making insight-led decisions that will maximize grant outcomes. 

For your convenience, full text transcript of this podcast is also available. Read the transcript.