by Katia Ernst | Aug 19, 2026 | Article
Anyone applying to a grant program for the first time does not yet know how it works: the process, how long the form takes, the terminology used, or what actually counts as a complete application. This is exactly the moment that decides whether a good idea turns into a submitted application or whether someone gives up halfway through.
At Good Grants, we call this application onboarding: the transition from someone’s first contact with a grant program through to a successful submission. Software development has long recognised that new users need to be guided towards a product: step by step, until they reach their first successful outcome. We apply that same principle to the application process.
Application onboarding means designing the path to an application so that first-time applicants know what is expected of them from the outset, can find help at the right moment and can complete the process without unnecessary friction. It is a continuous sequence of small decisions: what do we show someone before they even start typing? What help do we offer partway through the form? And how do we confirm that an answer has actually gone through?
Returning applicants know the program, the deadlines and often the right people to ask. For them, a new funding round is routine. First-time applicants face the same process as completely unfamiliar territory. They do not know how long an application typically takes, which documents are genuinely necessary or whether asking a question is even welcome.
That uncertainty has a real effect on the overall applicant experience. A program that treats experienced and first-time applicants the same way ends up overwhelming one group and boring the other. The usual symptoms show up quickly: support queries pile up over things the form could already have explained, applications get abandoned midway, or incomplete submissions create extra review work for the team later on.
Just how much structural factors drive these drop-offs is shown by a study of the Irish Better Energy Homes grant scheme, run by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: more complex applications were abandoned noticeably more often than simpler ones, and outside factors such as location and season played a role too. Abandonment, then, is rarely just a matter of willpower. It is closely tied to how complicated the process feels, and that is exactly the lever well-designed onboarding can pull.
A well-thought-out onboarding process starts before the form itself, with the question of what actually needs to be asked. Every field that is not clearly necessary costs first-time applicants valuable time. Before a question makes it onto a form, it is worth being clear on why the answer is needed, who can actually provide it and how its accuracy can be checked. Only questions that pass that test belong in the application. This is a principle the UK Government Digital Service’s service manual recommends for public sector forms too.
Building on that, four elements stand out as particularly effective for first-time applicants.
Set expectations before the first click.
The landing page or the call for applications itself should already make clear roughly how long an application takes, which documents to prepare and when the deadline falls. Anyone who only discovers this partway through the form is more likely to abandon it.
Break the form into manageable steps.
Multi-page forms with one clear question or decision per page are proven to be easier to work through than long single pages packed with fields. This matters most for more complex applications requiring various supporting documents or attachments, exactly the applications the Irish study found were abandoned most often.
In Good Grants, a form can be split into as many sections as needed, so even lengthy applications stay manageable and applicants can work through them step by step instead of facing one overwhelming page. We have gathered a more detailed look at typical form mistakes and how to avoid them in a separate article on the seven most common mistakes in grant application forms.
Put help text where the questions actually arise.
Short, contextual explanations next to the relevant field help far more than a separate FAQ document. Unclear or seemingly arbitrary requirements are a common reason applicants leave a form partway through. In Good Grants, help text can be added to any question, whether that is clear instructions or example answers. That removes much of the uncertainty about what is actually expected and makes filling in the form noticeably easier.
Make progress and status visible.
First-time applicants want to know where they stand and whether their application has actually arrived. A progress indicator while they work and a clear applicant portal once they have submitted both take away that uncertainty.
For programs tackling onboarding systematically for the first time, a short, repeatable structure helps. It can serve as a template for every new funding round.
First, a pre-application checklist showing which documents and details are needed before the application itself begins.
Second, a clearly identifiable first step, such as a short eligibility screener that filters out unsuitable applicants early and without frustration.
Third, contextual help text at the points in the form that tend to generate the most questions.
Fourth, an automatic confirmation after every intermediate step, so nobody is left wondering whether their input was saved.
Good Grants helps grantmakers put workflows like this in place without needing development resources. Forms can be broken into logical sections, help text can sit right next to the relevant fields, and progress is saved automatically.
Applicants can pause their work as often as they like and pick up again exactly where they left off, without losing anything they have already entered. That takes a lot of pressure out of the process: nobody has to finish an application in one sitting just to be sure nothing gets lost. What happens after submission, when applicants want to keep track of their status, is covered in our article on the applicant portal.
Good application onboarding is a win-win: it also cuts down the workload on the other side of the process. Fewer incomplete applications mean fewer follow-up questions, fewer requests for missing information and, ultimately, faster and fairer processing for everyone involved.
Looking at your own grant program through the eyes of someone who has never been through it before usually reveals, quickly, where small changes can make a real difference. Good Grants aims to support organisations in exactly that, so the first application is not the biggest hurdle in a grant program but a strong start to it.
Articles
Feature focus
Ebooks
Videos
Releases