We’ve had lots of questions recently about how to secure funding grants and to that end have recently been delivering ‘The A-Z of bid-writing’ – a workshop covering our top tips on writing a killer bid. Here are some of the highlights…
Use your time wisely:
Only apply for grants where you’re confident you meet the funder’s criteria. Do they fund your kind of legal structure (charity, CIO, CIC, constituted group etc)? Do they fund the kind of work you do? Most funders are explicit about what they’re interested in funding, whether that be projects led by young people, projects that focus on supporting asylum seekers/refugees or something else. They may have different criteria for their different grants – do your homework before you start drafting anything!
Think like a funder:
Make sure your application refers explicitly to the interests and priorities you and the funder have in common and make it as easy as possible for the funder to see why you’re a perfect fit. And once you’re done, put it down, walk away – and come back to it asking yourself ‘if I were the funder what questions would I have after reading this application? Would I have everything I need in order to decide to fund this?’
Cover your costs
Running a project has all kinds of costs that keep the wheels turning. Analyse exactly what it costs – including covering the cost of your time spent writing reports for the funder, recruiting volunteers to deliver it, printing flyers to advertise it – and make sure you build it into your budget (you might hear this described as ‘full cost recovery’). Check if the funder covers core costs (the overheads you pay out for in order to run your organisation, your accountant, website fees etc) and if they do, build some of those into your budget.
Stay up to date
Some funders have rolling programmes with no closing date. Most funds, particularly smaller ones, are open for a very short period – maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months. Identify your target funders and local VCSE support organisation (e.g. Macc in Manchester, Sector3 in Stockport) who often share regular funding round-ups and sign up to their newsletters. You want to know as soon as those funds open – or ideally in advance when they’re likely to open and what might be in the application form – so you can pounce immediately rather than discover them after they’ve closed or when there’s just a day or two to go.
We’re planning on delivering ‘The A-Z of Bid-writing’ online at 10am, 15th July. Tickets are now live on Eventbrite.
