Building Stronger Grantmaking Together: SmartyGrants Continues to Grow Across the UK and Ireland
Posted on 24 Jun 2026
The International Fund for Ireland, Stratford Town Trust and Glasgow City Council are among the latest organisations to choose SmartyGrants to administer their programmes.
They join a growing community of funders across the UK and Ireland, including the International Congress of Maritime Museums, Edinburgh Fringe Festival Society, Sir George Martin Trust, and Edinburgh and Lothian Trust, that are using SmartyGrants to strengthen and streamline their grantmaking.
Globally, SmartyGrants works with more than 850 grantmaking organisations, including approximately 215 local authorities, more than 260 central government agencies, 140 philanthropic entities, and 225 business or corporate funders to manage more than 15,000 grant programs in 55 countries.
Stratford Town Trust head of finance and deputy chief executive Rebecca Hampson said SmartyGrants had helped create a simpler, more intuitive journey for applicants while making the organisation’s grantmaking more efficient and impactful.
“It’s been invaluable to work with a partner who not only understands our ambitions but actively supports us in shaping the right system and approach to deliver on them,” she said.
“We launched our new grants round in March and our applicants have found the application process really easy and intuitive to use, we have had lots of really positive feedback.”
SmartyGrants continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of funders across the UK and Ireland, with a range of new features designed to improve reporting, strengthen collaboration and provide deeper insights into grant performance.
The Outcomes Engine helps funders standardise how they collect and report on funding outcomes, making it easier to compare results across different funding streams, while the Analytics module provides customisable real-time insights into grant performance.
Meanwhile, SmartyFile streamlines the application experience by allowing applicants to manage team access, store common documents and pre-fill organisational information details into forms.
SmartyGrants UK/Ireland engagement and support manager Vicky Coutts said the conversations happening across the UK and Ireland funding sectors highlighted the shared challenges and strong momentum for evolution.
“No two conversations with funders are ever the same, but they almost always come back to the same core aims: wanting to create better experiences for applicants, improve processes, and maximise impact with limited time and resources."
“Every conversation is a learning opportunity, and one of the most rewarding parts of this role has been hearing how organisations across the UK and Ireland are approaching these challenges in different ways.
“Working alongside philanthropic partners such as Yorkshire Funders and Philanthropy Ireland has reinforced just how important collaboration and shared learning are. Yorkshire Funders’ growing focus on influencing how funding works regionally, through championing best practice, bringing people together and driving systems change, reflects many of the conversations happening right across the sector.”
Vicky said she was struck by both the strength of Ireland's philanthropic community and the opportunity to make its work more widely understood.
“Hearing from Philanthropy Ireland that a third of people still don’t know what philanthropy means was a real reminder of the importance of making this work more visible, accessible and connected to communities,” she said.
“Attending philanthropic events over the past year has also made me realise how important genuine connection is in what can sometimes feel like an increasingly disconnected world. Being present, having conversations, and being part of the wider community matters, because that’s where trust is built, ideas are shared, and positive change can start to happen.”
To learn more about SmartyGrants email vickyc@smartygrants.co.uk.