Are you bid ready?
So, you’ve got to the point where you’re thinking that getting a bit of additional funding in to deliver a new project or maybe you need to expand what you do to meet an emerging community need. Either way you’ll need to make sure that your organisation is ‘bid ready’ and in the best possible shape to attract support from funders.
Firstly, do you really want to deliver what the funder wants to fund? Be honest, does it fit with what your organisation was really set up to do or are you just going for it because it is there? So many organisations have got themselves into difficulties bidding for grants because they were available and not because it is what they really wanted to deliver. Concentrate on getting everyone in your organisations being clear about where you want to be in the next 12, 24 or 36 months – even if you haven’t got the funding for it now – and focus on that.
If you are a registered Charity or Charity Incorporated Organisation (CIO) then you need all your returns up to date with the Charity Commission and/or Companies House. These will be the first places that any funder will look at when considering your bid.
Do you have all the necessary policies and are they up to date? Policies should be revised and reviewed regularly by Trustees. This shows that they are relevant and are used within your organisation’s day to day activities and not something that was pulled together in 1982 and has been keeping the door propped open since.
Work out what your core costs are and what percentage of your proposed activity these will use. If your organisation pays someone to keep an eye on your accounts and do your bookkeeping, if you pay someone to manage all your projects, look after your volunteers and make sure that all the delivery and monitoring is on time then this needs to be calculated into your core costs along with the other ‘unseen’ costs such as rent, utilities, insurances etc.
Do you have the skills, the facilities and the time, within your organisation to be able to deliver the funded activity if you are successful? Imagine how frustrating it would be if you managed to secure a large grant; but you weren’t able to deliver and then have to pay some, or all, of it back. Whilst it’s good to be ambitious, be careful not to overstretch yourself particularly if you haven’t managed grant funded activity before.
Look at our Funding Page for information on current funding opportunities here…Funding portal – CVS Tendring
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