Every competitive grant is scored against published criteria by an assessor with a stack of applications and limited time. The organisations that win are not always the ones doing the best work. They are the ones whose application answered the question that was asked, in the order it was asked, with evidence attached.
Connect Australia writes those applications. We take what you know about your own operation and turn it into a structured case that an assessor can score without having to interpret you generously.
What we write
- Commonwealth, state and local government grant applications.
- Philanthropic and trust funding applications.
- Tenders and requests for quote or proposal.
- Submissions to inquiries, consultations and reviews.
- Business cases and funding proposals for internal or board approval.
How we work
Assessment mapping first
Before a word of narrative is written we build a matrix: every criterion, its weighting, what the guidelines actually require as evidence, and what you currently hold. That matrix drives the whole application and it usually tells you within a day whether this grant is worth pursuing at all — which is a genuinely useful answer when the alternative is three weeks of unpaid effort on a submission you were never going to win.
Narrative development
Assessors reward specificity. Numbers, dates, named partners, defined outputs and a clear statement of what changes if the money arrives. We interview the people who do the work, then write in a register that survives being read quickly by someone who does not know your sector.
Contributor and deadline control
Most applications fail on logistics rather than prose: a letter of support that never arrived, a financial statement in the wrong format, a portal that closed at 2pm not midnight. We hold the schedule, chase the contributors and manage the submission itself.
What you receive
- A criteria matrix with an honest assessment of your position against each one.
- A drafted application aligned to the assessment framework.
- Attachment and evidence pack, formatted to the guidelines.
- Contributor schedule with owners and dates.
- Submission through the relevant portal and confirmation of lodgement.
- A reusable content library, so the next application starts at seventy per cent rather than zero.
Where our work stops
Connect Australia does not provide legal, tax or financial advice and is not a law practice, tax agent or financial adviser. We work with your preferred provider or, with prior disclosure, can introduce an independent partner for you to assess and choose. We do not charge success fees and we do not guarantee funding outcomes. Assessment is the funder’s, and a well-built application competes — it does not win by default.
Common questions
How far ahead do you need to start?
Three to four weeks before the closing date is comfortable for most competitive rounds. Shorter is workable and we do it regularly, but under 24 hours’ notice or outside the agreed delivery window attracts an urgency loading, confirmed with you before any work begins.
Do you work on a percentage of the grant?
No. Connect Australia does not charge success fees. Some funders prohibit them outright, and they create an incentive to chase volume rather than tell a client that a particular round is not worth entering.
We have written it ourselves. Can you just review it?
Yes. A review against the criteria matrix is often the highest-value hour in the process, because it catches the criterion you answered in the wrong section or the evidence you assumed was implied.
What does it cost?
A grant or government submission starts from $4,800 + GST against an agreed scope, quoted before work begins.
Start with a confidential fit check
The first conversation is short and costs nothing. We want to understand the decision you are facing, the deadline attached to it and whether this is work we should be doing at all. You do not need to send documents at that stage.
If the matter is a fit, the next step is usually the $850 initial strategic consultation, which includes up to one hour of pre-reading and a one-hour meeting.