Every funder wants their investments to create meaningful, lasting change. Achieving this requires more than selecting good projects - it requires supporting funded organisations to design, deliver and continuously improve high-quality programs.

Q-STEP provides a practical, evidence-informed quality system that helps funders strengthen the quality of the programs they invest in. By creating a shared understanding of what quality looks like, Q-STEP supports greater consistency between funding and funded organisation while building capability to design, deliver and fund impactful programs. 

Flexible by design, Q-STEP can be integrated at any stage of the funding lifecycle -from funding applications and assessment through to implementation, evaluation and reporting. It can be adapted to suit different funding models, strategic priorities and portfolio sizes.

Whether you're supporting a small grants program or managing a large funding portfolio, Q-STEP helps ensure that investments are built on strong quality foundations and have the greatest opportunity to deliver meaningful impact.

Contact us to discuss how Q-STEP can be adapted to your organisation and support your journey towards consistently funding high-quality programs with lasting impact.

Q-STEP can help funders to:

• strengthen the quality of funded programs

• establish clear and consistent expectations for program quality

• build the capability of funded organisations

• improve consistency across funded programs and portfolios

• align funded programs with strategic priorities and intended outcomes

• support continuous improvement rather than one-off compliance

• generate stronger evidence about the quality and contribution of funded programs

• maximise the value and impact of funding investments.

Q-STEP can used in a range of ways

Every funding organisation is different, which is why Q-STEP is designed to be flexible. Depending on your funding model and objectives, it can be used in the following ways:

• Include Q-STEP as part of funding requirements, providing funded organisations with a practical quality system to guide implementation.

• Incorporate Q-STEP into application and assessment processes, helping assess the quality and readiness of proposed programs.

• Offer Q-STEP as a capacity-building resource, supporting funded organisations to strengthen program quality throughout implementation.

• Use Q-STEP as a common quality framework across a funding portfolio, creating consistency while allowing flexibility for different program types.

• Use Q-STEP as a tool to support monitoring, learning and continuous improvement, helping both your organisation and your grantees understand what is working and where further support may be needed.