Client:
The Shears Foundation
Date:
2019
Deliverables:
Website
visit site
Brief:
To design and build a branded grant application and management platform that digitises the Shears Foundation’s entire funding process, enabling greater efficiency, higher application volumes and improved accessibility for applicants and trustees.

From Paper Applications to a Streamlined Digital Platform

The Shears Foundation supports charitable organisations through annual grants. Before working with Creative Coop, the foundation had no website, no established brand and relied entirely on paper forms, telephone calls and in person meetings to manage applications and funding decisions. This made the process time consuming for applicants, staff and trustees alike, and limited the number of grants they could handle each year.

We designed and developed a new Drupal 8 platform that brought the entire grant management process online. The site features multiple tailored forms including an initial eligibility check, a full grant application form and a mid year monitoring form for successful applicants. Submissions are stored securely in the system, allowing staff to review and shortlist applications before passing them to trustees for voting. The trustee voting process is now fully digital, reducing the need for travel and enabling decisions to be made quickly and efficiently.

Following launch, the foundation saw a significant transformation in how it operated. They were able to process at least three times the number of applications while reducing administrative time and paperwork. The new system also made it possible to fund more smaller projects, a key goal for the foundation, by removing the bottlenecks that had previously slowed down decision making.

Enabling Growth Through Digital Change

This project is a clear example of how digital transformation can unlock new capacity and create measurable organisational impact. The Shears Foundation moved from a manual process to a fully integrated online system in one step, immediately improving efficiency for both applicants and internal teams.

The platform’s flexibility ensures that forms can be adapted to evolving funding requirements, while its secure data handling gives trustees confidence in decision making. Applicants now benefit from a clear and accessible process that can be completed from anywhere, and staff have the tools they need to manage and track grants from initial enquiry through to monitoring.

In addition to delivering the initial site, we have supported the foundation with an upgrade to Drupal 10, ensuring long term sustainability and security. The result is a robust and easy to use platform that enables The Shears Foundation to focus on what matters most, supporting charitable work across the communities they serve.

  • The Creative Co-op’s unique combination of experience, insight, technical know-how and ability to really understand our needs has delivered a website that has truly revolutionised our grant-making processes.

    – Bruce Warnes, The Shears Foundation

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