What Funders Actually Look at When They Visit Your Website Before Making a Decision

There  is a conversation that happens inside grant-making organisations that  most charity applicants never get to hear. A funding officer has  reviewed your application. It looks promising. Before the decision goes  any further, they open a browser and search for your charity's website.

What  happens next is not a formal assessment. There is no scoring rubric  open on the desk. But in the space of a few minutes, the funding officer  forms an impression of your organisation that will colour every  subsequent conversation — and in more cases than most charities realise,  what they find on the website determines whether the application  advances or quietly stalls.

This  is not speculation. Institutional funders, grant-making trusts,  corporate partners, and major donors routinely check charity websites as  part of their due diligence. Grant makers use a combination of publicly  available sources — including the Charity Commission register, a  charity's online presence, and social media — to build a picture of an  organisation before making an award. Your website is not supplementary  material. For many funders, it is the first independent evidence of  whether your organisation is what it says it is. 

Understanding  what they are looking for — and where most small charity websites fall  short — is one of the most practical things a trustee or fundraiser can  do before submitting another application.

The Charity Commission Register: The First Check

Before  a funder looks at anything on your website, many of them will check the  Charity Commission register first. They are confirming that you are who  you say you are — that your registration number is valid, that your  accounts have been filed on time, and that there are no regulatory  concerns sitting on your record.

A  charity that cannot be found on the Charity Commission register, whose  accounts are not publicly accessible, or whose governance structure is  unclear faces credibility questions that no amount of compelling  programme content can offset. 

Late  filings are visible on the register. Missing accounts are visible. If  your charity's register entry has gaps or irregularities, a funder will  see them before they read a single word of your application. And because  your website and your Charity Commission entry are separate but must be  consistent, discrepancies — a different version of the charity's name,  an outdated registered address, a list of trustees that doesn't match  the register — create credibility questions that sophisticated funders  and due diligence processes will notice. 

The  fix is straightforward: check your register entry today, make sure your  accounts are filed, and ensure everything on your website matches what  is on the public record.

Your Charity Number: Smaller Than You Think, More Important Than You Know

Funders  check that charities are compliant with regulators — particularly that  accounts are being submitted on time and that the organisation has a  physical address rather than a PO Box. Your charity registration number  should appear visibly on your website — not buried in a footer in a font  size that requires squinting, but clearly present wherever your  organisation's identity is stated. 

This  sounds like a minor detail. For a funder conducting due diligence, it  is a basic signal of whether your organisation understands its legal  obligations. A charity that does not display its registration number on  its own website is a charity that may not have its administrative house  fully in order — and that impression, however unfair, is difficult to shake once formed.

Governance: What Funders Are Actually Reading

The  section of your website that funders spend the most time on is almost  never the one charities spend the most time writing. It is the  governance section — the about page, the trustee list, the annual  reports, the accounts.

When  a grant officer visits your governance section as part of due  diligence, they are looking for evidence that the organisation is  well-run, financially stable, and professionally governed. The specific  indicators include: accounts filed on time with the Charity Commission, a  trustee board with relevant skills and appropriate independence, clear  financial information, and evidence of risk management awareness.

Funders  expect charities to have a website or materials available demonstrating  who their senior managers are and the experience and leadership they  bring to their roles, and at least three unrelated trustees — though  some funders are moving to increase this requirement. 

What  this means in practice is that your about page needs to do more than  explain your mission. It needs to demonstrate that your organisation is  governed by real, identifiable people with relevant experience — people  whose names and roles are publicly stated and whose presence gives a  funder confidence that the work will actually be delivered.

Policies: The Documents Nobody Reads Until They Matter

Funders  want evidence that organisations have the necessary policies to ensure  they are meeting their legal requirements, following best practice,  safeguarding their users, and mitigating risks. At a minimum, they will  look for — or ask for — a safeguarding policy, a data protection and  GDPR policy, and an equality and diversity policy. For grants involving  work with children or vulnerable adults, safeguarding documentation is  non-negotiable. 

Policies  need to show they have been reviewed in the last two years, with a  review date and a future review date to demonstrate they will be  reviewed again. A safeguarding policy dated 2019 with no evidence of  subsequent review tells a funder two things: that the policy itself may  be out of date with current best practice, and that your organisation's  governance culture does not prioritise keeping it current. Neither  conclusion is one you want a funder drawing before they make their  decision. 

These  policies do not need to be published in full on your website for every  visitor to read. But they need to exist, be current, and be readily  available when a funder asks for them.

Financial Transparency: What the Accounts Tell Them

UK  funders typically verify eligibility, governance, and financial health  before making an award — reviewing filed accounts and verifying income  trends, reserves, and liquidity indicators at application stage. 

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Your  most recent accounts should be accessible — either linked directly from  your website or available on the Charity Commission register without  anyone having to dig for them. A funder who cannot easily find your  financial information will either look elsewhere, assume there is  something to hide, or simply move to the next application.

Funders  are not specifically looking at the size of a charity's reserves or  turnover — many grant recipients are small or very new, and funders  understand how transformative funding can be for organisations working  with very limited resources. What they are checking for is financial  irregularities and whether a recipient is at risk of being unable to  deliver their objective.

The  narrative that accompanies your accounts matters too. A trustees'  annual report that clearly explains what your organisation did in the  past year, what it learned, and what it plans to do next tells a more  compelling story than a set of numbers alone — and it is often this  narrative that determines whether a funding officer picks up the phone  to find out more.

Impact: The Story That Closes the Deal

Everything  discussed above is table stakes. The minimum required to get through a  funder's due diligence without raising concerns. The thing that actually  moves a funder from interested to committed is impact evidence — a  clear, honest account of what your organisation has achieved and for whom.

This  does not require a sophisticated data system or a dedicated impact  reporting function. It requires your website to answer, in  straightforward language, the questions that funders are asking: What  difference does your work make? How do you know? Who has benefited and  how many of them? What would not have happened without your  organisation?

The  charities that answer these questions compellingly — on the website, in  the accounts, and in the application — are the ones that advance  through due diligence quickly and land at the top of a funder's list.  The ones that cannot answer them clearly, regardless of how good the  underlying work is, create doubt that a funding officer has to resolve  before they can make a recommendation.

The Practical Checklist

Before  your next funding application goes in, look at your website through a  funder's eyes. Confirm that your charity registration number is visible.  Check that your Charity Commission register entry is current and  consistent with your website. Make sure your trustee list is up to date  and includes some indication of relevant experience. Verify that your  most recent accounts are accessible and that the accompanying trustees'  report tells a clear story. Check the review dates on your key policies.  And read your impact section with fresh eyes and ask honestly whether  it tells a compelling, specific story — or whether it reads like every  other charity in your sector.

A  governance-ready website is not expensive to maintain. The information  required already exists within the organisation. The work is making it  accessible, organised, and current — and keeping it that way. 

For  registered UK charities, LINKBIT builds websites that present your  organisation the way funders expect to find it — credible,  well-governed, and easy to navigate. If your current website is not  doig that work, it is worth fixing before the next application goes in.

Ready to make sure your charity's website gives funders the right impression? Start your Discovery Session