Grant Writing – Case Study 6

This is Case Study 6 in our series of grant writing articles. In this instalment we will look at the Bulimba Bowls Club and their efforts to get major repairs to their roof funded. An inexperienced grant writer would try and find a funding program which will fund the entire repair works which was in the vicinity of $100k. At Red Tape Busters we realise that grant writing opportunities in the vicinity of $100k are few and far between. So our skilled grant writer set about identifying if we could break the project down into smaller sub projects and then find two or more grants that will be viable to fund the entire project over time.

In the first instance we asked the Club to work with their proposed roof repair contractor to see if the project could in fact be split into sub projects. The contractor agreed that we could split the project up into two smaller projects – and if funding was achieved the club could undertake the repairs in stages. First we identified a smaller program where we believed we were a good chance of winning $35k for the club and then another funding opportunity we believed was very viable to fund the rest. The strategy of our grant writer was to win the smaller funding first and this would demonstrate that the roof repair work was well underway and then apply for the larger funding. In this way we were chasing funding contributions from different programs thus splitting the request over more than one program and fund managers love seeing other programs contributing funding to a project so that there are co-contributions. Also one program was a State Government program and the other a local Council funding program and as such this was a perfect strategy given funding was being asked for from different levels of Government and again our grant writer correctly identified this would help in realising funding from both tiers of Government.

Our grant writer prepared the initial application for the $35k which was successful. They then prepared the second application and could show that the club already had $35k towards the project and that the project had actually commenced. This gave the Council fund manager confidence that the project could be completed in full. Our grant writer prepared another compelling case and as a result the remaining funding of around $50k was granted.

Grant writing for most organisations is an afterthought sadly. They place no emphasis on the process or the skills required. Grant writing is not a science but it is a skill that is very very hard to learn and for grant writers to realise that there is more to grant writing than just applying for the very first opportunity around or trying to fund larger projects via one funding opportunity. We try and maximise the chances of our clients and we are very very strategic in how we approach our task. Our results over 17 years prove we have the grant writing skills and the strategies needed to win our clients funding. 

Contact us at Red Tape Busters - http://www.redtapebusters.com/ should you require more information about this article or if you require specialist grant or tender writing experience to help your organisation or business win grant funding or achieve successes with tenders.

Popular posts from this blog

Tender Writing – The Top Three Qualities of an Effective Tender Writer

Tender writing can be a very challenging process but the effective tender writer will have a personality, a skill set and an approach that sets them apart from the run of the mill tender writer. I believe the really important qualities that a tender writer needs to possess are an ability to stay calm under pressure; an ability to org anise other people within the organisation and to organize resources, information and supporting documents or material and an ability to develop the strategy and approach that pitches the organisation in the right light to win the attention of those assessing the tender response. I will now discuss these qualities in further detail. Calm Under Pressure Tender writing can be a very pressurized situation. There are deadlines to meet. Responses need to be submitted by a specified time, in a specified format and in a specified way. Sometimes tenders need to be hand delivered, sometimes they need to be electr...
Read more

Avoid Tender Rejection With This Expert Advice

Image
The experienced tender writer finds it hard enough to get their tender considered after applying and following the guidelines, ensuring that the lodgement time is met and that they have crafted a decent tender response. Tender writing requires some skill to prepare a great application yet a lot of writers ensure their tender response is rejected at the first review by making some simple errors. Here are some of the pitfalls you need to avoid to ensure your application is not rejected without first being serious considered. Remember the assessment panel on first review of all the responses will be seeking to reject as many as possible initially to get down to a manageable number and to make the task easier. Following are the mistakes that will almost certainly see your response put into the NO pile. Failure to answer every question or tick every box on the application form This might seem just plain ridiculous. How can anyone fail to fill out the application form completely? W...
Read more

Tender Writing – Should you pursue every tender opportunity?

Applying for or responding to tender opportunities is a vexing question in the tender writing world. Should we apply for all, some, which ones, which ones should we steer clear of these are all important questions for the tender writer. The skilled tender writer will ensure they carefully analyse each tender, analyse the direction of the organisation, analyse the goals of the organisation both long and short term goals and ensure that if successful in winning the tender that :- 1. They can deliver fully on the requirements of the tender  2. That winning the tender will support the overall organisational objectives 3. The tender will be financially viable. In arriving at answers to these issues the grant writer should consider the following in some detail :- Capacity and Resources One of the key issues to be considered is does the organisation have the capacity and resources required to deliver the requirements of the tender in full. That means – do we have...
Read more