My Top Tips - How to write a successful grant application

No funding application is ever the same, a simple cut and paste job and sending the same application off to lots of funders just wont cut it. Here are my top tips when planning your funding applications.

1. Define your project: Think about why you want funding and what you want the funding for. Is it a time-specific project, something you need to purchase, for salaries? Is the funding needed to to start something new or continue existing work that has been successful? Whatever you need funding for, you need to be clear on the ask. Funders want to know where their money is being spent, when and how. They will also have their own guidelines as to what they are willing to fund so make sure you read them carefully

   
   

2. Research: Understand which funders are out there and what they will fund. What are their deadlines? What is the decision making process? Who have they funded in the past? Not all funders have the same processes, so it’s good to familiarise yourselves with these. You may get a reply within 8 weeks for some, but others can take 6-9 months to get a response. You need to make sure that the funding applications that you are investing your time in, is the right one for you. If you work with young people, check the age ranges of those you support fit with the funder. Do they have priority areas? Are they looking to fund capital projects? Will they fund salaries, project staff, or neither? Most major funders have all you need to know on their websites. Some will have lots and lots of pages or resources while others might have a downloadable document with just a few pages inside. Make sure you take time to read the guidelines.

   
   

3. Think about your budget: How much money do you need? Make a list of all of the costs associated with your ideas and get an accurate idea of the funding you really need. By creating an accurate budget at the start, it will help you with your decision on which funders to apply for, you may even need to apply to multiple sources. If you intend to purchase equipment, get a minimum of three quotes to give you an average cost. Have you considered the actual cost of salaries or project staff? It’s not just about the hourly rate, there are other costs to consider such as pension contributions, so make sure you include these so as not to fall short later on. I always make sure that I have a notes column on my budget sheet and add in important information about the costs, such as the calculation used, web links or screenshots of items. This is mainly for your own benefit but some funders want to know how you have calculated costs and having them down on your budget sheet makes it easy to respond if they come back with questions on your budget weeks or months after submitting the application.

   
   

4. Consult, consult, consult: You have a great idea, but do people want it? Who have you spoken to? What evidence do you have that this will work? Evidence of need is so important for any grant application. All funders want to know HOW you know there is a need for your idea. They want to see evidence that you have undertaken consultation, and that needs to be wider than the people already coming to your project or organisation. Hold meaningful focus groups, send out surveys and speak to your local community.

   
   

5. Impact: How will this piece of work impact on the people you support and on your community? How do you know this and can you prove it? What are the outcomes of the work going to be? Is there any research to back up your evidence that you can reference? When thinking about your impact, think bigger than the number of people that will access your project. For example, you might say "This project will engage with 50 people who will play football every Friday" but of those 50, what are the outcomes for them? How will their lives be better and what percentage will achieve the outcomes?

   It can be more difficult to understand how the purchase of equipment might benefit people, however a community centre might be successful in getting some repairs done and paint to update a run down room. The impact could be that they can now open and rent out the room out to a local mum and baby group. This gives this centre income to reinvest into other projects or towards their running costs, and gives new mums in the area a place to go to meet others, share worries, get peer support and reduce isolation.

   
   

6. Evaluation: How will you know the project has succeeded? Sometimes this is hard to articulate, especially if this is a brand new project or a brand new organisation. However most funders will ask how you will evaluate the success of the work. Think about how you might document it and what tools will you need to do this. How you will gather your data? Will you take registers for each session to record the number of people coming along? Will you undertake pre and post project surveys? Will you use specific tools that are widely available or make your own up? Why have you chosen these methods? Don't use something that you feel wont work with your target audience, choose meaningful tools that will give you good data for evaluation.

   
   

7. Review & feedback: Finally, my best tip is that before sending off any application, make sure you share a draft with someone outside of your organisation and ask them for feedback. This could be a friend or family member. This is a really good way to sense check what you have written, proofread for typos and spelling mistakes and to check it reads as intended and that you are actually answering the questions. If they don’t understand what you are trying to achieve, a grant assessor might not understand it either - so it may need some work.

   
   

   Good Luck!

   If you need support in your grant applications, project planning, processes, research, evaluation methods or more...get in touch for a chat!a detailed plan, building a strong team, communicating effectively, monitoring progress, managing risks, staying flexible, and celebrating successes, non-profit leaders can ensure their projects make a positive impact and achieve their intended outcomes.