Every year, thousands of grant competitions open across Ukraine and internationally – worth billions of euros for businesses, NGOs, universities, researchers, startups, and individuals. Most of them close quietly, never finding the right applicant. Not because the funding is unwanted, but because most people and organisations simply do not know where and how to find it. This article “How to Find Grants” offers a practical overview of every method of grant searching – from manual monitoring to AI-powered matching – and explains why the traditional approach is increasingly giving way to automated solutions like GetGrant.
| Search methods 5 approaches |
For whom NGOs, business, research |
Fastest option AI matching by profile |
Time saved minutes instead of weeks |
Find grants matched to your profile in minutes
GetGrant – an AI-powered grant search service with the largest database in Ukraine. Matches programmes to your organisation type, sector and goals.
Why Manual Grant Searching Doesn’t Work (How to Find Grants)
Most people encountering grant searches for the first time do the same thing: they type “NGO grants 2026” into Google and get dozens of scattered results, half of which are outdated aggregators with programmes from 2021 or 2022. The rest are generic lists with no clear deadlines or eligibility criteria.
Three core problems with the traditional approach
The first is stale data. Most websites listing grants update infrequently or not at all. An organisation invests time reviewing a programme that has already closed or changed its conditions. The majority of grant opportunities have specific deadlines – and most applicants find out about them far too late.
The second is irrelevance. Even current listings rarely account for the specific profile of a given organisation. An NGO in Kharkiv focused on psychological rehabilitation and an IT startup in Lviv have entirely different grant profiles – but most resources offer them identical generic lists.
The third is scale. The GetGrant database alone adds new competitions daily from dozens of donors: the EU, bilateral programmes, private foundations, and state support. Monitoring all of them manually is a full-time job in itself – before any actual application work has begun.
5 Methods for Finding Grants: from Manual to Automated
1. Official donor websites
The most reliable but most labour-intensive source. Every major organisation – the EU, USAID, GIZ, DAAD, Humboldt – has its own “Calls for Proposals” or “Scholarships” section. This method provides first-hand accurate information, but requires constant manual monitoring of dozens of websites in multiple languages. It is best suited for those who already know their donor and are tracking specific programmes.
2. Grant aggregators and databases
Specialised platforms consolidate competitions from multiple sources in one place. For EU programmes, the EU Funding & Tenders Portal is the main reference. For Ukrainian and international programmes, GetGrant is the most comprehensive aggregated database. The key advantage of aggregators is time savings on monitoring. The key risk is inconsistent update frequency in some platforms.
3. Email subscriptions and alerts
Many donors and aggregators offer email subscriptions for new competitions. This is a passive but useful tool: new opportunities arrive directly in the inbox. The limitation is that general newsletters rarely filter content to a specific organisational profile, and inboxes quickly fill with irrelevant messages.
4. Networks and communities
Telegram channels, Facebook groups, associations, and network organisations are an important source of “non-obvious” grants that don’t always reach official listings. This is especially relevant for NGOs and the cultural sector, where many programmes are distributed through partner networks. The downside is the chaos involved and the impossibility of systematically monitoring all channels.
5. AI-powered matching to organisational profile
The newest and fastest approach. Rather than reviewing hundreds of programmes and manually checking eligibility conditions, an algorithm analyses the organisation’s profile – sector, type, country, goals – and returns a ranked list of relevant competitions. GetGrant implements exactly this approach: after entering a description of the search directions, the system returns a personalised list of grants with a relevance percentage for each one.
How GetGrant Solves the Grant Search Problem (How to Find Grants)
GetGrant is an AI-powered grant search service with the largest database in Ukraine. The platform collects programmes daily from official donor websites, the EU, bilateral programmes, state support schemes, and private foundations – and organises them into a single up-to-date catalogue. Every programme has verified data: conditions, deadline, applicant type, and budget.
AI matching to your profile
The key function: after subscribing, the user enters a description of their search directions – and the system returns a personalised list of grants with a relevance percentage for each. A university looking for programmes for legal researchers will receive a different list than an NGO from Dnipro supporting veterans. This is a fundamental difference compared to any generic catalogue.
FundingHub – a dedicated tool for business
For SMEs, startups, and sole traders, GetGrant developed a separate product: FundingHub. It is focused exclusively on business programmes and allows filtering grants by sector, company size, and region. Over 100 current programmes: from state support through “Diia” to EU grants worth hundreds of thousands of euros. Daily updates ensure new competitions appear in the database before most potential applicants even hear about them.
Partner search for consortiums
One of the rarest functions in the grant landscape: GetGrant enables users to find and vet partners for joint applications – universities, SMEs, NGOs, municipalities – filtered by country, field, TRL, and consortium role. The platform helps build teams and supports the signing of MoUs and NDAs. For Horizon Europe, Interreg, and most bilateral donors where a strong international partner is a critical selection factor, this is a significant advantage.
Who GetGrant Is For
The platform is designed for a broad range of applicants and is adapted to the specific needs of each sector.
Civil society organisations and NGOs
Over 130 active programmes for the non-profit sector. AI matching takes into account the organisation’s thematic focus, geography, and target group – so results show only relevant competitions, not generic lists.
Small and medium businesses, startups, sole traders
FundingHub with a specialised business programme database. Filters by sector, company size, and region. From state support programmes to EU innovation grants worth hundreds of thousands of euros.
Universities, research institutions and individual researchers
Bilateral programmes, Horizon Europe, scholarships, and fellowship programmes from leading European and US foundations. AI matching by discipline, career stage, and funding type.
Municipalities, medical and educational institutions
Reconstruction, infrastructure development, social services, and digitisation programmes from international donors and the EU. A corporate subscription allows team-wide access with a shared organisational profile.
How to Start Searching on GetGrant: Step-by-Step (How to Find Grants)
| 1. | Register at getgrant.ua and choose a plan. Basic access to the catalogue is available for free; AI matching and alerts are included in the paid subscription. |
| 2. | Complete your organisation profile – type (NGO, university, SME, etc.), sector, region, goals. The more precise the profile, the more relevant the AI matching results. |
| 3. | Enter a search description – a brief description of your project or organisation. The algorithm analyses it and returns a list of grants with a relevance percentage for each. |
| 4. | Review your results – each grant shows the name, short description, relevance percentage, deadline, and a direct link to the official programme page. |
| 5. | Save the grants you need on the service or in PDF format – the most important grants will always be at your fingertips. There is also an option to download all the information about the grant in PDF format. |
Start finding grants the right way
GetGrant – an AI platform with the largest grant database in Ukraine. Daily updates, personalised matching, and deadline alerts – so you always hear about opportunities first.