When you tell a grant assessor that your project is needed, what evidence can you provide?
It is easy to say that your community needs something. It is much more compelling to show that you asked the people who will benefit from the project — and they told you what they need.
A well-designed community survey can turn community voices into evidence, helping demonstrate need, demand, priorities and potential outcomes. And it does not have to be complicated. With the right questions, a single survey can provide a surprisingly powerful body of evidence to support a grant application.
A real example from Junee
In 2022, Junee Community Network was considering a range of potential Shared Community Resources that could be made available to local not-for-profit organisations, community groups and sporting clubs.
The original proposal identified resources such as portable EFTPOS terminals, PA systems, radios, coolers, marketing equipment, event equipment, crowd control equipment, power generation, marquees and a community storage facility.
Junee Community Network did not simply decide which projects we thought would be useful, we actually asked local organisations.
The survey was distributed directly to local not-for-profit organisations and other organisations involved in community events, activities and festivals. It was also promoted through the Junee Community Events and Info Facebook page. The survey closed after a little over three weeks, with responses from a broad cross-section of local organisations.
The results then became a piece of evidence that local organisations could use in funding applications for the proposed shared resources.
The questions were designed to establish need
The first question asked: “Which items/projects would your organisation potentially use at least once a year, if it was available as a Shared Community Resource?”
This is much more useful for demonstrating demand than simply asking whether respondents “supported” the idea.
An organisation saying it would use a resource at least once a year provides evidence of potential demand.
The responses showed that:
- Marketing Resources were identified by 59% of respondents.
- Portable EFTPOS Terminals and a Simple PA System were each identified by 52%.
- Event Enhancement Accessories were identified by 48%.
- Event Marquees were identified by 44%.
- Several other proposed resources were identified by between 33% and 37% of respondents.
That begins to answer a grant assessor’s obvious question: “Who would actually use this?”
But demand is not the same as priority
Respondents were asked to identify their first and second priority, excluding EFTPOS terminals because previous information had already established significant demand for those.
This distinction is important! A resource might be useful without being a high priority.
Asking respondents to nominate their priorities therefore provided another layer of evidence.
The results showed that Marketing Resources and Event Enhancement Accessories were the highest-rated priorities. When the two types of marquees were combined, marquees became the third-highest priority, while the remaining resources each accounted for approximately 12% to 15% of priority responses.
For a grant application, that is potentially much more useful than a simple list of things people said they liked.
It allows an organisation to demonstrate relative demand and priority.
The survey also tested the shared-resource model
The proposed Community Storage Facility provided another opportunity to ask a different type of question.
Rather than simply asking whether organisations wanted a storage facility, the survey asked whether organisations:
- had equipment they would store there and make available to other community groups
- had equipment they were prepared to make available to others without needing to store it there
- would benefit from accessing shared resources stored by others
This begins to test whether the proposed facility could actually support a sharing model, rather than simply being a storage shed.
The results showed that 82% of respondents indicated they would use the Shared Community Resources if the equipment were available. Other respondents identified equipment they could contribute to the shared-resource pool.
That provides evidence not just of a perceived need, but of potential community participation in the solution.
That distinction can be valuable in a grant application.
The strongest evidence can come when the community is not only identifying a need, but showing that it is willing to be part of the solution.
Different questions produce different evidence
A survey should not consist of ten different ways of asking the same question.
Different questions can establish different parts of the case for a project.
For example:
“Would you use this?” helps demonstrate demand.
“How often would you use this?” can help demonstrate the level or frequency of demand.
“Which would be your first priority?” helps establish relative importance.
“Which would be your second priority?” helps identify other significant needs without forcing respondents to nominate only one.
“What problems do you currently experience?” can help demonstrate the underlying need.
“What difference would this make?” can help identify potential outcomes.
“Who would benefit?” can help demonstrate the groups likely to be affected.
“Would you contribute equipment or resources?” can demonstrate community participation and potential in-kind contribution.
“Is there anything else we should know?” provides an opportunity for respondents to identify issues that the survey designer may not have anticipated.
The Junee Shared Community Resources survey demonstrates how several relatively simple questions can build a much richer evidence base when considered together.
Surveys can capture voices that committees do not always hear
It is easy to say that your community needs something, particularly when you are closely involved with the organisation and hear about the issue regularly. It is much more compelling, however, to demonstrate that you have actually asked the people who will benefit from the project and that their responses show a clear need.
A well-designed community survey can turn those community voices into useful evidence for a grant application. It can provide more than simply an indication of whether people support an idea, helping to demonstrate the extent of demand, identify priorities, understand who is affected, explore barriers and provide insight into the outcomes people would value.
The survey does not need to be complicated either. With carefully considered questions, a relatively simple consultation can produce a surprisingly valuable body of evidence that helps an organisation build a stronger case for funding.
Diversity does not just mean demographics
When people talk about capturing diverse responses, they often immediately think about age, gender or other demographic categories.
Those can be useful, but diversity of experience and involvement can be just as important.
A well-designed survey can capture responses from:
- regular users
- occasional users
- volunteers
- parents and carers
- participants
- members
- event organisers
- partner organisations
- people who have stopped participating
- people who might participate if a particular barrier was removed
It can also allow respondents to explain their answers.
That qualitative information can be particularly powerful.
A percentage can tell a grant assessor how many people identified an issue.
A written response can help explain why.
Together, they can provide a much clearer picture of community need.
A useful survey does not just ask who people are. It asks about their experiences, their barriers, their involvement and what would make a difference to them.
The Junee Shared Community Resources survey demonstrated a broad range of interests
The 2022 Junee Shared Community Resources survey provides a useful local example of this diversity.
Respondents included organisations such as Can Assist, CanolaFest, Gasworks Motorsport, the Illabo Country Women’s Association, Junee & District Historical Society, Junee Business and Trades, Junee Community Open Kitchen, Junee High School, Junee RSL Sub-Branch, Junee Show Society, Lions Club of Junee, Rotary Club of Junee, So Dance Junee, Regional Heritage Transport Association and several sporting, village hall, and community organisations.
That matters because the proposed resources were not being considered from the perspective of one organisation. They were being considered across a range of community activities.
The resulting evidence could therefore demonstrate that the need extended beyond a single club or committee.
A survey can turn “we think” into “our community told us”
Imagine two grant applications requesting funding for exactly the same project.
The first says: em>”Our organisation believes this equipment is needed because it would be useful at our events.”
The second says: “As part of a Junee-wide community consultation, local organisations were asked whether they would use this type of shared equipment. X% indicated that they would use it, while the consultation identified it as one of the highest priorities among the proposed shared resources.”
The second application has a different kind of evidence behind it — It does not rely solely on the applicant’s opinion.
It demonstrates that the organisation has consulted its community, measured the response and used that information to establish the need and priority for the project.
That is exactly the sort of evidence that can help connect a proposed project with a grant program’s requirements around community need, participation and benefit.
The difference between saying your community needs something and being able to show that your community told you it needs something can be significant.
A survey should come before the grant application
Perhaps the biggest lesson is that community consultation should not necessarily begin when a grant round opens.
If an organisation waits until it has already decided what it wants to buy, then designs a survey to justify that purchase, the process risks becoming little more than confirmation of an existing decision.
A better approach is to ask questions before the project is fully developed.
- Find out what the community is experiencing.
- Find out what the barriers are.
- Find out what people consider important.
- Find out what outcomes they would value.
Then use that information to help shape the project.
When an appropriate grant opportunity eventually comes along, the organisation already has an evidence base.
What happens when the results are published?
Junee Community Network published the full results of our Shared Community Resources survey and specifically made them available to local community organisations as “Evidence of Community Consultation” when the various organisations started applying for funding for the proposed shared resources.
That turns one consultation exercise into a resource that can potentially support multiple grant applications.
It also demonstrates an important principle: Community consultation does not have to be repeated by every organisation when the underlying need is genuinely shared.
The full Junee example, including the original questions and the resulting data, provides a useful illustration of how this can work:
Ideas for Potential Shared Community Resources »
Build the evidence before you need it
A community survey is not a magic ingredient that guarantees a successful grant application.
Nor should it be used to manufacture support for a project that the community does not actually need.
Its value is in creating reliable evidence that can sit alongside other sources of information: participation figures, demographic data, waiting lists, service statistics, previous consultation, letters of support, research and information about existing facilities or services.
The more clearly those pieces of evidence connect the problem, the people affected, the proposed solution and the expected outcome, the stronger the case can become.
So before your organisation’s next major grant application, consider asking:
- What do we actually know about the community need?
- Who have we asked?
- Have we heard from more than just the people who attend our meetings?
- What did they tell us?
- Can we demonstrate the results?
And perhaps most importantly:
- Did what they tell us influence what we are proposing to do?
When you tell a grant assessor that your project is needed, what evidence can you provide to support that claim? It is easy to say that your community needs something, particularly when you are closely involved with the organisation and hear about the issue regularly. It is much more compelling, however, to demonstrate that you have actually asked the people who will benefit from the project and that their responses show a clear need.
A well-designed community survey can turn those community voices into useful evidence for a grant application. It can provide more than simply an indication of whether people support an idea, helping to demonstrate the extent of demand, identify priorities, understand who is affected, explore barriers and provide insight into the outcomes people would value. The survey does not need to be complicated either. With carefully considered questions, a relatively simple consultation can produce a surprisingly valuable body of evidence that helps an organisation build a stronger case for funding.
A good community survey does more than collect opinions.
It can turn community voices into evidence, and evidence can help turn a good idea into a much stronger case for funding.