Writing funding applications
Applying for a grant is often the only way to get larger sums of money. It may seem like heaps more work, but do it right and the rewards could be huge.
You could ask for funding for newsletters, organisationalcosts, event or action, office and staff expenses, action andcommunications equipment. Funding proposals for outrageous things are alwaysworth a go - a hot air balloon or the use of a helicopter perhaps...
Which funder?
There are many different organisations that give grants tosmall campaigns and projects. Your first step is to make a shortlist of thosemost likely to support your project or campaign.
Nearly all funders have guidelines for giving out theirmoney. These cover the kind of groups and activities they will fund, how muchthey will give and how to apply. There are a number of directories that provideinformation about funders such as the Directory for Social Change. www.dsc.org.uk/ Also see our Get Fundedpage.
Have a look in your library and ask your nearest Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) for advice.
Your best bet however is to talk to other groups similar toyour own to find out where they got their funding from. For example for localenvironmental projects you can often get money from the council's environmentalgrants programme.
Gathering information about the funders
Once you've got your shortlist, find out as much as you canabout these funders. What kind of activities do they fund? What are theircriteria forgiving out money, deadlines and forms? How much do they give. Isthis the right funder to approach? They vary greatly in the information theyrequire and how much money they give. If they've got a website or printedpublicity materials, read them very carefully. Talk to people who have beenable to get money from that funder but also to those that were turned down.Find out what works and avoid other people's mistakes. Most fundingapplications are rejected because they did not follow the guidelines or forgotto send something, not because the funder didn't like the idea.
You also need to find out about deadlines for applying. Somefunders only allocate funds once or twice each year, so find out when the nextdeadline is and how long it takes for them to decide. If you are looking formoney to print leaflets next month then a funder who takes six months to make adecision is no good. If there are deadlines make sure you keep to them or yourapplications may be disallowed.
Thanks to Seeds for Change for providing this article.
Article produced by the Choose Action Alliance.
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