Building a counterpart-funding note that assessors trust

Grant and soft-finance dossiers often stumble on counterpart funding long before the technical narrative is questioned. Assessors want to see cash that is real, timed, and owned.

Separate cash from goodwill

In-kind office space and volunteer hours can matter for programme design, but they should not sit in the same cell as banked co-funding. A clean counterpart note lists:

• Confirmed cash sources with account or board minute references
• Pending cash with a realistic confirmation date
• In-kind items valued with a method the funder accepts

Timing beats optimism

If your disbursement schedule assumes counterpart cash arrives in month one, and your board only votes in month three, the financial sections of the application will contradict each other. Align the budget phasing to the slower of the two calendars.

Where Fieldhouse comes in

Our Grant & Soft-Finance Dossier Check is a financial audit of applications aimed at these reconciliation points. We do not rewrite your project story; we make sure the money pages do not undermine it.