How to think like a fundraiser

"What happens when you work with a bid writer?"

"How does a professional fundraiser get a bid ready to submit to a funder?"

The headlines

If you wish you had a fundraiser’s tips and tricks for strengthening a funding bid then you’re in luck. Fundraiser Elena Italia shared her process for developing a funding bid in a recent workshop for members of Sticky-note Squad (my email support offer). 

As well as monthly emails I’ve started organising guest workshops and Elena was very generous with her time and expertise- giving a behind-the-scenes walkthrough of how she works, using a real bid from someone in the group as an example.

If you missed the workshop, never fear, I’m sharing the highlights here. And you can join Sticky-note Squad here, to get updates on other events like this.

Who is Elena?

Elena runs Charity Help, working with micro and grassroots organisations, small charities and CICs, helping them raise money and evaluate their impact. Her particular superpower is supporting small and micro-organisations that connect and empower people in their community across lots of different sectors. 

You can find out more about Elena here or sign up for her mailing list here.

Here are the insights from Elena’s workshop…

Stage 1: Become a detective

The first step, before thinking about the bid itself, is to find out what you can about the funder you’re applying to:

1. Funder’s website What do they say about the kind of projects they fund? If they have a page of previously funded projects, what patterns can you see in the type or size of grant and what types of organisations do they favour? If there’s an invitation to contact the funder, definitely take them up on this and start building a relationship. Check if they offer multi-year funding. If so you can position your project as the start of something bigger, and if funded, emphasise the need and potential for longer term activity in your communication with the funder. 

2. Check the Charity Commission website Most funders are also charities themselves so you can search for them on the Charity Commission website and get more info about the grants they’ve given over the past year and often more details on the size of grants they give out. I've made a quick video on how to search the Charity Commission website here.

3. Think about the amount you’re asking for Use your research about the funder to inform how much money you ask for in your application. Many funders offer a range e.g. “we fund from £5,000-£20,000” and your detective work will help you see what’s the most common size of grant they give and to what kind of organisation. That will help you pitch your ask to them. Elena shared that she often tries to have at least 40% of the total project budget in match funding e.g. money coming from other sources (other grants, fees or donations, for example) unless it’s a funder who particularly likes to be the first or main funder. 

Stage 2: Get the foundations in place

1. Explain the why To be able to write a solid funding bid, you need to be able to clearly explain why your organisation does what it does and the change you’re trying to create. This is often called your theory of change e.g. this is the problem or need our work addresses, and so this is the activity we do, because we know it brings about the change that is needed.

Grantmakers are people, and like all people they give to a “vision" - they want to know “if I give you money today, what change will we make happen together”?

So you need to really think through- what’s your organisation’s vision? It needs to be forward facing and exciting.

You also want to be clear about the specific results or outcomes of your work for people taking part and be able to evidence this. (If you need support to develop this, I offer Sticky-note Strategy, which creates your theory of change, programme plan and evaluation plan using creative activities and lots of sticky notes)

2. Be clear on your numbers Elena starts with the budget before writing a bid, which also helps confirm the other important numbers- your outputs. These are the things this project will create or put out into the world- things you can count, like number of workshops or number of people, events or tutors on the project. This level of detail can then be included in the bid and helps reassure the funder and shows the project is well planned.

Stage 3: Polish your draft

When you have a first draft of your funding application, Elena suggested some ways in which the bid could be strengthened to give it the best chance of success

1. Read it out loud Read out your bid and see if it makes sense. If some sentences feel overly complex when you read them out, they probably need to be simpler in writing too. 

2. Use plain English

We often use lots of jargon and sector specific language without realising it. But even if you’re a religious organisation applying to a religious funder, or an arts organisation applying to an arts funder there’s no guarantee that there’s a shared language.

The person reading your bid might be from a different artform or have different knowledge about the topic. It’s also pretty likely they’re not a specialist in your area at all. Many grant makers are volunteer trustees of the fund and in their day job do something completely different. So keep it clear, keep it straightforward. It’s good to write with an “educated layman” audience in mind

3. Be clear about the need for your work Make sure the funder understands why the money is needed- what’s the issue now and why is it important? This should really make a strong case, and relate to that exciting vision mentioned earlier. 

4. Show the purpose

Include the aim or the purpose of your work- what are you trying to achieve with this project. Going back to those foundations- what are the outcomes or results of your work? What will happen if the funder gives a grant for this activity? Elena’s phrase for this was “people give money to the solution, not to the problem”

What next?

If you've realised you need to get those foundations in place, to understand and be able to explain your vision, theory of change, outcomes etc then check out Sticky-note Strategy. You get one-to-one help, planning time and funding strategy in a creative, no-nonsense programme of support.

If you've got that sussed but you want Elena's brain on developing or finessing your applications you can find out more about her and get in touch here.

If you want to come to the live version of workshops like this, AND get monthly email support designed for small organisations, then join Sticky-note Squad here: