You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

I am frequently asked “what makes a good funding bid?” I do deliver workshops on how to write successful applications and there are lots of training courses, guides and blogs out there that all seek to answer that same question.

But what often gets overlooked, is that in order to write a good bid, it is crucial to actually be good in the first place. It is much easier to focus on producing good copy when your charity already has a clear mission in place and is delivering a needed and quality service. It is the same as a job application: it is easier to craft something when you can demonstrate how you meet everything in the person specification than it is to put a positive spin on your gaps.

But it is very difficult to be good at everything all of the time. A charity may spend time on reviewing and strengthening its governance. But that means it has less time to spend on other work such as reading about all the latest new developments in their sector. So what do you do in a funding bid when not everything is 100% how you want it to be?

Funders will assess and rate different aspects of your work and will have different tolerances. For example, if your work is reaching out to a very marginalised community and getting good results, they are less likely to worry that you have work to do on your business plan. So the first thing is to try and work out the likely response of a potential funder. If they highlight that user involvement is important and you have this down as something you need to improve, then it is not the right time to write that bid.

If you seem a good fit with the criteria but things fall short of what you (and the funder) would like them to be, then it is time to be upfront and work hard on your presentation. There is a world of difference between “we don’t have a business plan” and “because of the funding issues we faced last year our business plan became out of date. Now we have funding in place for the next two years, it is a priority for our Trustees to create a new business plan to take the charity forward. We have started discussions and have an away day planned for May.”

This response brings the charity to life, is honest and confident. In a world where marketing spin is easily spotted, this approach is far more credible.

Emma Beeston Consultancy advises funders and philanthropists on giving strategies and processes; researching and scoping options; selecting causes and charities; assessments and impact monitoring.

www.emmabeeston.co.uk ; emma@emmabeeston.co.uk; emmabeeston01