Few community groups have an endless supply of money. There are a variety of ways in which you can increase the money coming into your organisation including fees for service, membership drives and selling merchandise. However these areas may only make limited amounts of money which may not cover the costs of commencing new programs or purchasing new equipment. For organisations wishing to obtain large amounts of funding, there are a variety of philanthropic and government grants available.
Submissions are the key to making a successful application for a philanthropic or government grant. A quality submission will contain information about the organisation, the reasons for the application such as what program the organisation wishes to run or what equipment it needs to buy, the reasons why the particular grant authority is the right authority to fund this application, how the equipment or project will be used within the community and the benefits it will provide to the community as a result and details of the organisation's past ability to run projects, administer grants and successfully deliver completed documents on time.
Confirm the Proposed Funding Authority Can Support the Project
Before an organisation commences an application to a funding body, the organisation should take some time to understand the funding body. Review the funding body's website or any documentation that has been released in relation to the aims of the funding body, the types of organisations that it is able to fund and what its goals and objectives are in relation to funding. For example, if your organisation is looking at a program relating to geriatric health, there is little point in making an application to the Financial Markets Foundation for Children as it will most likely be unsuccessful as it is not within the fund's remit. This is a good time to identify any key linkages between the organisation and the funding body.
Ensure the Application Details the Proposed Community Project
Full details of the community project should be provided in the funding application. This includes a detailed budget of equipment, materials and salary costs. Ensure that at all times, the wording of the funding application relates back to what the funding body is enabled to fund, what they are looking for example projects to tackle youth homelessness and how the organisation can deliver that. Identify the community need for the project or equipment and ensure that the funding body is aware that this project is supported by the community. Community support letters from members of parliament, other community groups and schools can also be of great assistance in getting a funding application across the line.
If possible in the budget submission obtain quotes beforehand, obtain a variety of quotes, normally around three. This allows you to create an average cost which you can then add into the submission. Remember to only budget those items which the funding body will fund, if capital equipment is not a funded option, ensure that you explain where the capital equipment will come from and how the organisation will fund the capital equipment. If possible add in a contribution of in-kind support from the organisation or other organisations or a financial contribution if this is a possibility. In-kind support can include the provision of the premises for the program or equipment, a contribution towards salaries, a contribution towards running costs in terms of electricity, water supply and gas supply, etc and any contribution towards materials. In-kind contributions can also come from community groups and businesses within the community. As well as showing community and business support, the addition of in-kind contributions and sourcing some materials from sources other than the funding body shows the funding body that the organisation is not 100% reliant on the funding body in order to get the project off the ground.
Important to Explain Who the Organisation Is and What It Achieves
The information about the organisation section should be relatively brief however comprehensive. It should detail experience such as how long the organisation has been in existence, its previous financial history, the number of members the organisation has (if it is a member based organisation) and/or, the number of community members supported by the organisation and/or the number of visitors to the organisation if it is a sports facility, art gallery or museum. Highlight important projects and achievements of the organisation, detail how the organisation is governed and provide resumes of management and board members. The information about the organisation section of the funding submission can become a boilerplate paragraph used in many marketing publications.
Funding applications for community groups are a method of raising significant amounts of money in order to implement new programs or purchase new equipment. In order to be successful, community organisations should ensure that the funding authority's rules enable the desired project to be funded. A well thought out and detailed project brief including a budget should be developed prior to completing the funding application. Finally the funding body needs to understand the importance of the organisation to the local community and how the requested funds will improve the organisation and meet a community need.
Tracey Lloyd - Based in Australia, Tracey Lloyd is experienced in management & strategic development of community projects and non-profit ...
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