Tell us a little about your requirements and we'll respond within one working day. No pitch, no hard sell — just a practical discussion between professionals.
You get in touch — by email or the form opposite.
We arrange a short call, usually 20–30 minutes, to understand your requirements.
We provide a written proposal with clear fees — usually within 48 hours.
You decide whether to proceed. No pressure either way.
We aim to respond within one working day.
It's the right question to ask and we respect foundations who ask it. Our experience on the bid-writing side doesn't make us sympathetic to weak applications — it makes us better at identifying them. We know the difference between an application that's well-presented but underpowered, and one that's less polished but genuinely strong. And because we have also assessed bids for public sector bodies and performance managed statutory contracts with voluntary organisations, we understand what good delivery actually looks like once funding is awarded. We have no interest in recommending funding for organisations that aren't ready for it. Our job is to help you fund well. That's it.
Vantage Grants Assessors and Gecko Fundraising Ltd are separate legal entities with separate clients, separate finances and separate branding. We maintain a formal Conflict of Interest Policy, available on request, and we declare any connections to the organisations we are asked to assess before we begin any work. If a conflict exists that we cannot manage — for example, if we have recently written a bid for an organisation you want us to assess — we will tell you immediately and decline the instruction. We do not charge for work we cannot properly undertake.
No. Our service is desk-based. We conduct thorough due diligence and produce detailed written assessments without meeting applicants — which keeps our service efficient, cost-effective, and consistent with the principle that assessment processes should not place unnecessary time burdens on applicants. If a site visit or interview is an essential part of your process, please do mention this when you get in touch so we can be upfront about whether Vantage is the right fit.
This depends on the complexity of the grant and the depth of assessment required. As a guide, a standard assessment for a small-to-medium grant typically takes two working days from receipt of the application to delivery of the report. Larger or more complex assessments may take longer. We agree timescales upfront and we keep to them.
Yes. We work to your house style and template where one exists. We have experience across a range of grant management platforms and we adapt quickly. If you don't yet have a standard assessment template, we can provide one or help you develop one — we include this as part of the initial setup for new clients at no additional charge.
No. We are not currently VAT registered, so there is no VAT to add to our fees. For foundations, which are typically unable to reclaim VAT, this represents a straightforward cost saving compared to working with a larger VAT-registered consultancy.
Yes — and we would encourage you to consider it. We offer a bespoke written feedback service for unsuccessful applicants as an optional addition to our standard assessment work. Each unsuccessful applicant receives a specific, considered response that explains the reasons for the decision, identifies the key concerns, and where appropriate, suggests what they might consider doing differently. In our experience, the absence of meaningful feedback is one of the most damaging and avoidable problems in the grants sector — and meaningful feedback breaks that cycle. Find out more about this service →
No. Some of our most rewarding work is with smaller foundations who don't have the budget for a full consultancy relationship but need occasional, reliable assessment support from someone who really understands the sector. We price proportionately and we are happy to discuss arrangements that work for organisations of any size.