So you’ve found a grant that’s a good fit for your organisation and put together a list of answers to standard questions such as your address, social media handles, legal name and what the organisation is known as. Now it’s time to start thinking about some specific questions you’ll need to answer.
This post would run to many pages if I attempted to address every question but the same sort of things come up again and again:
- Tell us about your organisation
- Tell us about your project
- What difference will it make to beneficiaries?
- How do you know your project is needed?
So how do you respond to the answers? Be clear: include the relevant information without going into unnecessary detail. Word or character counts, where they are in place, will have a bearing on your response – see more details below.
Include evidence where you can – even a few words from a beneficiary testimonial can powerfully illustrate the difference you can make.
Project or Core funding?
Many funders will require you to choose / specify between these two types:
Core funding: Can be called other things such as ongoing funding. Often designed to cover running costs, e.g. building rent or volunteer costs (e.g. travel expenses). It may include salaries but be careful, as it doesn’t always. Funders make this clear so always check.
Project funding: Projects tend to run for a specific time and will probably be something new for the organisation. Spend wisely and be careful that you’re not requesting funding for previously-incurred costs – many grant makers won’t support this, so don’t incur costs on the expectation that they will be paid for later. Generally, funders are more excited by new and prospective projects, rather than things that have already happened.
Grants and financial sustainability
Not all funders will ask this, but unless you are only running something for a fixed period, it’s worth having a plan for how you will fund the work long term.
Some funders look to develop a longer-term relationship with organisations, and commit to spending over multiple years. But these are the exception. So how else could you make your project sustainable? You and your trustees or management committee will know your organisation better than anyone. One charity I work with has had success raising funds through sponsored events.
Grant writing is a long game. Trustees often batch applications to look at these in scheduled meetings. Many funders have a ‘rolling’ deadline and monthly reviews, but others only review every quarter, or every year. So look at the deadline, make a note of it and check it again. It’s not uncommon to wait upwards of 4 months for funds to arrive. Some will notify all applicants – successful or not – whereas for others you won’t hear anything if you’re not successful.
Word and character counts: Key things to remember
Many application forms have a requirement for these. Word counts are popular with funders, as they limit the amount of material the assessor needs to read and digest, and the time it takes. The limits also level the playing field in some respect, removing any advantage an applicant may gain by including absolutely every benefit they can think of. Word counts do add time to the process for you, though, due to the requirement to edit responses down to the required length.
I wrote about word counts in a previous post, and am planning another about dealing with the added complexities of character counts. Essentially, though, this is what you should bear in mind:
- Write first, edit later. Get everything into the document first to avoid getting into the vicious circle of writing, editing, writing, editing.
- If you’re struggling to cut out enough words, leave it to the next day and/or ask someone else to look. It’s amazing what fresh eyes can spot.
- Leave enough time to edit down the required word count without rushing.
- Don’t ignore the counts – if you’re submitting online, any words or characters above the limit will simply not appear.
Supporting documents
Funders have a responsibility to do their due diligence on the organisations they choose to support. To show that you’ll be a trustworthy custodian of the funds, you will typically need some / all of these:
- A constitution (charity), memorandum of association (community interest company) or other governing document
- A recent (within 3 months) bank statement – you’ll need a separate account in the organisation’s name, with two unrelated signatories
- Annual report, statement of accounts or some other way of communicating your finances
- And always make sure your Charity Commission or Companies House (for a CIC) entry is up to date.
Submitting
If a grant has a deadline, it’s always good practice to aim to submit the day before. Increased traffic to a website’s online portal heightens the risk of technical problems that can crash the site – and if you don’t submit by the deadline your application will not be assessed.
Most of the time the instructions are to apply via a portal – sometimes with a link to save your in-progress application – or for other funders you may need to create a password-protected account.
If applying via email, double check that you have attached the right version of your application form, and any supporting documents.
No time or in-house resources to apply for grants? I find suitable funds and create compelling applications for organisations. If you’d like to discuss how I can help you, let’s arrange a no-obligation chat. I also offer a consultancy service giving feedback on your draft application and can work with you to implement any suggested improvements.
Photo by Francesco Gallarotti on Unsplash
Recent Comments