Top tips to apply for a grant

Would you like to be able to upgrade your outdoor facilities at your school, sports club, park or organisation but don’t have all the resourcing you need? Applying for a grant can be a good way to meet a shortfall in resourcing or it can allow you to propose a brand new outdoor project. Whatever your outdoor requirements, getting to grips with all the parameters needed for a grant may seem overwhelming and in some cases prevent organisations from applying, even though they would meet all the criteria and have a good chance of success.

To help you with your next outdoor project, we have created a list of things to consider when applying for a grant.

Locate your grant
First stop, research online and see what help is available to you to find the best grant for your needs. Depending on the specifics of your organisation, you can sign up to receive newsletters from governments and local authorities, sporting governing bodies, local leagues, community organisations, statutory and regulatory bodies and associations who will provide you with news and events including information on when grants become available and the deadlines for these grants.

Pre-planning
As soon as you have a project in mind, make some notes about it, what your ideal would be, what is essential, non-essential, nice-to-haves and your overall goals. This pre-thinking and preparation will help you when it is time to actually apply for a grant. Once you have a framework for your idea, talk to other interested parties and stakeholders, get their input and buy-in as early on as possible so that when it comes to applying you can expediate the process as there is already the awareness, understanding and preliminary commitment to the project.
If a grant that you are interested in generally becomes available at the same time each year, add an event in your calendar a few weeks BEFORE the grant is due to open so you can take your pre-planning and brainstorming one step further in preparation for the grants availability.

Understand what the grant is

Applying for a grant is a time consuming business so before you invest your precious time and resources, its vital to get a good understanding of what the grant is about and whether It meets your purpose and requirements. Make sure that your projects falls within the scope of the grant and aligns with its aims and objectives.

Check eligibility
Once you have reviewed and fully understood what the grant is about and if it meets your needs, the next thing to do is to check whether you are eligible and meet the specific grant criteria.
When you can confirm that the grant is one that you are after, it is time to get down to the details of how to apply.

Look for examples
Often grants will provide examples of the type of grant that would be successful. Make sure you use these examples to provide structure and guide you in your own application. If they don’t have specific examples, search online to find another similar grants which may provide you with more guidance.

Research and evidence
Most grants will require you to demonstrate why you need the grant and how it is going to be used, what are the goal outcomes and who will be of benefit. When you are writing your application, ensure you cover all these areas in detail, and the more relevant research and evidence you can provide, the stronger your application will become.

How will the grant be used to meet goals
What’s your plan? In your application you need to map out fully how you are going to use the grant to meet your objectives and breakdown the essentials including timelines, potential roadblocks and contingency plans.

Expertise
If a grant is awarded, the granter wants to have confidence that your organisation has the capacity and capability to manage the grant effectively to produce the goals and outcomes stated in the application. Demonstrate your expertise of managing the project, bring in examples of previous project successes and persons who have the capabilities to take on each stage of the project. Map out your mini milestones of success to achieve your overall project goals.

Value for money
In your application it is important to show that the application is providing good value for money and how over time this will continue to benefit your target group. Quality products that have proven longstanding durability are highly regarded as the grant will be seen to serve the community, club, school, park or organisation in the long term future, not as a temporary solution.

All the best with any future grant applications and if you require a quote from us for any of your outdoor furniture, get in touch today.

Looking for more information? View our full list of grants available to organisations.