Getting Started With Fundsorter

Welcome to Fundsorter!

This guide will walk you through the key first steps to find and apply for funding. You can also watch our short onboarding video so you can see how Fundsorter works.

After you sign up and log in, you will be guided by our onboarding wizard. The wizard will help you through the setup of your Fundsorter account.

Important: It is crucial to enter good, high-quality information during this process. The more relevant information you provide, the better our system will work for you.

Your onboarding journey

The onboarding wizard will guide you through six key stages. It will take about 20 minutes.

You'll need:

  • Basic information about your organisation
  • Any documents about your organisation (annual reports, strategic plans, etc.)
  • An idea of something specific you'd like to fund

Click Continue to move forward through the wizard, or back to return to a previous step. Click Exit Setup Wizard to manage the account and invite other users.


Step 1: Enter organisation details

This step builds the foundation of your Organisation Profile.

Charities Number

If you choose Registered Charity, you'll be asked to input your CC number, and we'll get your name and details from the Charities Services website.

If you're not a charity, choose Other Organisation.


Tell us your Organisation Name and Website (if you have one).


Funding filters

  • Toggle on/off whether your organisation accepts gambling proceeds or international funding
  • Potentially eligible for iwi funding: Select this option if your organisation may be eligible for grants available only to members of specific iwi, then enter one or more iwi that your group is associated with. Opportunities with explicit iwi eligibility requirements will only appear in matches for organisations that self-identify with that iwi using this setting.
    • Please note: there are many Māori-related funding opportunities where eligibility is not based on specific iwi membership, and Māori groups who leave this box unticked can still match with those.

Location(s)

Select all the locations your organisation serves to ensure you match with relevant funding.  

  • If you select a broad region, Fundsorter includes the councils, towns, suburbs, and other areas inside it. Once onboarding is complete, you can refine these locations further.
  • Some locations are grouped because they are commonly known areas made up of multiple places. For example, Auckland is shown as area groups such as Central Auckland, North Shore, West Auckland, East Auckland, South Auckland, Rodney, Franklin (Auckland), Hibiscus Coast, and Hauraki Gulf Islands. You can select a group, then refine it if only part of that area applies.

About your local results:

You'll see all funding opportunities within your selected areas, including those targeted at specific towns or suburbs. Once you've finished setting up, come back and fine-tune each region down to the towns or suburbs you actually serve — otherwise your matches will keep including funding you can't realistically apply for. You can do this any time from your profile settings. See Locations.


Step 2: Upload resources

Upload resources that provide a broad overview of your organisation, work, and impact. Use documents that are already available and don’t include any sensitive information.

Examples include:

  • Strategy documents
  • Annual reports
  • Previous funding applications
  • Research reports

Website

Add your website URL and our tool will scan up to 10 pages of context. You can add URLs for other relevant pages of your website to ensure the system scans them too.

Other web-based resources

Some websites block access to scraping tools. For media articles, blog posts, and social media content, please upload them as PDFs. To do this, print or save the page as a PDF, then upload to Fundsorter using the Upload Files function.

Anything to add?

  • Include any relevant information about your organisation here that's not covered in your documents or website. If you don't have documents, use this section to provide a broad overview of your organisations, work, and impact
  • Tip: Use speech-to-text!
    • Click the microphone to record your input instead of typing, the microphone will change to a red square when recording begins—click it to stop the recording. Once you stop, your recording will be transcribed into the field for you.
    • For best results, speak clearly and close to your microphone. Recording will automatically stop after 5 minutes. The dictation will appear after you finish.

Step 3: Review your funding profile

After uploading your documents, the wizard will prompt you to generate your profile.

Generate and review

  1. Click the "Generate Profile" button and our tool will create a comprehensive profile.
  2. Review all sections of your profile.
  3. If required, make adjustments to the profile so it better represents your organisation. To do this, either:
    1. Edit the content by clicking Edit Profile
    2. Add more Supporting Documents — your profile updates itself automatically whenever you add a document or website
    3. Use the speech-to-text by clicking the microphone icon

Step 4: Add a funding request

This stage allows you to specify exactly what funding you're seeking and why. You can manually enter your details, or open the Funding Ideas Generator — click the 'Help me create a request' button — to have our AI suggest the most fundable ideas based on your profile.

You can now use speech-to-text for all text fields in the Funding Request form. Click the microphone icon to record your input instead of typing; the system will automatically transcribe your speech into the field.

Title

A clear, descriptive name for your internal reference.

Amount needed

  • The minimum amount of funding you would accept from one funder
  • The full amount you need

Location(s)

  • Uncheck use my organisation's locations to choose locations specific to where the funding will be used
  • If you select a broad region, Fundsorter includes the councils, towns, suburbs, and other areas inside it. You can click Refine to remove areas where this funding request does not apply.
  • Some locations are grouped because they are commonly used areas made up of multiple places. For example, Auckland is shown as area groups such as Central Auckland, North Shore, West Auckland, East Auckland, South Auckland, Rodney, Franklin (Auckland), Hibiscus Coast, and Hauraki Gulf Islands. You can select a group, then refine it if only part of that area applies.
  • If a location shows a Refined tag, it means only some of the areas inside that location are selected.

Funding filters

The system defaults to using the funding filter settings from the Organisation Profile. Use the filters to change the funding requirements just for this Funding Request. 

Description

Provide a comprehensive explanation in the fields provided. Be sure to cover:

  • What is the funding for?
  • What problem does it solve or needs does it address?
  • What impact or change will this create for your community or your organisation?
  • Who benefits from this work/mahi?
  • Anything else you think is important for funders to know (optional)

If you already have this information documented, use the Supporting Documents function below. Here you can upload documents and websites that support this Funding Request.

Supporting documents (Optional)

You can upload resources specific to this Funding Request. Examples might be past reports from similar projects, or a website link to the project.

Save your request

Click "Save & Continue" to finalise the request.

Step 5: Scan for matches

After saving your funding request, the wizard will guide you to run a scan.

Find matches

Click 'Find Matches'. Our system scans thousands of funding opportunities to find good matches. This scan may take a few minutes to complete. If you've added a file or website to the request but haven't uploaded it yet, we'll check before starting — matching won't include it until it's uploaded.

View results

Click 'View Results' for your request. High Potential Matches will show in the following categories: 

  • Open Now: Funding opportunities currently accepting applications
  • Opening Soon: Upcoming funding opportunities
  • Relational Opportunities: These are funding opportunities that don't use an application form process. They typically prefer funding organisations they have a relationship with.

You can review each match to see why Fundsorter thinks it's a good fit.

About the free trial

During the free trial you can create one funding request, run two scans, and draft one application. This allows you to see a limited selection of 5 high potential matches in each timing category, edit and re-scan your results, and use the applications edit and drafting tools—experiencing how the find funding process works before you upgrade to a paid subscription.

Tip: Upgrade to an annual plan to save 20% and unlock premium features, including a 12-month funding match window, unlimited use of the Funding Ideas Generator and Browse Database.

Upgrade to a paid subscription to:

  • see the full list of funding matches
  • create more funding requests
  • find more funding matches
  • draft applications to funding matches
  • manage and track applications

To upgrade, continue though the onboarding wizard process and subscribe by following the prompts.


Step 6: Draft an application

Once you select an opportunity you'd like to apply for and press Continue, and we will draft you an application for the opportunity you select. Review and edit the draft to your liking, and when you're ready, the funder application link sits in the application information section near the bottom of the drafting page. Follow the link to submit your application. Fundsorter does not submit on your behalf.


Once you have drafted an application, you have completed onboarding and will be able to access the find funding page, my applications, and manage organisation. To see the rest of your matches, and to continue searching for funding and draft more applications, choose the "Upgrade Now" button or go to Manage Organisation, Accounts to learn about pricing, and the benefits of an annal plan.



Tips for success

Be comprehensive

Provide plenty of information in your Organisation Profile and Funding Requests. This helps our system create higher quality matches and applications for you. 

Be specific

Clear, detailed funding requests lead to better funding matches. In your description, be sure to complete each of the text fields.

Keep it updated

Keep information updated in your Organisation Profile and Funding Requests. This helps our system find better opportunities and create better applications. As your organisation evolves, update your profile to reflect new priorities or achievements. You can add and delete documents anytime — your profile updates itself whenever you add a document, add a website, or edit your organisation description, so there's no separate step to run.

Check your locations

Because locations decide which opportunities you're eligible to see, they're worth revisiting once you're set up — especially if you chose a whole region during onboarding but only work in part of it. See Locations.

Check regularly

New funding opportunities are added daily. Re-scan for matches often to see the latest opportunities.