Most community organisations aren't short of purpose. They're short of the one person who can turn what they do into a funding submission, an acquittal, and a set of board papers that actually stand up.
Written end to end and ready to lodge. The narrative, the budget, the evidence of need, and straight answers to the questions most applications quietly avoid. Local council rounds through to Commonwealth programs.
The part that decides whether you get funded again. Tying spend back to what you promised, in the format the funder asked for, before the deadline rather than after the reminder email.
Reporting a volunteer treasurer can produce each month and a board can actually read. Surplus and deficit, restricted versus unrestricted funds, and where the organisation genuinely sits.
Constitutions, delegations, conflict-of-interest registers, child safety and risk policies. The documents that get asked for at the worst possible moment.
Costing a program properly, including the overheads most applications forget, so you aren't quietly subsidising your own funded work out of reserves.
Incorporation, ACNC registration, DGR questions and constitution drafting for groups that have outgrown running everything through someone's personal account.
I don't take a percentage of a grant, and I don't quote on the assumption my fee comes out of the funding. Success fees are treated as unethical across the sector, and funders generally won't let you claim the cost of a submission writer anyway. You pay for the work, whether the application lands or not.
I'm a chartered accountant, not a lawyer or an auditor. Where something needs either, I'll tell you before we start.
Small community grant $800 to $1,500. Government submission $2,500 to $5,000. Complex tender from $7,500.
Quoted before I begin, so nothing is a surprise. What you finally pay is still your call, and if you're a volunteer-run group with no budget line for this, say so at the start rather than at the end.
