Bid Writing Basics

1. Bid Writing Basics Hannah McSherry Project Development Officer Herefordshire Council 31.10.13

2. Project Development Team • Established 12 years • Part of Regeneration Programmes Team • Advice and signposting on funding • Location of match funding • Assistance on bid writing for voluntary and community groups • Monthly funding updates • Produce Funding Directory

3. Ask Away! If you have any quick questions during the presentation, please ask them.

4. Getting started – make a list! • What do you want to do? • Where do you want to do it? • Why do you want to do it? • How are you going to fund it? • When are you going to do it?

5. Getting Started Continued . . • What do you want funding for? List the things you want to do • Try and prioritise if more then one project, or prioritise costs if a large project • Is it capital or revenue or both? • Have you discussed it with anyone? • Start to develop or update your business plan

6. Where do you want to do it? • Is the project purely local, or does it cover a wider area? • What else is going on locally? • What funding is your area eligible for? • Do you have any local support and can you prove it?

7. Why do you want to do it? • Is there evidence of need? • What do you want to do? • Where do you want to do it? • Why do you want to do it? • How are you going to fund it? • When are you going to do it? • Has there been any consultation locally? • Is it a local priority-for you or the funders?

8. Putting a value on your organisations contribution • In kind contributions – be it volunteer time or the donation of goods and services? You need to put a value on these. • Match funding for your own organisation • Match funding from another external funder • Private donations

9. Putting it all in writing . . • A business plan is a written document that will help you describe your social enterprise and its objectives, its strategies, the market it operates and its financial forecast. • For more information around business planning please contact Elaine Edwards on 01432 383030.

10. How are you going to fund it now . . . . . and in the future? • What are your funding options? • Grant or Loan? • One fund or more? • Are you eligible? • How long will the funding last for and how does this impact upon your business plan? • Talk to the funders directly – they want to help. • Check Submission Dates - do they fit with your plans?

11. Grant, Loan or Both? • A grant is a money that you have to apply for and it is given to you without paying anything back – although all grants have conditions that must be adhered too. • Loans are money that you borrow from a bank and have to repay over an agreed amount of time. Loans normally add interest, so you have to pay back a certain amount plus interest. As voluntary and community organisations grow and develop they need to consider which funding and financing options will be most useful and ultimately most sustainable in the long term. • Grant / Loan Mix

12. Applying for funding - Is everything in place? • Bank Account • Constitution/ Memorandum and Articles • Multiple copies of application • Up to date business plan • Time to collect support info • Co-ordination of Partners(if required) • Match Funding (if required)

13. Bid Writing 1 • Read the Guidance make sure your project is eligible. • Talk to the funder directly – develop a relationship with them and ask them for clarification if you are unsure. • Don’t assume they have any prior knowledge of your organisation – even if they are a local funder. • Critical Friend

14. Bid Writing 2 • Make sure you have all the relevant supporting evidence / documents in place e.g. evidence of need and local support, business plan, proof of ownership if there is a building involved in your project etc. • Be clear about how you will carry out the project e.g. who will manage it and how will you undertake monitoring and evaluation etc.

15. Outputs and Outcomes? • More funders looking at Outcomes – what's the difference? • Outputs – Relate to quantity and direct activity • Outcomes – Relate to quality and changes that result from that activity • You will always need Outputs to achieve Outcomes!

16. What is Monitoring? • Monitoring is about collecting information that will help you answer questions about your project. It is important that this information is collected in a planned, organised and routine way. You can use this information to report on your project and to help you evaluate. • All organisations keep records and notes, and discuss what they are doing. This simple checking becomes monitoring when information is collected routinely and systematically against a plan. The information might be about activities or services, your users, or about outside factors affecting your organisation or project. • Monitoring information is collected at specific times: daily, monthly or quarterly. http://www.ces-vol.org.uk/index.cfm?pg=543

17. Steps to Successful Monitoring • Build simple, user-friendly monitoring systems into everyday activities, collecting data at the most natural point • Get commitment from those collecting the information, by explaining why they are doing it • Make sure that everyone responsible for monitoring has clear and consistent guidelines • Make sure that monitoring records are completed fully and accurately – people may not regard it as a high-priority activity • Give people collecting the information feedback on the results of their monitoring, and how it is being used to make the organisation more effective • Check that the project is not collecting the same piece of information more than once. http://www.ces-vol.org.uk/index.cfm?pg=543

18. Evaluation • Evaluation is about using monitoring and other information you collect to make judgements about your project. It is also about using the information to make changes and improvements. • It doesn’t have to be complex and is an essential step in securing future funding. http://www.ces-vol.org.uk/index.cfm?pg=543

19. Useful Contacts • Hannah McSherry – 01432 383061 / hmcsherry@herefordshire.gov.uk • Dave Tristram - 01432 260636 / dtristram@herefordshire.gov.uk • Elaine Edwards - Community Enterprise and Finance Officer at Herefordshire Council – 01432 383030 • HVOSS – 01432 343932