7 ways to improve your funding applications you can start right now

7 ways to improve your funding applications you can start right now

I regularly speak to funders and read their feedback on applications received. A lot of applications fall into the same common pitfalls.

Here I share my thoughts on the practical steps you can take to avoid their pet peeves and start improving your applications.

Things to start right now

1. Stop using jargon and acronyms.
2. Check your spelling and grammar.
3. Think about your formatting (AND DON’T SHOUT AT THEM).
4. Show the evidence and don’t be anecdotal.
5. Get your outcomes, outputs and inputs the right way around.
6. Ensure you have the important practical information needed.
7. Make sure you haven’t forgotten anything.

Stop using jargon and acronyms

No one likes jargon so are you using it?

Jargon and unexplained acronyms make it hard for a reader who has little or no knowledge of your work to fully understand your application.?

Solution

• Make your application jargon free! Try to explain what you do in a way that is understandable to someone with no prior knowledge of your work.?
• Where acronyms are useful (we all love them to help with tricky wound counts) make sure that the first time you use it, you explain it e.g. Three Letter Abbreviation (TLA)
• Ask someone else to read your bid? - and not just people who work in your organisation and sector. I regularly ask my husband to read bids to make sure that I have made my case clearly.
• Sense check your bids - have you used clear,? plain language? Could you explain what you need to tell them more clearly?
• Print your bids off and read them on paper. Sometimes we miss mistakes on screen that we can see on paper.

Check your spelling and grammar

There are some brilliant tools out there to help with spelling and grammar. If English is not your first language or you struggle with spelling and grammar you can use these tools to help.?

Solution

• Draft your bid in Word and budget in Excel and not on the funders online form. That way you can run a spelling and grammar check.
• Be kind with your formatting - as you can see in this blog, breaking up the text with subheadings, different highlights and bullet points makes it easier to read and help you spot any mistakes.
• I love the Hemingway App (https://www.hemingwayapp.com/) for checking my writing. It shows you how clear your writing is and where you could make improvements.

Think about your formatting (AND DON’T SHOUT AT THEM)

The person reading your application could be reading hundreds bids so be kind to them.

Solution

• Block text is very hard to read! Use sub headings, bullets and different fonts to separate sections and ideas. If this article was written in block text, think about how hard it would be to read.
• Font size - don’t shrink to smaller fonts to fit text in, it’s just too hard to read. It is recommended that you use a minimum font size of 12 points.
• Margins - don’t push your margins as small as they will go. If the reader needs to print it off vital information might be missed. Again, it also makes things very hard to read.
• CAPITALS MAKE THE READER FEEL LIKE THEY ARE BEING SHOUTED AT - use them for subheadings but as the main text it makes your bid hard to read.

?I am going to be blogging some more about this so keep an eye out for on my website here

Show the evidence and don’t be anecdotal

I often say in training that there is a big difference between

• Anecdotal: ‘Our workshops are very popular’
• Evidence: ‘2000 people attended our workshops last year and 90% said that they would come again’.?

In many ways these sentences are saying the same thing, but the evidence provides concrete proof of how popular they actually are.

Funders want to hear about

• the need for your work and the evidence there is to back up that need
• the impact of your work and how you can show what outcomes and outputs have been achieved

Great data will help you with explaining need and impact.?

Solution

• Do not underestimate the power of data, facts and figures - use them where you can.
• The evidence shows that it is not just you saying that you are amazing but other people are too. As well as data, use your feedback or case studies to evidence the need for your work. For example a participant saying ‘I never thought I would be able to do something like that - they helped me feel so confident about trying’ alongside 90% of people stating they feel more confident after a session with us - would really strengthen you saying that you increase confidence.
• Are you collecting the right kind of data and enough of it? I will be blogging more about this in the future!

I wrote a blog about data tools for fundraisers here

Get your outcomes, outputs and inputs the right way around

Talk about the numbers of things you have achieved (outputs) and the change that has taken place (outcomes).?

The Solution for me on this one is quite simple - I love the ‘Outcomes are a piece of cake’ from National Lottery Community Foundation in Scotland to explain the difference between input, activity, output and outcome.

https://bigblogscotland.org.uk/2014/03/17/outcomes-are-a-piece-of-cake/

I am going to be blogging some more about this so keep an eye out for on my website here

Ensure you have the important practical information needed

This is a particular issue I find with arts organisations, but you see it across the not for profit sector. I read lots of beautifully crafted text, painting detailed pictures of the concepts embedded in their work, but missing the practical information. For a funder to support your work they need to be clear about the work you plan to do with their money.?

Solution

Have you covered the basics?

• Why - Why is your work needed? Why are you planning to deliver your work in the way that you do?
• Who - Who is your project aimed at? Who benefits from your work? Who will deliver the project?
• What - What is your plan? What will you do? What is the problem you are solving?
• When - When will the project take place? When do you need the funding and what are the timelines?
• How - How do you know your work is needed? How will you evidence the need for, and the results of, your project?
• Where - Where does your work take place? Where will the project happen?

I am going to be blogging about my Case for Support Canvas soon so keep an eye out for on my website here

Make sure you haven’t forgotten anything

There were four areas that funders talked about that really bug them that were about attention to detail which were

• Not answering the questions
• Budget that doesn’t balance
• Missing info or attachments
• Missing the deadline

Solution:?

• We know that funders can ask similar questions but it’s really important to make sure you answer the question correctly. It’s not about what you want to tell them, it's about what they need to hear/read. They may also be asking more than one question in a section so make sure you cover all of the things they ask for.
• Make sure you read the guidance and are clear about what the funder requires. If you are not sure, send an email or call them to ask. A funder would always rather you spent the time asking them a question than wasted time applying.
• Use Excel to draft your budgets, even when they have an online form. This will ensure you have covered everything and that the figures add up.
• Make sure everything that you mention in the bid is in the budget.
• Double and triple check your email or form before you press submit.
• If you need “sign off” within your organisation before you can submit your application, make sure you build that time into your timetable to allow for ‘internal delays’!

Have I missed anything? Let me know!

This blog is also available on my website here