Yorkshire Funders Builds on Common Application Success with New Common Report Form to Support Grant Holders
Yorkshire Funders is calling on more funders to join the 12 organisations already using its Common Application Form (CAF). The ASDA Foundation and the Sir George Martin Trust—celebrating 70 years of supporting communities in West Yorkshire—are the first to adopt the new Common Report Form (CRF) for funders to use to get feedback on grants.
Building on three years of success with the CAF, Yorkshire Funders has now launched the Common Report Form to further streamline the grant‑making journey. Together, the CAF and CRF cut down admin for grant seekers and grant holders, freeing up vital time and energy when it matters most.
Yorkshire Funders is hosting a webinar entitled “Is It Time To Modernise Your Grant Forms” on Thursday 12th February from 10-11.30am. Speakers will be Carla Marshall (Trust Manager, Sir George Martin Trust and CRF Task Force Chair) and Viv Hughes (Freelance Fundraiser for small Yorkshire charities). This session will help funders explore how they can use both forms to simplify key processes for grant applicants. The session is open to members and non-members of Yorkshire Funders and can be booked via this link. More details on the CAF and CRF here.
Carla Marshall, the CAF and CRF Task Force Chair and Trust Manager of the Sir George Martin Trust, said: “For over 30 years, Yorkshire Funders has been bringing grantmakers together and encouraging good practice, often through practical solutions. With charities and frontline groups feeling exhausted and exasperated by having to complete dozens of different application and report forms, we wanted to come up with a solution which will help them and is simple for funders to take on. The more grantmakers that adopt the CAF and CRF, the more grant seekers and grant holders will find they are being asked the same questions, in the same format, so if you have been thinking about updating your application and report forms, we urge you to have a look at the Yorkshire Funders’ templates.”
Lisa Cooper, ASDA Foundation’s Manager and CRF Task Force member added: “We started using the CAF in 2024 as we felt the series of questions and language used were a good fit for our national small grants programme and we knew it had been created by a group of experienced grantmakers and funding advisors. Funders often put a lot of time and effort into developing their application form and the front-end of the grant cycle, but not so much when it comes to the back-end so I felt it was important that we came up with a CRF which could work for a variety of funders, whatever their size or location.”
Vivienne Hughes, a freelance fundraiser for small Yorkshire charities said: “This is one of those issues that people have spoken about for a long time, but everybody felt like it was impossible to tackle. I think it’s brilliant that these funders are actively trying to change ‘the system’ and it makes non-profits think ‘Oh, they are trying, they are bothered about our time and they actually care. They are listening to us and they listen to our feedback’.
“It’s not a perfect solution, but the fact that the CAF and CRF have been created and are being used is a massive step in the right direction. It allows fundraisers and grant holders to maintain their relationship with each funder and when we start to see similar application and report forms they will come into their own and it will be beneficial, but I think that it will take time for that to happen. Yorkshire Funders have realised that you need flexibility for the forms to be usable. They are encouraging funders to use the forms as a guide and hope they won’t make huge changes because then the forms aren’t common, but at the same time acknowledging that each funder is different and may need to adapt them slightly.”
Review the Common Report Form (CRF) template here.
Review the Common Application Form (CAF) template here.
Dr. Katy Adams of Sheffield University has written a report on the CAF, including interviews with funder adopters and grant applicants. Read the full report here.