to attract donations with Gift Aid. The truth is that grant funders


Load THE DICE in your favour


Grant income is one way of bridging the gap between government funding and the delivery of a high-quality education. Here, bid-writing expert Justin Smith shares his tips for success


S


chools are increasingly taking matters into their own hands in the pursuit of new funding streams


to support infrastructure and the delivery of the curriculum. Schools in England raised more than £1.8billion through fundraising activities last year, with much of the work driven by hardworking PTAs and Friends Associations. What some of them may not realise


is that there is also around £1.5billion available in grants and trust funds, from more than 4,000 grant funders. Locating suitable funds using grant-finder websites and databases such as Funded.org.uk is a good way to narrow down the search. Be aware, though, that many smaller, localised funders do not appear on national databases. When it comes to writing a bid,


you could put a call out to your wider school community to see if any parents have the skills to help. Some schools pay a professional bid writer – most grant funders won’t cover this cost, but there are exceptions, such as the DfE Condition Improvement


40 SUMMER 2020 FundEd


Fund (CIF), which will allow up to around ten per cent of the grant to fund professional services, due to the size and complexity of the projects it typically funds. There is no silver bullet of course.


Almost all funds are oversubscribed. So what can be done to load the dice in your favour and shift the odds so your application stands out? Well, bid writing is an art, a process that takes time and, without doubt, experience is key – successful bid writers admit they’ve endured just as many failures along the way as they have successes. But here are my top tips to narrow the odds.


1 Take a holistic approach


Don’t focus purely on bid writing. This may seem odd but when it comes to attracting funding for your project, a holistic, rounded approach often proves fruitful. In practice this may include looking at how you can expand income from lettings, developing opportunities for local businesses to provide sponsorship, and asking your PTA


look more favourably on applications from schools that can demonstrate a coordinated and structured approach to fundraising. So show them that you’ve mobilised the local community (using SurveyMonkey, for example). You could also include letters of support from local councillors and your MP, mayor and other dignitaries. Contact your suppliers and local businesses for donations or assistance too. For example, your new artificial


pitch may cost £25,000 but you are looking for £18,000 from grants as the balance is being secured in other ways. Demonstrating joined-up thinking when it comes to funding aspirational projects will pique the interest of the grant holder.


2 Select the right grant and be precise


Writing a grant application is hard work and time-consuming. The last thing you want to do is select grants that cannot support your project, so make sure you have understood the grant funder’s priorities and that your project is eligible. There are some staggering figures from the National Lottery and Sport England about how many ineligible applications are received. Invariably, application forms


contain fixed word counts and you must deliver concise and relevant content within these text boxes. Waffling on and not getting to the point is a waste of time and effort. Develop your content on a Word document first, and fine-tune it so that every word has a purpose and supports your case. Think carefully about what you’re


being asked and frame your response to clearly answer the question. Most applications allow for appendices and supporting information so that you’re able to evidence your claims in the document. Many National Lottery Awards


for All applications are rejected at the first stage due to incomplete or poorly thought-out applications. However worthwhile the project, an application will be rejected if the applicant hasn’t answered the question, or has neglected to fill in all of the form.


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