Blog

Putting Together a Great Grant Application

Although creating a really great grant application isn’t considered to be rocket science, it requires different things at different times. Because anything can happen to interfere with your application, you need to be prepared to alter your plans if necessary. This will require a degree of flexibility, as well as the ability to respond quickly and to exercise diplomacy, among other things. You will also need to be able to track the responses to your applications over time with different funding bodies. What approaches and projects have been most successful in securing donations? A good quality charity CRM such as SubscriberCRM will be able to help you with this.

A successful grant application also requires the understanding of funding criteria and following instructions. Without these, your application can end up being ignored. Taking the time to ensure that the following elements are in place will drastically increase the chances of acceptance.

Make Sure You’re Eligible

In understanding the criteria of the scheme or fund to which you’re applying, you avoid wasting their time and yours. Some schemes only accept applications from projects that are new. Others will only fund you if you are located in a particular area. Also important to note is the fact that the majority of schemes will not support items like vehicle purchases, ongoing salary costs or the implementation of statutory requirements.

Some schemes may look to create new jobs, while others may be interested in the number of voluntary or community groups that will be assisted by their funding. The bottom line is that these schemes are like snowflakes; no two are alike. You must be willing to take the time to understand what they hope to achieve by giving you money, and then tailor your application and business plan to that. You must be able to demonstrate how what you’re doing will help them to achieve their own goals. Also be aware that most trusts have a time limit to the number of applications you can submit, such as one every six or eighteen months. These will be different for each funding body, so ensure your CRM segmenting reflects these criteria.

Present Strong Evidence

Some schemes may fund a wide range of projects, so in order for yours to be funded, you need to stand out. Provide strong evidence in the form of research and statistics that support your successes. You’ll also want to provide feedback, whether obtained from the end user directly or through some sort of tally of their direct participation.

Clearly Identify the Recipients of your Efforts

The main beneficiary of the money you receive should be your organisation’s end user. So, when putting your grant application together, once you’ve identified who will benefit most, it’s time to move onto how the money will make a difference to them: Why do they need you, and what impact will the money have on them?

In addition to the end user, it can really pay to also think about the benefits to the community of the money you’re applying for. For example, if your organisation helps disadvantaged youth to get access to opportunities, this will affect the community in terms of lower crime rates, improved relationships and healthier neighbourhoods.

Last but certainly not least, your organisation’s volunteers will also benefit from the money in terms of new skills able to be obtained and doors that can be opened to other volunteering opportunities.

Effective Use of the Money

The ability to use donated money wisely will definitely need to be demonstrated in your application. Those behind the scheme you’re applying for will understand that your organisation cannot run on nothing, and that some of the things you may require can be very difficult to get funding for.

If you are applying for equipment, being able to demonstrate that you’ve done the necessary research and obtained more than one quote is a good start, but so is choosing the best – and not the cheapest – quote. The quote you choose should be able to cover what you need and last as long as it needs to.

Most importantly, never exaggerate your numbers. Quality will hold more importance than quantity. That being said, 10 is more important than 2,000 if the lives of those 10 are significantly impacted over the long term.

Management and Sustainability

You’ll also need to ensure that you’ve been clear with regard to the qualifications of the team that is managing your project. Do they have the resources, knowledge and capacity to deliver? If so, why are they the best team for the job? You’ll not only have to demonstrate that you’ve taken the risks into account, but also how you will mitigate them.

Most schemes are limited by length of time. However, your funding needs may go beyond that, and if this is the case, it’s important to state this at the outset. This will communicate that you’re planning ahead.