Transcript European and National Funding For Adult Learning

Bid Writing Basics
Hannah McSherry
Project Development Officer
Herefordshire Council
31.10.13
Project Development Team
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Established 12 years
Part of Regeneration Programmes
Team
Advice and signposting on funding
Location of match funding
Assistance on bid writing for voluntary
and community groups
Monthly funding updates
Produce Funding Directory
Ask Away!
If you have any quick questions during the
presentation, please ask them.
Getting started – make a list!
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What do you want to do?
Where do you want to do it?
Why do you want to do it?
How are you going to fund it?
When are you going to do it?
Getting Started Continued . .
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What do you want funding for? List the things
you want to do
Try and prioritise if more then one project, or
prioritise costs if a large project
Is it capital or revenue or both?
Have you discussed it with anyone?
Start to develop or update your business plan
Where do you want to do it?
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Is the project purely local, or does it
cover a wider area?
What else is going on locally?
What funding is your area eligible for?
Do you have any local support and can
you prove it?
Why do you want to do it?
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Is there evidence of need?
What do you want to do?
Where do you want to do it?
Why do you want to do it?
How are you going to fund it?
When are you going to do it?
Has there been any consultation locally?
Is it a local priority-for you or the funders?
Putting a value on your
organisations contribution
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In kind contributions – be it volunteer
time or the donation of goods and
services? You need to put a value on
these.
Match funding for your own organisation
Match funding from another external
funder
Private donations
Putting it all in writing . .
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A business plan is a written document
that will help you describe your social
enterprise and its objectives, its
strategies, the market it operates and its
financial forecast.
For more information around business
planning please contact Elaine Edwards
on 01432 383030.
How are you going to fund it now
. . . . . and in the future?
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What are your funding options?
Grant or Loan?
One fund or more?
Are you eligible?
How long will the funding last for and how
does this impact upon your business plan?
Talk to the funders directly – they want to
help.
Check Submission Dates - do they fit with
your plans?
Grant, Loan or Both?
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A grant is a money that you have to apply for and it is
given to you without paying anything back – although
all grants have conditions that must be adhered too.
Loans are money that you borrow from a bank and
have to repay over an agreed amount of time. Loans
normally add interest, so you have to pay back a
certain amount plus interest. As voluntary and
community organisations grow and develop they
need to consider which funding and financing options
will be most useful and ultimately most sustainable in
the long term.
Grant / Loan Mix
Applying for funding - Is
everything in place?
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Bank Account
Constitution/ Memorandum and Articles
Multiple copies of application
Up to date business plan
Time to collect support info
Co-ordination of Partners(if required)
Match Funding (if required)
Bid Writing 1
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Read the Guidance make sure your project is
eligible.
Talk to the funder directly – develop a
relationship with them and ask them for
clarification if you are unsure.
Don’t assume they have any prior knowledge
of your organisation – even if they are a local
funder.
Critical Friend
Bid Writing 2
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Make sure you have all the relevant
supporting evidence / documents in place
e.g. evidence of need and local support,
business plan, proof of ownership if there is a
building involved in your project etc.
Be clear about how you will carry out the
project e.g. who will manage it and how will
you undertake monitoring and evaluation etc.
Outputs and Outcomes?
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More funders looking at Outcomes –
what's the difference?
Outputs – Relate to quantity and direct
activity
Outcomes – Relate to quality and
changes that result from that activity
You will always need Outputs to
achieve Outcomes!
What is Monitoring?
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Monitoring is about collecting information that will help you
answer questions about your project. It is important that this
information is collected in a planned, organised and routine way.
You can use this information to report on your project and to
help you evaluate.
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All organisations keep records and notes, and discuss what they
are doing. This simple checking becomes monitoring when
information is collected routinely and systematically against a
plan. The information might be about activities or services, your
users, or about outside factors affecting your organisation or
project.
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Monitoring information is collected at specific times: daily,
monthly or quarterly.
http://www.ces-vol.org.uk/index.cfm?pg=543
Steps to Successful Monitoring
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Build simple, user-friendly monitoring systems into everyday
activities, collecting data at the most natural point
Get commitment from those collecting the information, by
explaining why they are doing it
Make sure that everyone responsible for monitoring has clear
and consistent guidelines
Make sure that monitoring records are completed fully and
accurately – people may not regard it as a high-priority activity
Give people collecting the information feedback on the results of
their monitoring, and how it is being used to make the
organisation more effective
Check that the project is not collecting the same piece of
information more than once.
http://www.ces-vol.org.uk/index.cfm?pg=543
Evaluation
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Evaluation is about using monitoring and other
information you collect to make judgements about
your project. It is also about using the information to
make changes and improvements.
It doesn’t have to be complex and is an essential step
in securing future funding.
http://www.ces-vol.org.uk/index.cfm?pg=543
Useful Contacts
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Hannah McSherry – 01432 383061 /
[email protected]
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Dave Tristram - 01432 260636 /
[email protected]
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Elaine Edwards - Community Enterprise and
Finance Officer at Herefordshire Council – 01432
383030
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HVOSS – 01432 343932