Fundraising and Marketing Workshop

2013

Brilliant Bid Writing

Key Facts

There are over 8,500 in the UK

They give over £3 billion

CAF / European Foundations Centre 2006 Research Task Force

Top 15

Next 485

£1.6 Billion

£1.6 Billion

They exist to give ….

Many operate on a skeleton staff

Most trusts base their decision on your proposal alone

This is risky for them because they can’t check you out

They have a tough job – so our proposal has to work hard to help them say ‘yes’

They thrive on ideas

They don’t like dependency

Creative, Flexible and Unorthodox

New methods

Disadvantaged groups

Addressing new needs

‘Unpopular’ causes

One – off projects

Experimental work which could be mainstreamed. Pilot schemes

How do you score? Are you strategically well positioned?

A three strand strategy

From Red To Green …

Take account of the pressure

Try to be interesting

Allow for misunderstanding

How old?

Socio – economic group?

Gender?

Geographical location?

Racial group?

Trustee Profile? Can you spot the trustees in the group below?

Trustee Profile

Write to the MBA

Charitable Trust

They need to buy into the business case, but

they also need to CARE!

They need to care!

The art of proposal writing

Building blocks of an effective proposal

“… the worst (proposals) are hernia inducing slabs of desktop publishing literature, press cuttings, pamphlets, booklets and endorsements that no one honestly has the time to read”

Taken from the Wates Foundation Annual Report 2001/2

Summarise

The Essentials

“ I had six honest serving men.

They taught me all I knew.

Their names where How, and Why and When and What and Where and Who.”

Kipling

Proposal Structure

Summary

Establish your credentials

What’s wrong?

What will you accomplish?

What will you do?

The Budget

Evaluation

1

6

2

5

3

4

7

USP’s

Toyota Prius

Porsche 911Smart

Honda

USP’s

Service

AchievementsCulture

People

What’s wrong?

The magic

formula?

eople

itched

recise

assionate

Effective Need (or Problem) Statements …

… are about the people you help, not the project you run

Barnardo’s

Performance Measuring Model

Inputs

Process

Outputs

Outcomes

The resources put into the organisation

How the organisation uses these resources

What the organisation does

The impact or effect of what the organisation has done

The Lack of an Input

‘The Poortown estate needs a community centre because we have nowhere to run arts and crafts sessions, anti racism workshops, cooperative development activities and a job club’.

The Lack of an Outcome

‘On the Poortown estate unemployment, poverty and crime rates are very high. The drug problem is increasing as young people feel increasingly alienated and have little chance of a job. We have nowhere to run the range of activities that could help improve the quality of life for local people, give them a route out of poverty and create real opportunity for the youngsters.’

Pitched

How ‘poor nutrition’ can be sold to a variety of funder's

For a funder interested in the welfare of children

Poorly nourished children suffer from increased vulnerability to fatigue, headaches, irritability, inability to concentrate and frequent colds. Iron-deficiency anaemia in children can lead to developmental and behavioural disturbances. Hungry children are less likely to interact with other people or explore or learn from their surroundings.

For a funder interested in education

Poor nutrition has a negative impact on children’s ability to learn in school. School-aged children who are hungry cannot concentrate or do as well as others on the tasks they need to perform to learn the basics. Research indicates that low-income children who participate in School Breakfast Programmes show an improvement in test scores and a decrease in lateness and absenteeism compared to other students who do not eat breakfast.

For a funder interested in the welfare of the elderly

Malnutrition caused by poor eating habits can exacerbate chronic and acute diseases and speed the onset of degenerative diseases among the elderly. This not only leads to an unnecessary decrease in the quality of life for many older people, but also increases the cost of health care. National data for people aged 65 to 75 show that a majority are not consuming even two-thirds of the nutrients they need to stay healthy.

For a funder interested in mental health issues

Hunger, and insecurity about whether a family will be able to obtain enough food to avoid hunger, also have an emotional impact on children and their parents. Anxiety, negative feelings about self-worth, and hostility towards the outside world can result from chronic hunger and food insecurity.

Precise

Make it Precise

Compare the following statements:

Consumer credit is at an all time high in the UK

AND:

Between us we owe credit and mortgage companies £1 trillion!

Make it Concrete

Compare the following statements:

Many of the teenagers suffer from social problems. Poverty and drugs use are rising.

AND:

Unemployment amongst 16-25 year olds currently stands at over 80%. These young people have 3 times as much chance of sampling hard drugs before they leave school than those in other areas of Tyneside, such as Heaton, Jesmond or Gosforth. Heroin use has doubled in the last five years. Last month another family lost their 15 year old child to a heroin overdose.

Make it Tangible

Compare:

We now make more telephone calls than ever before.

AND:

In the last 24 hours, more phone calls were made in the UK than during the whole of 1983.

Passionate!

Answer this question …

So what?

After the ‘problem’, describe the ‘outcomes’

(what you will accomplish) and your

‘methods’ (how you will do it).

Outcomes and methods

Three Stages to Understanding

Clarify the need

Demonstrate the results

Describe the tools

1

2

3

Bridge the comprehension gap

We can make some young people more employable by building their self esteem, team skills and confidenceThe problem is youth

unemploymentWe do this by organising rock climbing sessions

They need to buy into the business case, but

they also need to CARE!

They need to care!

On the Poortown estate unemployment, poverty and crime rates are very high. The drug problem is increasing as young people feel increasingly alienated and have little chance of a job.

A good problem

We want to run a range of activities that could help improve the quality of life for local people, give them a route out of poverty and create real opportunity for the youngsters.’

A good set of outcomes

With a new community centre we could achieve this by running education sessions, confidence building workshops, cooperative development activities and a job club.

A good description of method

London Olympics

• Costings went from £4 billion to £9 billion

• Forget to include the VAT

• Put in £2.7 billion ‘contingency’!?!

How much is needed and for what?

How much you’ve raised or had pledged

Other potential sources of funding

In kind support

Depreciation, inflation, VAT, contingencies and similar additional costs

The budget

Momentum ManagementVersion A

Expenditure Income

£10,000 Nil

Balance Required £10,000

Version B

Expenditure Income

Salary £10,000 S&G Accountants £500H/L/P £1,000 Local Authority £8,500Travel £500 The Inkspot Print Co £500Office Rent £1,000 The Moneybags Trust £1,000Telephone £500Print & stationary £500 Total £10,500Management Fee £6,000Audit £500Recruitment £500Total £20,500

Balance Required £10,000

Stagger your applications

• As money comes on line, use it as leverage

• Roll in your reserves to bring leverage to the first application(s)

• Roll them out and replace them with the money from the early applications

• Factor in gifts in kind and volunteers

Evaluation

Evaluation strategies

Record outcomes, not just activity

Quantitative performance indicators. Collect hard evidence, numbers

Qualitative performance indicators. Opinions, case studies, endorsements

Financial indicators. Unit costs, value for money, resultant cost savings

In 1996, the Chase Charity sent monitoring forms to 55 charities that had received

funding in the previous year previous year.

43 replied.