Funding - Before you start looking

Before you start looking for funding you need to be clear about what you want the funding for. If you don’t have a clear idea of how your project is going to work, then it will be even more difficult to explain it to anyone else.

Funders want to see that they are supporting something that is going to be successful, i.e. that it achieves what it sets out to do and successfully matches their priorities. The following questions may help you:

• What do we need the money for? What will we spend it on?

• Why do we need it? What difference will this money make?

• Who will benefit from this money?

• How will the people/animals/environment benefit? What difference will we make?

• How will we demonstrate the results of our work and measure our success?

• When do we need it?
  All funders need to account for the money they distribute. This means that there will be processes for your application to go through, and you need to allow at least three months before you will receive any money, sometimes considerably longer.

Almost all funders are asked for more money than they have to distribute. The following questions will help you decide which grant is the best for you to apply to:-

• How often do the panel meet to discuss applications?

• How much money does this funder give to my kind of project? What is the most common amount awarded?

• Have we given the panel all the information they have asked for so that they can make a decision?

• Have we demonstrated that we meet the criteria?

• Have we read all the form and guidance?

• Do the sums we have submitted add up?

• If we have received money from them before- did we thank them and complete any monitoring they asked for?

• Have we considered how we could match fund or manage with only a partial funding offer?

The council has a guide to applying for and managing your funding which is available on our community resources web pages - How to guides