ICAWC 2014 - What Makes a Good Grant Application - Dennis Treleaven
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ICAWC 2014 Istanbul - Dennis's presentation on how to make a good grant application
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ICAWC 2014 - What Makes a Good Grant Application - Dennis Treleaven
- 1. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference – Istanbul - Oct 2014 What Makes a Good Funding Application? Dennis Treleaven BSc Econ, MBA, MCMI Director of Grants and External Operations Seafarers UK
- 2. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 What are Funders Looking For? • location • type of organisation • size • project purpose Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 3. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Directory of Grant Making Trusts Survey The most common mistakes when applying for funding? Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 4. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 5. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Overview of the Grant Making Process • Why? - To meeting the FUNDER’S strategic Objectives - To identify quality projects - To allocate Scarce Resources Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 6. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Why this funder? • Understand your funder! • Most appropriate funder? • Are you within their priority areas? • Strategic funder? • Don’t ‘chase the money’. Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 7. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Do your research • Read funder guidelines/criteria. • Explore the funder’s website – eligibility? • Read their annual report & accounts - their priorities/who else they fund. Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 8. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Other Factors: • Matched Funding To reach your funding target, it may be necessary to match fund costs by applying to more than one funding source, or to supplement grants by utilising your own budget or income Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 9. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 • Developing an Outcomes approach to bidding for funding
- 10. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Be Specific – OUTCOMES approach • Be specific in what you need – including specifying how much £/€/$ is needed. • Monitoring and evaluation – outcomes - identify at application stage. Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 11. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 OUTCOMES Funding Definitions: • Inputs are the activities you undertake to deliver the services your project will provide. • Outputs are the services your project will provide. • Outcomes are the direct difference those services will make to the people or organisations your project will benefit. • Long term change is the longer term difference to people’s lives that the project will contribute to. Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 12. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Now forget the previous slide….. And think of it this way: • Inputs = Resources needed. • Outputs = Services provided. • Outcomes = Difference the Services make to the people or organisations. Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 13. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Outcomes Funding Example Example 1: Telephone Animal Re-homing Service • Inputs: Set up telephone service • Outputs: 100 individuals contact the service asking for their animal to be re-homed and 100 individuals contact the Service offering a new home for an animal. • Outcomes: 100 animals at risk of being destroyed saved • Long term change: 100 animals are found new homes Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 14. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Outcomes Funding – Same Example Example 2: Telephone Animal Re-homing Service • Inputs: Set up telephone service • Outputs: 100 individuals contact the service asking for their animal to be re-homed and 100 individuals contact the Service offering a new home for an animal. • Outcomes: reduced isolation for 100 people • Long term change: 100 individuals benefit from new companion animals which improves their quality of life Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 15. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Baselines and Tracking Outcomes – “Before and After” To show impact we need information about beneficiaries • Before the project intervenes (“Baseline”) • During the Project (Data Collection) • Afterwards Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 16. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 (Organisation) Accounts Count! • DSC* research (2013) demonstrated that 53% of grant makers check applicant’s accounts. • 17% would refuse an application if the applicants accounts were overdue or not available • 83% would contact the applicant for an explanation *Directory of Social Change Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 17. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Final Tips • Have a clear organisational policy on writing to grant making bodies. • Policy on Administration Costs / Overheads… • Know who has written to which funding body. • Multiple applications – avoid scattergun approach • Meet the application deadline! • Keep a copy of the letter/application Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 18. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Don’t Oct 2014 • Ask vaguely for assistance. • Present a shopping list of needs. • Write a brief paper that refers to lots of other papers. • Make emotional appeals BUT: unless seeking grants from individuals. Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 19. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Don’t / Avoid • Use initials of organisations • Sector based acronyms • Lose the files referring to the application. • Hold back from making contact with the organisation. Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 20. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Finally: ALWAYS contact them if you are unclear on anything relating to the grants process or you are unclear as to how your project may fit, or not, within their priorities. Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 21. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Seafarers UK - General Advice • Be SPECIFIC in how your project / service or activity meets the criteria or priorities of Seafarers UK. • Be SPECIFIC about who benefits from the grant – remember it’s not what you do, its who you are doing it for - we are interested in the ‘outcome’ of the grant. Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 22. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Seafarers UK - General Advice • Be specific about the cost of your project, service or activity carefully. • Include any matching funds – whether they are confirmed and be clear about any shortfall. • Is this a new project? If not, who funded it previously and why / when did that funding end? Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 23. International Companion Animal Welfare Conference - Istanbul - Oct 2014 Not successful? • Most applications fail due to lack of funds. – Is it worth it? – Are you chasing funding or is the proposed project an integral element of, or development of the organisation? Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 24. And finally …… If you are unsuccessful – ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ask for feedback! Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
- 25. Thank you and Good Luck! Dennis Treleaven Director of Grants and External Operations Seafarers UK • Email: dennis.treleaven@seafarers-uk.org Dennis Treleaven, Director of Grants and External Operations, Seafarers UK
Notes de l'éditeur
- This presentation is aimed at organisations seeking funding from other organisations – NOT general appeals to the public – a very different proposition.
- Location Eligibility for funding schemes, no matter what the type of organisation, is usually dependent in part on the location of the activity for which funding is being sought. For example, local council, regional government, national government European wide or international. Type of organisation Although many grants are available across all sectors, some activities such as the animal welfare or other specialist interests may be targeted for specific funding. Size Grants may be aimed at businesses or groups of a certain size, employing a minimum or maximum number of people, targeting growing businesses as opposed to self-employed individuals or large, well-established organisations. Project Purpose The focus of the proposed project or activity. This may be on research and development, environmental improvements, community development, or training and skills development. It is, therefore, important to explain what it is you want the money for, being clear about the intended outcomes of your project. Many schemes will not fund day-to-day running expenses, but are happy to help fund identified costs.
- Often grant making trusts operate two separate stages of assessment – an initial ‘gatekeeping’ role then a more detailed assessment stage Unfortunately, most grant making organisations receive many more applications than they can fund so use this first stage as a way of reducing the number of applications to a more manageable level.
- Big Lottery Fund: Awards for all – success rate: 47% Reaching Communities – success rate: 20% Groups are making the same common mistakes, including not providing all the necessary information and not describing outcomes (the difference that the project will make). Main reason is not meeting one of the four programme outcomes: •Not showing the need for the project •Not demonstrating that the grant is for new activities •A proportion of applicants are not returning their contracts and/or the required documents •Another reasons for not getting a grant is asking for ‘excluded items’ Competition is high
- Best grants are where you (as the grant recipient) wants to do the same thing as the funder wants to do. It’s called aligning your strategic objectives with those of your funder For companion animal welfare, is the project about the companion or about animal welfare. Important distinction here. One UK funder ran a grants programme called ‘animals for people’, where the project aims were about reducing isolation and improved quality of life for PEOPLE. The animals (and their welfare) were a way of achieving that end.
- Sector specific? Tempting – funding running out, staff facing redundancy – perhaps accept the inevitable and prepare rather than pinning all hopes on unlikely chances. Strategic funder – more to funding than money – about building a relationship / developing contacts Some funders encourage an initial discussion to clarify whether they would consider an application for the type of project you want. Some funders (Big and FiMT) use 2 stage application process to ‘weed out’ inappropriate or projects outside funders area or priorities or just not sufficiently high priority to stand a realistic chance. EG Seafarers UK DO NOT fund ‘sailing’ projects, even sailing projects for disabled or disadvantages young people.
- Criteria / priorities. Remember priorities and criteria may change – even on a yearly basis – this year welfare, next year rescue… many more applications get recommended for funding than funded – usually a two stage process – staff weed out ‘fails’ and prioritise ‘recommended’ – Trustees/committee decide on final selection (usually based upon staff recommendation) •Competition for funds is high
- Increasingly important Funders like it as it as it means more bangs per buck. 1,000 beneficiaries for the price of 500 Shows you have thought carefully about the long term future of your project. Possibly linked into sustainability issues and post grant future.
- Many (and increasing) grant funding want you to not just identify what the money would be spent on BUT also what the money would actually achieve. These are called the OUTCOMES of the grant. Sometimes also called the ‘difference’ the grant will make.
- If you are applying to several grant making charities make sure you send the right application to the right charity. Don’t use pence The more you can break down costs the better. OVERHEADS Always tricky but most grant makers will allow a ‘reasonable’ apportionment of overhead or head office costs but the rationale needs to be clear: Possible options - % of staff working on project, number of seafarers in accommodation, floor space used for project etc etc. Sometimes project / service or activity is the organisation so 100% If your overheads are over 10% suggest you re-read guidance on applying…
- Supporting Notes: Helpful hints: Mantra – Activities, Service, Difference. Now forget everything that was on the previous slide and remember it this way: Don’t get bogged down in the technical jargon – its really very simple: What activities are you going to undertake with the grant e.g. buy the minibus or build the community centre or recruit the advice staff. What service will you provide with the activities e.g. drive disabled people to the day centre, or run XXX services at the community centre, or provide advice on work / benefits / immigration etc and MOST crucially, What difference will all this activity make to the lives of people e.g. disabled people will gain support from meeting others and this will improve their quality of life – measures by XXXX, or there will be a measurable reduction in young people getting into trouble with the law because of services delivered at the community centre or XX people will go on to full time employment or training. Mantra – Activities, Service, Difference.
- Example 1: The input is the activity in actually setting up the helpline The output is is the service that this helpline will provide The outcome is the direct difference that this service will provide – so 100 individuals feel less isolated or get help The long term change is having the children take part in school.
- Example 1: Same project but one places emphasis on the animal whilst the other places the emphasis on the person. This might open the door to applying to a wider range of funders such as projects dealing with older people socially isolated?
- Now we know what an outcome is we need to be able to see whether the project has delivered it or not. & In order to know whether a project has made a difference the project needs to be able to track that difference. This should start with some measurement of the status quo and then analysis after the project has made its intervention to the beneficiaries. This may include immediately afterwards and follow up some months later At assessment grant makers will check generally that applicants have systems in place to track outcomes as you do now with monitoring systems. Baselines could be derived from e.g.: community surveys/needs analysis stakeholder analysis referrals data early contact data pre intervention analysis form Possible Sources of Data Collection Samples and surveys of beneficiaries Organisational records e.g. qualifications and certificates, progress reports on individuals Broader indicators/data collected by others Observation and review (e.g. project increasing participation in community meetings) External evaluation
- DSC - Directory of Social Change
- If you are applying to several grant making charities make sure you send the right application to the right charity. Sense check – wood for the trees. Overheads: Watch out – some organisations will not fund overheads i.e. A share of organisational costs incurred by the organisation to deliver the project. Could be a fail reason. Have a policy if you are going to ask – don’t just ‘chuck in’ a figure for administration / overheads Legitimate overheads/ admin is sometimes OK – need to explain how you arrived at that figure: 2 usual ways: Based upon number of staff in org. Based upon proposed office space for project e.g. 10% of office space = 10 % of overheads. Remember – staff supervision doesn’t have to be an overhead – it’s a direct project specific cost, but it does need to be quantified and rationally explained – ‘10%’ is no good and likely to fail project (unless you can explain why 10% and not 5% or 15%. Quality not quantity.
- You are in competition with people who know what they want. – Be specific – what item / service you want to deliver and how much it will cost. (and what the benefits or OUTCOMES will be) OUTCOMES FUNDING Be clear why you need each item – what it contributes to overall project. Beware of trying to cover core costs via excessive ‘admin costs / overheads’ Grants staff have limited time to assess (usually no time to do research). Application should be clear and understandable by a layperson. The Grants staff may have specialised knowledge but the Trustees who make the decision need a simple explination of what the project is about, who will benefit and how the grant will help you to do that.
- MPHRP RCEL WIS Medical acronyms
- If they offer advice then TAKE it…. Grant makers may know other organisations looking to fund just your type of project Grant makers speak to each other… and share information.
- Here is what we say at Seafarers UK in our guidance to applicants:
- If applying to several charities for same funding or applying to several charities for matched funding…. Makes sense to apply to many funders for same project – can always return money or turn down offer if more than one funder offers grant. Think about who most likely to fund in future. No grant maker minds have money returned. BUT Temptation to hold onto money – absolute no – fraud! One reason why grant makers want specific requests for specific projects – no more general contribution towards costs…
- E.G. Vol England: – 476 applications – 46 invited to submit full applications – 16 grants. = 1:30 chance SfUK: – 150 applications in 2013, 100 grants Seafarers UK - £5 million in requests, £2.5million in funds available What are your realistic chances of success?