Grant funders
There are a wide variety of organisations that make grants:
- Charitable trusts and foundations
- National Lottery Fund
- Companies (often through a charitable trust)
- Government (often distributed by other organisations)
- Local authorities
- NHS
The larger grant-making organisations, those that give grants of £10,000 or more, usually have focus areas for their giving. For example:
- Geographical
- Specific area of need (e.g. young people, the arts, children, social welfare, health, medical research, religious causes)
The 25 questions below are typical of the type of information that grant funders look for when assessing applications. Going through these questions will help you to judge how ready your programme is to apply for grant funding.
How do we know the work is needed?
Number | Question | Yes/No/Maybe |
Q1 |
Does the applicant demonstrate that they understand their local area and its needs?
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Q2 | Has the applicant conducted research into residents’ needs and wishes? | |
Q3 | Does the applicant know about the other services provided in the area? | |
Q4 | Does the applicant describe how they will link in to other local services/initiatives? | |
Q5 |
Have they consulted local organisations and other stakeholders? |
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Q6 | Is there evidence from elsewhere that this approach will work? |
Are local people in the lead?
Number |
Question |
Yes/No/Maybe |
Q1 |
Have local residents said that this is something they want? |
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Q2 | Have local people been involved in deciding what should happen? | |
Q3 |
Have local organisations been involved in deciding what should happen? |
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Q4 |
Are there local people who want to volunteer? |
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Q5 | Will this work use the skills and experience of local people? | |
Q6 | Are local people going to be involved in directing, managing and delivering the project? |
How will we know it's working?
Number | Question | Yes/No/Maybe |
Q1 | Does the project have clear outcomes? | |
Q2 | Has the applicant described how they will achieve these outcomes? | |
Q3 | Is there a plan for how they will monitor whether the work is achieving its outcomes? | |
Q4 | Will this work have a wider impact beyond its immediate beneficiaries? |
Is the applicant able to deliver the project?
Number | Question | Yes/No/Maybe |
Q1 | Does the applicant have a good track record of delivering similar projects? | |
Q2 | Do they have partner organisations who will help to deliver the project? | |
Q3 | Are local organisations willing to support the project (e.g. by promoting it, providing venues)? | |
Q4 | Is there a project plan describing what will be done? | |
Q5 | Does the applicant know what resources are required? |
Finances, funding & the future
Number | Question | Yes/No/Maybe |
Q1 | Is there a budget and does it add up? - (see example Financial model Peer Support below) | |
Q2 | Does the applicant have a plan for getting all the funding needed? | |
Q3 | Has the applicant already secured some funding? | |
Q4 | If this is a long-term project, is there a plan for how this work will be funded in the future? |
Write your case for support
A Case for Support is a straightforward document that tells prospective donors what your initiative hopes to achieve. Once written it is very useful to refer to for fundraising activities and when writing grant applications.
The following template Case for Support will help to guide you:
Template Case for Support
Added 12/03/2020Please sign in to download this file.