Fundraising Advice

CCVS can give advice on how to write a good funding bid and on different ways you can raise funds. We can help you with designing a project, thinking about need and impact. We CAN NOT write bids for you and are not able to recommend fundraisers.

If you want to find out how CCVS can help you please contact us.

Making a good funding application

Making a funding application is timing consuming and resource expensive. It is also a skill that you can learn and improve. It is not something that should be rushed or delegated to someone with little knowledge or love for your organisation. And it is certainly not something that you should do without having a good idea of what you want the money for and what difference it will make.

Preparation is the key to this and one of most important resources we have to offer is the Project Proposal Form.  This template helps you to design your project and its prompting questions helps you organise the information, creating a profile of the project which can be used when completing an application form. Click to down load the Project Proposal Guide and blank Project Proposal Form.

Some key tips when completing an application are:

• Make sure all is in order with your constitution, bank account and policies etc.
• Work with another person
• Research the need (See info sheet)
• Involve and consult people
• Be clear about the outcomes (the change you will make) and the outputs (the results of your project in terms of the activities /services you have delivered) 
• Know how much you will need, create budget with all the costs associated with your project in it
• Read the guidance notes before you start to complete the form
• Answer the questions the funder asks, not what you think they should know
• Be positive, concise, use bullet points and a report writing style to make your answers easy to read and assimilate
• Don’t assume the reader will know anything about your work or the area you work in
• Avoid jargon
• Understanding a funder’s priorities. Think about what it is that the body you’re applying to is trying to achieve, and how this fits in with what you do and what you’re proposing. If your application spells out how your work can further a funder’s goals, then you will have the beginnings of a strong case
• Get someone to proof read your application and check
• Make sure you keep a copy
• Ensure the contact person is well briefed and has all the paperwork and information to hand especially if it is not you
• Start planning your monitoring and evaluation process now so that you can report back to your funder, improve your project and plan for the future. (See info sheet)

A good way of developing your skills is to come on the training we offer:

• Making good funding applications
• What to do now you have been funded
• Full cost recovery

Useful websites

http://www.raisingfunding.co.uk/

http://www.fundingcentral.org.uk/