Considering applying for a community grant?

Does your school have a great idea that will benefit not only students but the community at large? Are you wondering how you can get the money to make it happen?

Whether you need hundreds or even thousands of pounds, your project may be eligible for a community funding grant.

There are a number of different sources you can apply to for community funding, the National Lottery, private companies wanting to engage with the community and charities relevant to your project. And despite “austerity” local authorities are still putting aside some funding for community funding to support projects that will have a positive effect in their area.

Searching for grants

You can invest time with a search engine such as Google to look for grant bodies on the internet, or you can also employ the services of a specialist funding consultancy to help. There are also voluntary networking associations such NCVO that can give advice.

What sort of projects attract community funding?

Everyone believes their project deserves support, but the custodians of a community grant fund need to show due diligence when handing out money so that it’s used properly.

Typical projects that they will be looking for will benefit the wider society as well as those involved, for example:

After-school clubs
Physical activity promoting health and fitness
Special Educational Needs and disability
Conservation and recycling
ICT
Environment (eg gardening, allotments)
Healthier lifestyles (nutrition, healthy eating, sports)
Nature and ecology
Community engagement (eg inter-generational projects)
Social inclusion and integration

The organisation you decide to apply to will most likely publish details of the application process, deadlines and forms online.

Bid writing services: are they worth the price?

You may baulk at the idea of paying a professional consultant or company to apply on your behalf for a community grant, but you could be facing serious competition for a finite resource.

There will also be plenty of technical hoops to jump through as well, so, unless you think you can negotiate the often complex eligibility criteria and can use the right key words to give the decision makers what they want to see on your application then your time could be wasted.

Putting together a successful bid could take quite a lot of time collating the information and statistical data the committee requires, time you could better spend elsewhere on your project.

A bid writing service could give you that edge but do your research. Go online and check their success record. Also, reputable services will work on a no-win, no-fee basis for smaller grants, so there won’t be a financial penalty to your school if you’re unsuccessful.

What you need to ask yourself is “How much money can this service help me raise”?