Funding Bids
Funding Bids are a slightly different option to raise funds, but an option to explore on how you could utilise trusts and foundations as a way to raise funds internally for your student group. This page will outline the different types of grant making entities and some methods to assist in your funding bid being successful.
Grant Making Entities
Grant Making Entities
When you start to consider different options for raising funds, you're likely to come across a range of different grant making trusts. Using straightforward internet searches, by typing in terms such as your cause; your beneficiaries or even your location into a search engine and asking which trusts and foundations work within those areas. There are a number of different grant making entities in the drop-downs below:
Trusts and Foundations
Trusts and Foundations are formal, legal entities which individuals, families or organisations can distribute private funds for a public benefit. Funding could have come from an endowment and are governed by a board of trustees made up of the original donor or someone representing the original donors interests in needs.
Community Foundations
A group or an organisation that brings together a sum of money from local donors to build an endowment fund from which grants are then made to local groups to meet community needs. The UKCF website gives you a list of all the community foundations that exist across the country.
Corporates
Businesses or corporates are increasingly supporting charities and good causes, often by sponsorship or grant making. How businesses choose to support is often dependent on their purpose, reason for donating and their size, and what they wish to achieve from grant giving.
York Based Funding Opportunities
Other Funding Opportunities
The National Lottery Community Fund is funded through the purchase of National Lottery products such as weekly lottery draw tickets. Profits from the sale of these products are distributed through 12 organisations and several community grants programmes. Grants start from £300.
The Heritage Lottery Fund is also funded from the National Lottery. Grants, which range from £3,000 to over £5million, must be used to fund activities and projects that preserve and promote understanding of and with the UK’s national heritage.
Sports England is a non-departmental body focused on developing and investing in sporting activities. It too distributes funds from the National Lottery and other public funds to local, grass-roots and community sporting groups to promote the uptake of sports and physical activity.
Get Grants offer a platform of funding bid support as well as list of all funders for different grants that are open currently.
Most Local Authorities and Councils provide small pots of money to community-based groups and projects like activities for specific groups of people such as the young or old, volunteer programmes and the development of community facilities. You can find out which local authority to speak with at ‘Apply for funding for community projects’ on the UK government website.
Tips for a Good Application
Once you've found the funding opportunity that is right for your group, and you meet all of the eligibility criteria, and the purpose of your group aligns with the mission of the funder.
We've put together a list of top tips, some of them may seem self-explanatory but when funders are looking through sometimes hundreds of applications, it's important to not make any small mistakes:
Make sure you answer all of the questions
Check the spelling, punctuation, grammar as well as the formatting of your application. Where you have to complete an online application, it could help to answer the questions in a Microsoft Word document first to run through a spell checker
Stick to the word limits outlined in the application form
Submit the application as requested (eg: via email/online form)
Keep it jargon free and avoid using acronyms or abbreviations unless these are explained
Don't use the same application for a number of opportunities, if they're not tailored to each trust, funding bid or foundation then they're likely to get rejected.
Required Information
Each application will dictate the information to include, but you may want to have some information ready to add into your application, this includes:
Your student group's accounts
How much you've received in grant or other funding, current own funds balance
A detailed description of the activity or piece of work in which you are asking for support for
Why you think there is a need for this activity or piece of work for your group
Who the activity or piece of work will benefit
Will this benefit your members? The wider student body? The local York community?
The outcomes or the results you hope to see from running the proposed activity or implementing that piece of work
A full budget breakdown on how much the activity or work will cost, and how much you are requesting in the funding bid
Details of who will manage the work and how it will be carried out, and if you will be working with anyone else (other groups)
A proposed start and end date of the new project
Application Model
Following the below process is a proven method to filling in your application. It helps outline to your potential funders what the problem is that you're trying to address, and how that can be resolved. It explains the goals and outcomes and then goes on to the impact, giving you an opportunity to show the difference a piece of work will make to a certain area. You could include here previous examples on how your work has made a difference, or a quote from someone delivering current work.
Problem >> Solution >> Outcomes >> Impact >> Budget >> Measurement of Impact and Outcomes
Problem
What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Solution
What is the solution to that problem?
What needs to be done to solve this problem?
What learning has made you think that if we do this will solve the problem?
3. Outcomes
What are the outcomes that will come from undertaking this piece of work?
If successful, how are you going to measure and evaluate?
4. Impact
What are the impact of those outcomes?
What is the impact on society? In the community?
5. Budget
What is this going to cost the funder?
6. Measurement
Measuring the success of outcomes and impact
Questions?
Jasmine Pledger, Student Citizenship and Employability Development Coordinator - j.pledger@yusu.org