Grantmaking Events

Grantmakers know standardisation matters. Fewer reinvented wheels, fairer processes, better data. But in practice, it’s hard to get right. Too loose and nothing lines up. Too rigid and people work around it.

This webinar introduces The Goldilocks Zone – a practical, evidence-based approach to standardising grants in ways that are proportionate, workable, and sustainable. We’ll explore where standardisation genuinely adds value, where it creates friction, and how to strike the balance without creating unnecessary burden for teams or applicants.

In this webinar, SmartyGrants experts will walk through what effective grant standardisation looks like in the real world. Drawing on research, lived experience, and system design examples, we’ll cut through theory and focus on what actually works.

We’ll unpack the common traps grantmakers fall into, share practical design principles, and demonstrate how systems can support consistency without forcing uniformity. The session includes a live system walkthrough showing how standardisation can be embedded quietly into everyday grantmaking, rather than imposed

Date & Time: Tuesday 19 May 2026, 10am BST

Duration: 1 hour

Cost: Free

Program overview

• Welcome and context
• Why standardisation is back on the agenda
• The Goldilocks Zone: not too loose, not too rigid
• What the evidence tells us
• Designing for proportionality
• Case study: standardisation from the coalface
• System demo: how standardisation works in practice
• Questions and next steps