Our grant making ethos - do you agree?

Grant aid is the life blood of many charities. The most successful charities draw in millions of pounds in grants. When local people get together to develop a project one of the first questions asked is ‘can we get a grant for this?’

So how do people set out on the journey to find some money for their project and what experience do they have? I run a grant making trust, so this is a subject close to my heart. I’d like to share some tips and hints for people wanting to be successful in their fundraising.

Many applicants are very humble and some approach the exercise as if they were coming forward with a begging bowl. I would like people to be confident, proud and bold in describing what they want to do.

Some funders seem to give the impression that their purpose is to hold onto their funds like grim death. They make their applicants jump through a thousand hoops before, with one last painful gasp; they apply the signature to the grant cheque.

People just need to tell me clearly why they want to run their project, what problem it will address and why their solution is the right one. What budding applicants need to remember is that trusts and foundations exist to give out money. We want to form positive relationships and partnerships with the groups we fund. My own organisation gives out money donated from individuals, businesses and public bodies and I need to be able to tell the people who gave us the money what we’ve been able to achieve in partnership with the groups we fund.

We want an open and honest dialogue with the groups we fund. If things go wrong we want people to tell us so that we can learn together. We report successes and failures to our Grant Committee. If you let us know why things went wrong and what you’re going to different next time then it is more than likely we’ll give you a second chance.

The Community Foundation recently held a celebration with community groups that had benefitted from the £2.5m Nuclear Management Partners Community Fund. The Fund has given out £850,000 to 63 groups and £70,000 to 69 individuals in less than a year. The range of activities supported is fantastic; from young people experimenting with running their own businesses through the Young Enterprise Scheme to Age Concern recruiting and training volunteers to develop new services.

Some of these organisations have received multiple grants from the Community Foundation over the last ten years. A local business leader leaving the event told me how the evening had a real family atmosphere. I asked him what that meant and he said ‘you know them and they know you. Things are always easy between you, but most importantly you care about each other’. I’m delighted we have that type of relationship with the groups we fund and want it to continue that way.