How to write a grant application

What to consider before you start

When you submit a grant application, there are certain things that funders will look for. These include:

  • your ability to deliver
  • your understanding of beneficiary group needs
  • the difference your project will have on individual beneficiaries, their community and wider society
  • an appropriately costed out budget, with everything that is in the text being addressed in the budget
  • value for money and a good return on investment
  • longer term sustainability and less reliance on their grant awards.

Before you begin writing your application, it’s important to consider the following about your project:

Who the project is for and who will deliver it

Consider who the project will be for and who will be involved. Think about:

  • who your project is for
  • who your beneficiaries are (these will be your primary stakeholders)
  • who will deliver the project (your own organisation, or whether others will help you to deliver it - these would be partner organisations)
  • if you're delivering the project in partnership with other organisations, which organisation will take the lead and be responsible for the project and write the grant application.

What you want to do

Consider what you want to do and what you want a grant to pay for. Think about:

  • whether you'll require revenue items like personnel, rooms for the project and materials for activities
  • whether you'll require capital items like equipment, vehicles and buildings
  • if you'll need a contribution towards your organisational core costs and overheads (it's good to include an appropriate percentage of these costs in grant applications as these type of costs are hard to fund).

Where your project will be

Consider where you want to deliver your project. For example, it could be at:

  • your own site or venue
  • other outreach sites
  • a combination of both.

When will your project take place

Consider when you want to deliver the project. It's always a good idea to be specific, so think about:

  • the year or years it will take place
  • specific months (consider if it's seasonal)
  • specific days each week
  • the times each day that project activities will take place (from and to).

Why you are doing the project

Consider why you want to deliver this project and what the needs are. For example:

  • your beneficiaries say they need or want it (remember these are your primary stakeholders)
  • other organisations in the area can see a need for it (these would be your secondary stakeholders)
  • there is nothing similar in the area that is meeting the beneficiaries’ needs
  • it will complement other activities going on in the area
  • it's accessible to those you want to serve
  • it supports your mission, vision, values and strategic plan.

How you will run the project

Consider how you are going to manage, deliver and monitor your project. Think about:

  • if you'll engage with existing personnel, and what skills and experience they have
  • whether you'll need additional personnel, and what skills they'll need to have
  • how you'll delegate responsibilities to project personnel
  • what the reporting lines for all personnel will be
  • whether you'll set up a steering group that includes representatives from your beneficiaries and other stakeholder groups
  • how regularly you'll have steering group meetings and project team meetings
  • what systems, procedures and policies you'll have in place
  • what your targets and milestones will be throughout the project
  • how you'll monitor progress against those targets and milestones
  • how you'll evaluate the project and who will undertake monitoring and evaluation
  • what you'll do with the findings once the project is completed.

Outputs

Outputs are tangible, for example, they are easily measurable. Examples of outputs include the number of:

  • beneficiaries who attend project activities
  • activity sessions delivered
  • hours in each activity session
  • hours’ support that beneficiaries engaged with
  • certificates or qualifications beneficiaries gain.

Outcomes

Outcomes are intangible, for example, they are harder to measure than outputs. They are equally if not more important however.

Outcomes are about improvements for people or organisations, and can be about how they now think, feel or act. Examples of outcomes include:

  • 95% of project participants (12 people) indicated they improved their skills
  • 22 beneficiaries out of 25 said they will feel more self-confident when in an interview situation
  • from a total of 50 beneficiaries, 86% said they now know how to give mental health first aid to someone showing a problem
  • 7 out of our 10 partner organisations believe they can improve their services as a result of taking part in our project.

Impacts

The impact on individual beneficiaries is, to some degree, covered in outcomes. Impacts however, can have a wider reach. 

A beneficiary who feels more confident is an outcome. If they go on to achieve greater things, there is a further impact for them, as their participation in your project has made a lasting and positive difference to their future.

Other impacts to consider are the difference the project will make to:

  • the beneficiaries’ community of need, identity, interest or geography
  • wider society (geographical or otherwise)
  • overall society.

You could also consider how the project may influence other providers and how it could help to strengthen your organisation in the longer term.

Budget

When considering expenditure, for example what a project costs, you should consider:

  • room rental fees
  • equipment and materials for beneficiaries to use
  • refreshments for beneficiaries at activity sessions
  • marketing and communications
  • project personnel salaries
  • project volunteer expenses
  • monitoring and evaluation
  • percentage of organisational core costs and overheads.

There are also other expenditures which you should keep in mind:

  • annual inflation year on year (if your project will span more than one year)
  • redundancy contingency for project personnel (again this is important if your project will run over a number of years)
  • delivery partners’ costs
  • VAT
  • salary on-costs (NI, pension and PAYE tax contributions)
  • outsourced professional costs for example auditor, payroll provider or evaluator.

When considering income, most but not all funders like to see some match funding in place. Think about where else you get income from and decide if you could allocate some of that towards project costs. Other sources of income can include:

  • donations from individuals, either regular or one-off donations
  • legacies or gifts left in individuals’ wills
  • donations from businesses
  • Gift Aid
  • money from your own organisation
  • money from delivery partners
  • in-kind contributions from either your own organisation or other organisations or individuals (these are goods or services rather than money).

Once you have considered the above, see what to do when writing your grant application.