by GrantDrafter
Funding the Future is a podcast that tells the story of the impact that nonprofits have and how the secure the funding to make it happen. Hosted by Alyssa Medway, the cofounder of GrantDrafter - the easiest way to get your next grant drafted in ten minutes or less.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
2/1/2026
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April 13, 2026
<p>A uniform can give someone purpose and identity.</p><p>Taking it off can create a far bigger void than many realise. </p><p>Craig Heslop put it better than I could on the podcast this week.</p><p>Before running Buddy Up Australia, Craig spent years in policing. Hanging up that uniform is far from simple. </p><p>Leaving frontline service delivery means leaving behind the structure, the team, and the sense of purpose that shaped your days.</p><p>That’s where Buddy Up comes in. Filling that void for current and ex-serving first responders, defence force personnel and their families, before burnout can strike. </p><p>Something I respect most about Craig’s approach to leadership: when he became CEO, he didn’t focus on expanding operations. He actually downsized to strengthen the organisational foundations before moving forward. </p><p>When I asked what he’d do with $1M in untied funding, his answer was equally pragmatic.</p><p>Invest it.</p><p>Grow it.</p><p>Build something that lasts.</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode we discuss:</p><p><br></p><p>🟢 Why Buddy Up works upstream in prevention, not just crisis response</p><p>🟢 Supporting defence personnel, first responders, and their families — both during and after service delivery</p><p>🟢 The difficult transition from high-adrenaline service work to being present at home as a parent or partner</p><p>🟢 Why loneliness and identity loss can hit hard after people leave uniformed roles</p><p>🟢 Craig’s decision to remove locations early so the organisation could stabilise before expanding</p><p>🟢 The “Buddy Up approach”: evidence-led, strengths-based, member-positioned, prevention-oriented, and professionally delivered</p><p>🟢 Why one- to two-year grants create a hand-to-mouth cycle for many nonprofits</p><p>🟢 Craig’s view that long-term sustainability matters more than short-term program funding</p><p><br></p>
March 15, 2026
<p>Supporting people living with rare diseases isn’t just about funding research. </p><p>I sat down with <strong>Penelope Frew</strong>, Development Manager at <strong>MITO Foundation</strong> — Australia’s peak body dedicated to mitochondrial disease (mito) research, support, and advocacy.</p><p>In our conversation, what kept surfacing was how much of this work goes unseen — the parts families rely on most, and the parts that are often hardest to fund: <strong>support</strong>, <strong>access</strong>, <strong>coordination</strong>, and <strong>time</strong>.</p><p>We discuss:</p><p>🟢 the reality that <strong>treatments can be global</strong>, but <strong>access is local</strong> — and what that means for Australians with mito</p><p> 🟢 the challenge of translating complex science into <strong>strict word limits </strong>and <strong>20-second reels</strong></p><p> 🟢 the hardest dollar being <strong>unrestricted funding</strong> — and the hard work of earning a funder’s <strong>trust</strong> </p><p>🟢 how <strong>admin burden</strong> hits small teams harder, and why “good reporting” needs to be <strong>relevant</strong>, not rigid</p><p> 🟢 the tension in being <strong>community-led</strong> without trying to do <strong>everything</strong> (and the organisational discipline to pull back)</p><p> 🟢 “funding the <strong>glue</strong>” — connecting <strong>community, clinicians, researchers, and funders</strong> </p><p>🟢 where <strong>generative AI</strong> is already saving time, and why <strong>human judgment</strong> has to stay central</p><p><br></p><p>Sponsored by<strong>GrantDrafter</strong> — draft your next grant in <strong>5 minutes or less</strong>.</p>
March 1, 2026
<p>Grant funding is essential to community services. Yet navigating competitive, resource‑heavy applications can feel overwhelming.</p><p><br></p><p>Barbara Brangan founded Grantful to reduce this grant writing burden for purpose-driven organisations. Since 2018, she has helped Australian not‑for‑profits win over $55M across mental health, aged care, Aboriginal and community health.</p><p><br></p><p>Through Grantful, she distills complex programs into funder‑ready stories, guides end-to-end grant writing for both multimillion‑dollar tenders and small community grants and by doing so creates more time for organisations to focus on service delivery.</p><p><br></p><p>On this week’s episode of “Funding the Future”, Barbs and I talked about grant writing as both creativity and rigour, the humility that runs through this work, and how AI can support teams without replacing the human heart.</p><p><br></p><p>We discuss: </p><p>🟢 turning freelance work into <strong>Grantful</strong>, choosing a name that reflects both grants and gratitude </p><p>🟢 the headache that is turning <strong>program design</strong> and ideation into strict word limits and funder guidelines </p><p>🟢 The value of clients managing their project <strong>budgets</strong> to avoid errors and ensure narrative consistency </p><p>🟢 balancing <strong>humility</strong> with the need to celebrate success in funding applications </p><p>🟢 choosing which opportunities to pursue — <strong>small wins</strong> versus <strong>large tenders</strong> </p><p>🟢 adapting to a crowded grant landscape and balancing the use of <strong>AI</strong> with maintaining an authentic voice.</p><p><br></p><p>Listen: </p><p>• YouTube </p><p>• Spotify </p><p>• Apple</p><p><br></p><p>Sponsored by <strong>GrantDrafter</strong> — draft your next grant in <strong>5 minutes or less</strong>.</p><p><br></p>
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Funding the Future is a podcast that tells the story of the impact that nonprofits have and how the secure the funding to make it happen.
Hosted by Alyssa Medway, the cofounder of GrantDrafter - the easiest way to get your next grant drafted in ten minutes or less.
This podcast updates daily.
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