Found a grant that looks like it could fund something your organisation needs? Before you start filling in the application form, there is an important question to ask: are you actually ready to apply? The strongest grant applications usually start well before the grant is found, with a clearly identified need, a well-developed project and a good understanding of who will benefit and what difference the project will make.
Finding a grant that looks like it might fund something your organisation needs can be exciting. Perhaps you spotted it in the Junee Community Network Grant Notification newsletter, someone sent you a link, or you were looking through a funding provider’s website and came across an opportunity that seems to line up with a project your organisation has been considering.
The next step is often to open the guidelines and start working out how to apply. That is when the excitement can sometimes disappear, as you discover pages of information about eligibility, funding limits, objectives, assessment criteria, eligible and ineligible expenses, co-contributions, supporting documents, deadlines and a series of questions that eventually have to be answered through an online application portal.
It can be tempting to start working through those questions immediately, particularly when there is a closing date approaching, but there is an important point about grant applications that is easy to overlook: the application should not be where the project starts.
The best grant applications generally begin with a need, an idea and a reasonably well-developed project, with the grant application then providing a way of explaining that project to a potential funder.
Start with the need, not the grant
Perhaps your hall needs new equipment, your sporting club needs safer facilities, your volunteers need additional training, your organisation wants to improve accessibility, or there is a program you would like to introduce that would provide a real benefit to local residents.
The first questions should be:
- What do we need to do?
- Why do we need to do it?
- Who will benefit? and,
- What difference will it make?
Once you have a reasonably clear answer to those questions, you can start looking for funding that might help make the project happen.
There is a big difference between asking “What can we get a grant for?” and asking “What does our organisation need to achieve, and who might be prepared to help us make it happen?”
Starting with the grant can sometimes lead organisations to try to invent a project because they have found a funding opportunity. Starting with the need means you are looking for a grant that fits something your organisation genuinely wants to do.
The first questions should be: What do we need to do, why do we need to do it, who will benefit and what difference will it make?
Turn the idea into a project
Having an idea is not quite the same thing as having a project that is ready for a grant application.
For example, saying “we need new equipment” is a useful starting point, but a grant application is likely to require you to explain what equipment is needed, why the existing equipment is no longer adequate, who will use it, what problem it will address, how many people will benefit, how much it will cost and what difference it will make.
One way of thinking about this is to consider four stages of the project:
- What are we putting in?
- What are we going to do?
- What will we deliver?
- What will change as a result?
The first question is about the resources required, the second about the activities you will undertake, the third about what you will actually deliver and the fourth about the outcome you hope to achieve.
You do not necessarily need to use those terms in your application, but thinking about the project in this way can help turn a general idea into something that can be clearly explained and costed.
If your committee cannot clearly explain what the project is, why it is needed, who will benefit and what you expect to change, you may not be ready to start the grant application just yet.
How do you know there is a need?
It is easy to say that there is a need for something because members have been asking for it, or because your committee believes it would be useful. A grant application becomes much stronger when you can demonstrate how you reached that conclusion.
Depending on the project, that evidence might include membership numbers, participation figures, waiting lists, attendance records, surveys, community consultation, user feedback, previous program results, demographic information or records of problems that have already occurred.
For example, saying that your organisation needs more equipment tells a grant assessor that you believe there is a problem. Being able to explain that you have 85 junior participants but only 20 sets of equipment that meet the relevant requirements gives the assessor something much more concrete to consider.
You do not necessarily need pages of statistics, but you should be able to explain how you know the need exists.
Not every grant is the right grant
Once you have developed the project, you can start looking for funding that genuinely fits.
This is where the grant guidelines become important. Before spending hours writing an application, check whether your organisation is eligible, whether the project itself is eligible, whether the proposed expenditure can be funded, whether your timeframe fits the program, whether you can meet any co-contribution requirements and, most importantly, whether the project actually aligns with what the funding provider is trying to achieve.
There are really three questions to ask:
- Can we apply?
- Does our project genuinely fit this funding program?
- Can we demonstrate why our project meets the assessment criteria?
Being eligible to apply does not necessarily mean that you should apply. If you have to stretch the project to make it fit the guidelines, or you cannot realistically meet the requirements, it may be better to spend your time looking for a more appropriate funding opportunity.
Being eligible to apply does not necessarily mean that you should apply!
Read the assessment criteria
The application form is not simply an opportunity to tell the grant provider how wonderful your organisation is.
If the assessment criteria ask you to demonstrate community need, explain the need. If they ask who will benefit, clearly identify those people. If they ask how the project will be delivered, explain what you will actually do and who will be responsible for it.
It sounds obvious, but it is surprisingly easy to write a very good answer to a question that the grant assessor did not actually ask.
Answer the question that is on the page.
It is also important to pay attention to word and character limits. If the application allows 500 words, that is the space you have to make your case, so use it carefully rather than trying to include everything you know about your organisation.
Build the budget at the same time
The budget should not be something you leave until the end of the application.
As you develop the project, work out what each part will cost, obtain quotes where appropriate and make sure the figures in the budget match what you are describing in the application.
If you are asking for $10,000 to purchase equipment, the application should make it clear what that equipment is, why it is required and how the $10,000 figure was calculated. If you are required to provide a co-contribution, make sure your organisation can realistically provide it.
Also check the grant guidelines carefully to see what can count towards that contribution. Volunteer labour, donated materials, existing funds and in-kind contributions are not automatically treated the same way by every funding program.
The budget and the written application should tell the same story.
The budget is part of the project, not an exercise to be completed after the application has been written.
Think beyond your own organisation!
A shared piece of equipment, an upgraded community facility, training that can be made available to volunteers from other organisations, or a project delivered in partnership with another community group may have a broader community benefit than the original applicant alone.
This does not mean adding organisations to a project simply to make an application look more impressive. If another organisation genuinely benefits from the project, explain how.
This is also where a good Letter of Support can be useful. As discussed in the Junee Community Network articles on requesting and writing Letters of Support, the strongest letters explain why the other organisation supports the particular project and how it will benefit, rather than simply saying that they support the application.
Don’t leave everything until the closing date
A grant deadline is not the date on which you should start preparing the application.
You may need to obtain quotes, ask other organisations for Letters of Support, obtain permission from a landlord or land manager, confirm a co-contribution, obtain committee approval or gather financial and organisational information. All of these things can take time, particularly when another organisation or your own committee needs to be involved.
It is also worth allowing time to review the completed application before submitting it. A saved application is not necessarily a submitted application, and discovering at the last minute that you are missing a required attachment is an avoidable problem.
What can a grant writer actually do?
What they cannot do is manufacture the underlying need, evidence or knowledge of the community.
Your organisation knows its members, its facilities, its volunteers and the problems it is trying to address. A grant writer can help turn that information into a clear and convincing application, but the substance still has to come from the organisation.
In many cases, the best result is a partnership where the organisation brings its knowledge of the project and community, while the grant writer brings experience in developing and presenting the application.
A good grant application starts with a good project
There is no magic wand that turns an idea into grant funding, and grants are certainly not free money. If you receive funding, you will usually have obligations around delivering the project, spending the money as approved, reporting on the results and completing an acquittal.
That is why the grant application should really be the final part of the project development process, rather than the place where the project is invented.
Start by identifying the need, develop the project, gather the evidence, work out who will benefit and what will change, develop a realistic budget, and consider whether your organisation has the capacity to deliver the project. You can then look for funding that genuinely fits and write the application against the assessment criteria.
The question should not always be “What grant can we get?”
A better question is:
“What could we do that would make a real difference to our organisation and our community?”
Once you can answer that question, finding the right grant becomes a whole lot easier.
Further Reading
Junee Community Network has a range of resources to help community organisations and sporting clubs prepare for grant applications, including:
Requesting a ‘Letter of Support’ for a Grant Application »
Writing a ‘Letter of Support’ for a Grant Application »
Grants 101 – Preparing for your Grant Application »
Grants 102 – Preparing for your Grant Application »
Ideas for Potential Shared Community Resources »
These resources are intended to help organisations move beyond simply finding grants and towards developing projects that are genuinely ready for suitable funding opportunities.