Writing a Successful Funding Application

Overview 

This short course provides a beginner’s guide to how to write a successful funding application, using the National Lottery Community Fund’s Awards For All online application form as an example. It is designed for people who haven’t written a funding application before, or want a refresher on the fundamentals of writing a successful application in a competitive funding landscape.

 What you’ll get from this course: 

• The chance to go through a successful funding application and understand how you can emulate it
• Advice on key elements such as writing project outcomes, evidencing co-production and creating an accurate budget
• Time to start sketching out your own application, ask questions and get expert advice
• The chance to step back and decide what you need to do next to lay the foundations for a strong application for your project

 We’ll be covering: 

• Why Awards For All, and what do they look for in an application?
• Walking through all the main answers from a successful Awards For All application
• Describing your project activities, outcomes and impact
• Demonstrating consultation & co-design (a key feature that funders look for)
• Writing clearly and concisely when faced with a tight word count
• Developing a budget that funders understand and that reflects the true costs of your project
• Identifying gaps in your application and how to address them

 Who should attend 

Writing a Successful Funding Application is an introductory course aimed at people who would like to learn some of the core principles for writing successful grant and funding applications.

You may have started a social enterprise and be trying to attract new income, or you may be part of a fundraising or development team within a charity and looking to boost your skills.

This course is open to anyone.

If you aren’t sure that the course is right for you, email David, david.mcglashan@sse.org.uk and we can discuss it with you in more detail.

Date and Timings 

Dates for the course are as follows:

• Wednesday 20th March 2024

The course runs from 10am to 1pm (including breaks) and includes a mix of presentation content, question and answer sessions, and time to begin sketching out your own funding application and action plan.

 Location 

All our learning will be taking place in live online sessions until further notice. Joining details will be emailed to you in the run up to the workshop.

Course facilitators 

Charlotte Chilvers has worked and volunteered in the charity sector for five years and previously worked at Macc, Manchester’s voluntary sector infrastructure support organisation, supporting small-medium charities and grassroots groups with fundraising, income generation, capacity-building and governance. She has supported organisations to secure grants from £100 to £300,000, run “Meet the Funder” events, delivered trusts fundraising training, and helped coordinate the Manchester charity sector’s Afghanistan and Ukraine emergency refugee responses.

Gemma Pettman helps charities to raise both their profile and vital funds. She’s supported causes ranging from city farms to youth unemployment. Demonstrating impact through storytelling is a crucial part of Gemma’s work, particularly when applying to trusts and foundations. As well as raising much-needed income, she has received praise from funders for her use of sincere and straightforward language.

 Price 

For this workshop plus all course materials you pay:

Organisational turnover £1m +: £169

Organisational turnover £500,000 – £1m: £149

Organisational turnover £100,000 – £499,999: £129

Organisational turnover £50,000 – £99,999: £109

Organisational turnover less than £50,000 or individuals unattached to an organisation: £89

 Book now: 

Book your place immediately with a credit or debit card via our website using Stripe, our payment processor. We’ll send you a booking confirmation right away (check your spam too).

Please only request an invoice if absolutely necessary and if it is for an amount over £100.

Please note our terms and conditions: we can offer a full refund provided you give us at least 7 days’ notice (within 7 days you can substitute the participant for someone else).