The Ireland Funds Guidance on Preparing a Grant Proposal

Transcription

1 The Ireland Funds Guidance on Preparing a Grant Proposal

2 Funding by The Ireland Funds The Ireland Funds give to charitable organisations in two ways: the annual Small Grants Round and donor advised gifts. For the annual Small Grants Round, we typically award about $1 million in small grants to a wide range of organisations. Donor advised gifts are awarded when a donor identifies a particular organisation to which he or she would like to make a grant. Approximately 90% of grants awarded each year are made possible through donor-advised gifts. Organisations typically begin their funding relationship with The Ireland Funds when they are awarded a grant through the Small Grants Round. Donors occasionally identify projects through the Small Grants Round that they wish to support longer term through donor advised gifts and, while a relatively small number of organisations receive funding in this way, we continuously update our records on charities should a donor express an interest in supporting an area in which they are active. Small Grants Round The objective of the Small Grants Round is to enable as many organisations as possible to fund new and innovative responses to social need. The amount of funding available will vary from year to year but is typically around $1 million. Applicants will apply online during the period in which the Small Grants Round is open, which is typically February March. In 2012, the average grant given through the Small Grants Round was about 5,175 for the Republic of Ireland and 4,200 for Northern Ireland. Out of 937 applications, 158 grants were awarded. With such a high number of applications submitted and limited resources to distribute, many organisations that submitted high-quality applications were unsuccessful in securing a grant. However, there were also a significant number of organisations that were not recommended for funding due to a number of issues with their applications. Some of these issues included: Incomplete applications Mistakes in budget figures Requests for activities that were outside of the guidelines Requests for salaries only The description of the need was unclear The proposed solution was unclear The benefits of the programme were not clearly stated Lack of detail on what the funds would be used for In conjunction with the Small Grants Round Guidelines, this guide will explain how to prepare a compelling funding proposal for consideration by The Ireland Funds while avoiding common errors and pitfalls. If you have any additional questions or are unclear as to whether your project or organisation is eligible to apply for funding through the Small Grants Round, please contact our Staff (contact details at the end of this document).

3 The Grant Writing Five Step Process 1. Plan the Activity or Project for which you will seek funding 2. Research and identify potential funding sources 3. Write the Grant Proposal. Take the time to review the document and to seek feedback on your grant proposal from senior staff or other colleagues in your organisation 4. Prepare an Overall Budget for the Activity or Project 5. Submit the Proposal. 1. Plan the Activity or Project for which you will seek funding. Your organisation probably has several projects for which you could apply for funding. An Activity or Project that your organisation has been running for a number of years may need an additional funder, or the organisation may be branching out to tackle a new need or to try a different solution to an old problem. Whatever the Activity or Project, your organisation will benefit from having a plan of action before you begin seeking funding. 2. Research and identify potential funding sources Finding a funder for your Activity or Project can be challenging, particularly in such a competitive funding environment. Ireland has relatively few grantmaking foundations and Government agencies are still the top funders of non-profit organisations. Regardless of whether you are applying to the Ireland Funds Small Grants Round, or to other public or private agencies, it is essential to conduct thorough research before writing and submitting a grant proposal. Below is a quick checklist for the kinds of questions you should be asking before developing a funding application: Does the proposed Activity or Project meet the general eligibility criteria outlined in grants guidelines or on the Web site? Does the funder identify specific activities, target groups or types of initiatives that it has prioritised for funding? Can you explain how your Activity or Project fits in with these priorities? Have you made a note of all application deadlines? Keeping a record of grantmaking timelines can help you ensure that your organisation does not miss out on a funding opportunity. Will the funder host any information sessions about its funding programmes? The more you learn about the funder and its priorities, the easier it will be for you to write a compelling grant proposal. Get to know what organisations are funding what kinds of initiatives. Establish contact with a member of staff that can answer any questions you may have throughout the process. For information on funding in the Republic of Ireland, visit

4 3. Write a Grant Proposal Most funders will review many grant proposals at a time. To help them assess whether your project is a good fit for their priorities, we recommend using concise, persuasive language, and requesting a reasonable amount of support for the project or activity you plan to run. The format of a Grant Proposal will vary depending on the funder but, in general, an organisation applying for grant funding should include each of the following elements in its proposal: What is the Problem or Need? Identify the need or problem your organisation proposes to address. Why does the need exist? Who is affected? What is the extent of the need or problem? What will your organisation do to address the Problem or Need? Present a clear description of how the activity or project for which you are seeking funding will seek to address the problem you have identified. What will this activity or project achieve? When? How? Describe what your organisation plans to achieve by delivering the activity or project. Include a timeline so the funder knows what they should expect to happen and when. What obstacles exist to achieving the goals for the activity or project? What will your organisation do to address them? Who will carry out this work? What staff, volunteers or consultants will be involved in delivering the activity or project? What qualifies them to complete this work? What financial resources are required to deliver the activity or project? Provide a breakdown of how much it will cost to deliver the activity or project as described. Has the organisation secured other sources of funding for the activity or project? How much more is needed? Once you have drafted a proposal, take the time to review it for spelling, grammatical or factual errors. Ask colleagues for feedback on the proposal and make sure that the final version is approved by a senior member of staff or the Board. For many organisations, our only experience with your project is what we see on the application form. Be as concise as possible but be sure to clearly explain the need, why your proposed solution works and who will benefit. Think about whether the funder has a particular expertise or interest in your area of work and bear this in mind so that you do not assume background knowledge that they may not have (e.g. by using unfamiliar acronyms) or provide an unnecessarily extensive explanation of the context within which you are working. Once again, if you have any doubts as to the eligibility of your proposed project, contact the funder for advice.

5 4. Prepare an Overall Budget for the Activity or Project Some applications submitted to The Ireland Funds in 2012 contained errors in the budget figures. Those submitting a grant proposal should double check that budget figures are correct. This is important because: Funders cannot fully assess whether you meet eligibility criteria unless we know how you intend to use any grant funding you are awarded. Most funders receive hundreds of applications for each Grant Round and do not have the resources to contact applicants to clarify information that is either not included or poorly communicated in the proposal. Some funders, including The Ireland Funds, may decide to partially fund an Activity or Project. When a detailed budget is provided, a funder can select to fund a particular budget line or activity even if it is not possible to award the entire amount requested. In addition, from a funders point of view, these kinds of errors make a proposal seem unpolished and hurried. Preparing a budget need not be overly complicated. You should have some idea of the cost of delivering the entire Project or Activity. Funders offering larger awards will most likely require a detailed, and possibly multi-year, budget. For smaller grants, it is likely you will only need to provide a breakdown of costs for the amount sought. When applying to The Ireland Funds, we request that applicants provide a breakdown of the amount they are requesting. An organisation applying for 8,000 for a youth arts programme, for example, would submit a budget that looks like this: Grant Request Breakdown of Costs Art supplies for 50 pupils/1year 3500 Room hire for art classes 1 evening per week/per annum 1500 Art teacher for 2 hours, 1 evening per week/per annum 3000 Room hire for showcase event for parents and teachers 250 Refreshments for showcase event 100 Total Cost: 8350 Funding Available for Project Donation by local business 350 Total Amount Requested: 8000

6 5. Submit the Proposal (& Follow Up) Do a final review for spelling and typos and check that you have included all required information or documentation before submitting your proposal in the format specified by the funder e.g. online, by attachment, by hard copy. Ensure that the contact details you have provided are up-to-date and notify the funder if these change. Many organisations wait until the last day to submit their Grant Proposals. In our experience, it is advisable to submit a Grant Proposal at least one day before the deadline to avoid delays in the post or technical difficulties in electronic submissions due to an influx of last-minute submissions was the first year in which The Ireland Funds put its grant application form online. We are aware that some organisations did not receive notification that their applications had been either declined or accepted. When your organisation has submitted a proposal and you have not received a response, we would encourage you to contact the office to check on the status of the application. Technical and human errors do occur so we are happy to confirm whether your application has been received or provide an update if you are unsure as to the status of your application. Concluding Comments Keep in mind that even a perfectly planned and well-written proposal may be rejected do not be discouraged if your grant proposal is not successful. This year, only 16.9% of proposals were funded in our Small Grants Round. When your organisation is not awarded a grant, we strongly encourage you to contact the funder having a sense of how applications are assessed, what the funding priorities are or what errors were on your application can help you prepare a more competitive proposal the next time. We know that many organisations were disappointed that they did not receive feedback when they were informed of funding decisions from the Small Grants Round. While we were unable to automatically provide detailed feedback for applications that were declined, we encourage applicants to contact us if they have questions as to why their application was not successful. We wish you the very best of luck in applying for the next Small Grants Round and with all your efforts to secure funding for your organisations valuable work. The Ireland Funds Grants Office Staff Sandra McDermott Grants Officer smcdermott@irlfunds.org Jordan Campbell Programmes Manager jcampbell@irlfunds.org