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More on Funding including links to funding websites The South Hams CVS is able to give advice on funding from creating a funding strategy (a long term plan for fundraising) as well as assisting in seeking suitable funders for your project and can comment on your completed application forms. There is also a database called 'Funderfinder' which helps to match suitable funders for your projects needs. Two information sheets on funding are available for downloading as a text file. Click on the following to download to your computer. Or, read on to see the information - South Hams CVS provides a whole range of information sheets and sample policies to help your organisation. Please contact for a full listing. All groups need some money to carry out their services or activities. Without that money your group won't be able to develop, or you may cease to exist altogether. So, although you would probably rather get on with the 'real' work of running the playgroup or lunch club, you also have to spend some time planning and raising funds. Raising money is best regarded as being a central part of your group's activities. It shouldn't be an afterthought, and it shouldn't be tacked on to the Treasurer's job. Nor should it be sidelined to one or two people who are given the job of being the fundraising committee and left to get on with it while everyone else does the more exciting work. If everyone in your group, or on your committee, takes fundraising seriously and gets involved in thinking it through, then you are much more likely to be successful. And you might even find it fun! Once the whole group has decided what money needs to be raised, by when, and how, then the actual job of raising it can be allocated to a smaller group. But make sure that they report back regularly on progress. Planning Raising money can take quite a long time. Most funders work to strict timetables. Local authorities and government bodies normally only consider applications once a year. Some charitable trusts only meet once or twice a year. Some special funds, like Opportunities for Volunteering only invite applications every 3 years. So, as a general guide we would advise you to apply for money at least 6 to 9 months before you actually need it. Once you get going you should get into the habit of planning your fundraising needs two years ahead. This is especially important if you are employing workers. Record keeping Keep a record of all the funders you approach, with the dates that you approached them and the outcome. This is useful information for the future - giving you an idea of who you can go back to and when. You can keep these records fairly simply on A to Z index cards or in a book with details filed alphabetically under the name of the funder. Skills You may think that there is no one in your group, or not enough of you, with the experience or skills to fundraise. Don't panic - help is available. You could send people on a training course, or seek expert advice from the SHCVS. Once you are armed with knowledge and information you can get started on your fundraising. If you approach the task in this logical order everything will begin to fall into place and feel less daunting. Equal opportunities Ensuring equality of opportunity and access should run through everything you do, and it is something that an increasing number of funders will ask you questions about. Is membership of your group and access to your activities or services open to everyone in the community you are set up to serve? For instance, if you are running a drop-in centre can people using wheelchairs get into the building? If you are providing a service to clients in a racially mixed area, do you have workers or volunteers who can speak the necessary languages? Some legal considerations Before you start applying for money you will need to consider whether you need any of the following:
Get into networks You need to know where to find out about funds and new pots of money. Whilst you do not want to be 'money-led', you do need to keep in touch so that you can exploit appropriate funding sources to the fullest extent. So, if for instance, one of your objectives is to improve the environment, you need to get into environmental networks, and maybe subscribe to relevant journals, where they are available, and to make use of the South Hams CVS who have current information on funding sources both local and national. Who to approach You may have to approach different funders for different aspects of your proposal. As a general rule of thumb, local authorities and other governmental sources are more likely to fund salaries and ongoing running costs; charitable trusts and companies may fund items of equipment or short-term projects; some of the money you can raise yourselves through a variety of means like collections, raffles, social events. If you have a funding proposal that contains different elements to it
you may need to break it down into a number of projects and seek funding for each project
rather than the whole thing. South Hams Council for Voluntary Service can help you
identify appropriate sources of funding for particular funding needs. Step 1 - Deciding what you need Before you approach people for money you need to carefully think through your ideas. You need to debate and decide what the issues or problems or needs are that your group wants to tackle (for example, you are concerned about the plight of isolated elderly people in your area), and why it is important that you tackle it. Then you can decide what you need money for say rent for a meeting place and for producing a monthly newsletter. These ideas can then be turned into a written funding proposal, which should contain:
Having thought through all these things you need to decide whether you really want to take it on. And if the answer is 'yes', then consider how you will demonstrate that you are a credible group, capable of carrying out your proposal to a good standard. Your written proposal should fit on to one or two sides of A4 paper once typed.
Step 2 - determining how much money you need Once you've decided what you want to do you then need to work out exactly how much it will cost - your 'budget'. You may need to fundraise all the costs or just part of them if you have other income. Make sure that your figures are as accurate as possible; don't guess costs or use old figures. Get estimates, use catalogues, talk to other groups running similar schemes, check out local pay rates. Make sure you don't under cost the work, as this will lead you into financial problems. But, just as importantly, don't over cost the work as this may mean funders reject your bid. Make sure you don't miss out any 'hidden' costs like insurance, maintenance, repairs, travel, training, heating, lighting, rent etc. Are your costs one-off capital items, like equipment; are they project costs with a clear start and end date; or are they on-going, revenue costs, like wages? You could produce a list like this one for a local club trying to raise money to computerise its membership records and accounts;
Decide how long you want money for. Is it just a one-off or do you need money over several years, or even indefinitely? Remember to take account of inflation, replacements and staff pay increases and increments if for more than one year. Step 3 - drawing up a fundraising strategy Once you have your written proposal and a budget, you need to plan how you will actually raise the money - this is your 'fundraising strategy'. There are lots of different funding sources and many ways of raising money. Try to limit yourselves to things you can do well rather than spreading your efforts too widely. You need to consider:
There is no magic formula that will guarantee success in achieving funding, but a few basic principles will stand your application in good stead. If you imagine that you were a funder, what would you really want to know? You’d be reading a lot of applications in a short space of time, so for a start you’d favour those that were clear and concise. Fairly early on you’d want to know who was applying, how much they wanted and what they wanted it for, and why is it really needed. Who is the service for or who will it benefit? This question makes us be explicit in identifying the beneficiaries of the bid. That information will help to find the potential source of funding. The National Lotteries Charities Board regularly issue their target guidelines for the next several rounds of funding. All charitable trusts (There are over 2500 of them) have objects of preference and in addition some are governed by geography. We can discover all their preferences. Social Services and South and West Devon Health Authority both publish annual intentions and there is little chance of persuading them to part with increasingly scarce resources unless your scheme to benefit users co-incides with their identified priorities. The same applies to Joint Finance. European monies and other such like funding all have clear rules about how the money can be spent. In your application you will have to pursuede them that you fit their priorities because there is never enough money to fund everything. All budgets are oversubscribed, all resources are rationed. Achieving funding depends on good targeting. There is more flexibility where charitable grant giving trusts are concerned. They are all very different and independent. Some people have actually achieved success from working their way through every trust in the book – but this method is not recommended. It may be easier with the modern IT we can all access but it is an expensive process and time consuming. It cannot make the best case for you every application and word gets around trusts. Trusts are extremely busy. They do not encourage or enjoy receiving these type of applications and you could jeopardise not only your initial bid but also future cases for funding applications. Trusts appreciate a well-researched and appropriately targeted application. It’s also good practise to tell them who else you are applying to for the same project. Be clear on how much to it is realistic to ask for (hopefully you should have worked out your costs with your funding proposal, as mentioned earlier). Some trusts are large and can make grants of tens of thousands; others are small. You may be more likely to get 3 grants of £5,000 than one of £15,000. What is the proposed service or project? Why is it needed, or is it a priority? Why should you be the best organisation to deliver the project? What is your evidence that this project/service is really needed? How will you achieve your stated objectives? How will you monitor the effectiveness of the scheme once you receive the moneys? Different Approaches with Different Bodies… Statutory funders are approached differently than charitable sources. They have responsibility as enabling authorities to help develop positive partnerships and relationships. We can obtain their purchasing intentions from their responsible managers. We can ring them up and talk to them. We can write to them. Talking to them is best initially. You will need to know what they want; can you be flexible in trying to achieve your ends? What can you include and how much would they pay for other related services? At some stage in the process there will be a contract to write or a form to fill in. Always be concise and business like. Always cost the service properly, do not undersell yourself or inflate your bid. Charitable Trusts information is contained in various reference books (most of which the South Hams CVS has in its resource library). Some trusts are professionally staffed and some are not. If a trust has a named contact, ring them up and discuss your proposal. They may save you time and they might become a positive advocate for you. If you can get them interested enough to visit you are on to a winner. If you cannot make personal contact though, don’t be put off, many trusts just don’t operate under that type of structure.You may have to write a letter or fill in a form along with providing your proposal, and a development plan or recent annual report. To find out exactly what the trust requires can usually be established with a simple phone call. Others – The Community Fund is the most widely known of the lotteries. Many fundseekers can also try the Sports Council, The Heritage Fund, the Arts Council. Latest information on the current rounds of the lotteries can be found at the South Hams CVS. European Funding can be a potential for funding within the South West. It can be difficult to access though, and can take a long time to come through – usually after you have begun to pay the money out.
Writing Better Fundraising Applications Directory of Social Change (1997) The Complete Fundraising Handbook Directory of Social Change (1997) Voluntary but Not Amateur (chapter 9) London Voluntary Service Council (1994) The South Hams CVS has a resource library of many of the major grant trust funders as well as other useful books on funding, management of organisations and new laws and regulations relating to the voluntary sector. SHCVS/Looking at Funding/6/99 |