Making Successful Funding Bids

There are about 7,500 grant-making trusts and foundations in the UK, giving in total about £1.7 billion per year to charitable causes, including church-based community projects and other Christian community initiatives.

Have you considered applying to trusts to help fund your community project? The following information will help you get started.

Selecting trusts for application
Trusts can only preserve their distinctive role by doing special things. They therefore like to concentrate their funding on:
· New methods of tackling problems.
· Disadvantaged and minority groups that have trouble using ordinary services, or are inadequately served by them.
· Responses to new or newly discovered needs and problems.
· Work that is hard to finance through conventional fund-raising.
· One-off purchases or projects, including research.
· Short and medium-term work which is likely to bring a long-term benefit and/or to attract long-term funding from elsewhere.

The three golden rules for applying to trust funds are:
1. Do your homework beforehand.
2. Prepare your application carefully.
3. Leave plenty of time.

There are various directories and websites (see text box) listing trusts that you may be able to apply to. When drawing up a shortlist of trusts, look out for:
· Trusts which operate in your geographical area.
· Trusts which are interested specifically in your field of work and the sort of people who will benefit from it.
 
Writing your application
When writing an application, remember to include the following points:
· The purpose of the work to be funded - who it will help and how, what is distinctive about it and what will be achieved if a grant is given.
· A budget for the project. Don't economise on essentials, such as training or unavoidable overhead costs.
· Ask for a specific sum of money. If necessary, say that you are seeking a contribution of £X towards a total budget of £Y, and that you hope to raise the remainder from other sources which you specify.
· Your name, address, and phone number - oh yes, people do forget!

Make the application long enough to properly describe what you want, but short enough to be easy to take in at first reading - usually no more than two pages for your main letter. Make sure that you include your most recent annual report and accounts.

If your organisation does not have charitable status, explain why the work to be funded is charitable, and if possible name a registered charity that will take responsibility for any grant on your behalf.

What to expect from trusts
Trusts generally make decisions through trustees' meetings, which take place every two or three months, so be patient in waiting for a response.

The sheer volume of applications means that most trusts do not normally acknowledge applications, and many are unable to reply to applicants who are ultimately unsuccessful.

Remember that trusts get many more applications than they can fund. But if you don't succeed, it may not reflect on the quality of your application. It may just be that the trust has insufficient money to fund all the applications that it would like to support.

How to continue a relationship with a trust
If you are lucky enough to receive an offer of a grant, ensure first of all that you acknowledge it and make arrangements to meet the conditions (if any) that are set for releasing payment.

Try to keep in touch in whatever way the funder suggests. If the funder wants frequent reports then make sure you supply them, but if the funder only wants a report once a year do not bombard them with information in between times.

Useful publications
· A Guide to the Major Trusts Vol. 1, 2003-04 edition covers the largest 300 trusts, each giving over £400,000 a year. £20.95 plus p&p from Directory of Social Change, 24 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2DP, Tel: 020 7391 4800, website: www.dsc.org.uk.
· A Guide to Major Trusts Vol. 2, 2003-04 edition covers a further 700 trusts, each giving annual grants of at least £60,000. £20.95 plus p&p from Directory of Social Change.
· A Guide to the Major Trusts Vol.3 2002-03 is a new volume listing a further 500 trusts funding nationwide with a grant expenditure of over £20,000 per year. £17.95 plus p&p from Directory of Social Change.
· The Directory of Grant Making Trusts 2003-04, now in its 18th edition, gives details of almost 2,500 trusts. Priced at £80.00, it is distributed by Directory of Social Change.