Your grant campaign may have an application-friction problem

In this article

1. Separate grant campaign attention from application progress
2. Use administrative-burden research to examine grant application effort
3. Ask business owners where their grant application stalled
4. Match grant application support to the obstacle
5. Evaluate grant application changes before claiming success
6. Give your grant communications team a specific next task

When a business grant campaign produces attention but few completed eligible applications, an economic development organization should examine the path from the announcement to submission. Check what owners understand, what preparation requires, and whether the program's terms fit the people you want to reach. Then choose a response supported by what you find.

Imagine an owner who sees your post, recognizes a possible project, and opens the application page.

They discover they need a contractor estimate and a property owner's approval. They have questions about when payment happens. The shop gets busy, so the application waits.

Another reminder may help. A reminder that explains how to obtain the missing document could be more useful than repeating the award amount.

This is a scenario to investigate, not a diagnosis you can make from social engagement alone.

Separate grant campaign attention from application progress

A post can tell you whether people responded to a message. It cannot tell you why a particular owner did not submit.

Build a small review around the stages you can actually observe:

Define the period and each measure before comparing them. A website visit is not a unique business; an application start may not identify a completed applicant. If the portal cannot report starts reliably, mark that gap rather than estimating them from page traffic.

Use aggregate reporting for the communications review. Keep individual application details in the program's approved systems.

Use administrative-burden research to examine grant application effort

In their 2015 paper on administrative burden, Donald Moynihan, Pamela Herd, and Hope Harvey describe learning, psychological, and compliance costs in people's interactions with government. Their analysis concerns Wisconsin Medicaid policy, rather than business grants.

Hallpass's application of that framework is to ask what a business owner must understand, do, and navigate before submitting. The paper does not establish a grant-specific conversion rate or prove what is happening in your campaign.

For your program, possible obstacles might include:

• Understanding: an owner cannot tell whether a tenant can apply.
• Preparation: the owner needs a document from someone else.
• Confidence: the owner is unsure whom to ask or what happens after submission.

Treat these as prompts for investigation. Some owners may decide the grant does not fit their project. Others may be interested but unable to meet its financial conditions.

Ask business owners where their grant application stalled

A short conversation can produce a more useful answer than “Why didn't you apply?”

With appropriate permission, ask an owner who considered the program:

“What was the last step you completed, and what would you have needed to do next?”

Then ask what information or assistance would have helped at that point.

Record themes without turning a handful of conversations into a representative survey. Note how many people you spoke with and how they were selected. People who contacted your office may have different experiences from people who never did.

Pair those themes with the program team's questions and application records. Look for a specific obstacle that appears in more than one source.

Match grant application support to the obstacle

If several owners cannot understand an eligibility term, have the administrator approve a clearer explanation and place it beside the relevant requirement.

If a document is difficult to prepare, explain what it must contain and who can answer questions. Consider an administrator-approved example or a help session.

If the application form itself is confusing, ask the portal team to review it. The U.S. Web Design System recommends identifying required and optional fields and placing validation messages alongside the relevant inputs.

If reimbursement timing or an applicant contribution prevents participation, take that finding to the program owner. Marketing staff can explain the terms accurately; changes to the funding design need the responsible decision-makers.

Our grant landing-page guide provides a page outline for turning verified answers into useful public information.

Evaluate grant application changes before claiming success

Choose one obstacle, document the fix, and decide what evidence would show progress.

For example, if owners repeatedly ask what a required estimate must include, publish an approved preparation note. Check whether the same question persists, whether owners can use the note, and what the administrator sees in submitted documents.

Keep the comparison dates and application-round context visible. An approaching deadline, different audience, or changed program terms may also affect submissions.

A before-and-after count can describe what happened. It will not, on its own, establish that the content change caused the difference.

Give your grant communications team a specific next task

“Promote the grant harder” is a difficult brief when the obstacle is still unknown.

A clearer assignment is: review this round's recurring questions, check the application path, and identify one point where the right answer or assistance is missing.

Then use your grant promotion campaign to deliver that help through the page, partners, and reminders.

Hallpass can help an EDO turn the findings into clearer public information and a practical communications plan. Start with a Community Visibility Audit if your team needs help seeing where the message and next step lose their connection.