Declination

A funder’s decision not to fund an application. Federal programmes usually provide reviewer comments; most foundations provide a sentence or nothing, and the difference decides how much you can learn from it.

Part of the GrantTrove grant funding glossary — one entry for every field the catalogue stores.

Also called Rejection · Non-award · Unsuccessful application

In detail

Where comments are available they are worth requesting even when not offered automatically, because a declination on scores is a very different signal from a declination on fit.

Timing varies enormously. Some funders notify in weeks and some go quiet for a year, and silence is not usually information. Where a notice states an anticipated award date, that is the date to plan against rather than the deadline.

Against a closed record

A closed record means an application window ended. It says nothing about any application. `status` on a record describes the opportunity, and we hold no application outcomes at all — there is nothing on this site that knows whether anyone applied, let alone what happened.

How GrantTrove stores it

  • `status` distinguishes forecasted, active, closed and archived, and a record is not moved to closed on a single failed check.
  • Closed records keep their dates and their source link rather than being deleted, so a programme that ran last year is still readable when it matters.

Common questions

Can I get reviewer comments?

From most federal programmes, yes, on request if not automatically. From most foundations, no.

Should I reapply?

It depends what the declination was about. Scores and fit are different signals.

Do you track outcomes?

No. We hold published opportunities, not applications.