Each year we issue two surveys to seek opinion on our services, our work and our performance.  One of the surveys is focused exclusively on our funding, and the other is more general, asking for opinion on our work overall.  We collate the results of these surveys and use them to help us focus on the areas that we need to improve, and to help inform us of further needs that we need to try to address.  From 2025 we will provide a short report on the feedback we have received, some of the key things we were told, and how we have used that feedback to shape our future services.  We may also talk about things that we will be planning to do to address any concerns that were raised.

2025 Survey Findings & Response

Grant-making reach
We made 5557 grants totalling £3,691,598 from our funding streams that accepted open applications, during 2024/25, against a target of 3500 grants and £3,000,000. We exceeded our target, primarily due to the Household Support Fund scheme, which was a major funding stream to support individuals across Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent.

In total, 91% of eligible applicants received some form of funding.

Geographic reach
Our funding reached organisations in all 8 boroughs and districts of Staffordshire, (Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands and Tamworth) along with the unitary authorities of Stoke-on-Trent, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.  We were pleased to see stronger representation from Tamworth and Shropshire this year following our outreach work there. We are conscious that South Staffordshire has a lower proportion of awards overall than other areas, although it has a similar success rate.  As such we are looking to prioritise outreach there in the coming year.

Alignment with identified need
The main issues affecting our counties this year have been mental health issues and social isolation. Looking at our 2024/25 grant-making, nearly 40% of grants by value supported projects addressing these themes directly. We are satisfied that our grant-making is well aligned with identified need, though we note that some projects remain harder to fund through our standard community grants due to their scale and structure — we will explore how our larger grants programmes can better address this.

Speed and accessibility
Our average time from application closing date to decision notification was just under 3 weeks across all programmes in 2024/25, against an internal target of four weeks.   The reduction in time is due to the almost immediate turnaround in grant applications to the Household Support Fund, which was treated as an emergency support stream.  Following feedback from applicants, we introduced telephone application routes this year to make applications more accessible.  We saw a [X]% increase in applications from organisations who had not applied to us before.

What we learned and what we are changing
Our applicant survey this year told us that 79% of applicants found the application form straightforward, but just over 20% found the application form difficult to complete. As a result, we simplified the whole application form, making it easier to access and navigate, with more clearly defined sections.  As part of our Open and Trusting Grant-making pledge we reduced superfluous questions on our application forms, to just ask those questions which were relevant to a project or funding stream.  We also reviewed our panel composition to introduce more representation from people with relevant life-experience to a funding scheme and its aims.  This was in response to feedback that people felt decisions should be made by people who understood not only their area, but also the need that an organisation was attempting to address.

The top five specific issues raised with us all related to grant applications.

You said: ‘It is not always clear which fund or programme is the right one for us’

As a result we reviewed the wording on fund pages so that applicants can more easily understand eligibility, priorities and what each fund is looking to support.  We also introduced an eligibility checker.

You said: ‘The application form can feel long and sometimes asks for information we have provided elsewhere’

We have removed duplication where we can, simplified questions and only ask for sufficient information to allow us to assess applications fairly and equitably.

You said: ‘It would help to know what information is needed before starting the online form’

We have made our guidance clearer and are working to provide better preparation information so that applicants can gather relevant information before they start a form.

You said: ‘We would like advance information about when monitoring is due’

We have developed a new section of our portal, which will now show when monitoring is due.  We now also notify successful grantees of the information that needs to be reported on at the start of their grant, so that they can gather and retain the relevant information while their project is ongoing, rather than having to collate it all at the end.

You said: ‘We would like some reassurance that the application has been received and what happens next’

We have strengthened and improved our communication points so that applicants know the stage that their application is at throughout the process.

Looking ahead
In 2026/27 we will focus particularly on increasing reach into South Staffordshire and Telford & Wrekin, and making improvements to the way we monitor beneficiary impact data.  We are planning a brand new monitoring system which will be more appropriate for grantees, and only ask information which is relevant to their project.   If successful we will be able to report on progress against these commitments in next year’s review.

Take a look at how your feedback is shaping our work

You can download a table of our actions in response to your feedback here