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Sources of funding
FINDING FUNDING 2
Nicola Bradbear
In the last edition of Beekeeping & Development guidelines were given for preparing project proposal. However a good proposal is only the beginning of the road to success in finding funding for your project. The next step is submitting your proposal to appropriate funding organisations.
SELECTING A FUNDING ORGANISATION
Funding organisations are of many types:
- Very large United Nations-backed international organisations such as FAO and UNDP.
- Government aid programmes, such as CIDA (Canadian) and ODA (British).
- Large charities with programmes in many countries such as ActionAid and Oxfam.
- Church organisations such as CAFOD and Christian Aid.
- Local non-governmental organisations, charities and trust funds.
- Commercial organisations willing to provide sponsorship.
- Philanthropic individuals and families.
Which of these you can apply to will depend upon your country of residence, whether you are applying as an individual or are attached to non-governmental organisation, a government department, an academic institution or another organisation.
If you are attached to an academic institution then check out any grants or trust funds you could apply for. Sometimes there are obscure trust funds which receive few requests for funding, because nobody knows about them! The bursar at your college should know what is available.
APPROACHING FUNDING ORGANISATION
- No funding organisation can be expected to grasp immediately the value or relevance of every project. Be prepared to explain what you want to do from first principles (see Finding Funding 1).
- Make sure that the project you are proposing lies within the remit of the organisation you are approaching. Before you submit your proposal you must do thorough homework: find out from the secretary of the organisation the type of projects they want to assist, their objectives and their policies.
- Grant-giving organisations usually have a board of trustees who meet at regular intervals (every six months, or every year) to decide how the organisations’ funds should be dispensed. For this reason you must be prepared to wait for quite long periods before you receive decision. Also you must start seeking funding year or eighteen months ahead of your proposed starting date.
- If for some reason you need funds quickly to overcome a particularly urgent crisis then mark your application “Emergency request” (but only if it really is an emergency!).
- Be selective about the organisations you apply to. Do not send your proposal to every address you can find.
- If a funding organisation issues application rules, follow them very carefully. Provide all the information they request. Answer all their questions. Stick to their deadlines.
- Do not be secretive. Be straightforward about disclosing the names of other organisations you are approaching, or other funding you have already obtained. It is quite normal, and indeed expected, that you will apply to more than one funding body.
- If you have selected several funding organisations who you think might be interested in your proposal, then do not send your proposal to all of them immediately.
Try sending it to one or two first: if your proposal is badly worded or confusing, by the time you find out, your chance to improve it will have gone if you have already sent it to everyone on your list!
MONITOR RESPONSE
- Read the replies you receive from funding organisations very carefully. Often they will try to help you to see wiry your proposal did not meet their criteria.
- If they do not tell you, do not be afraid to contact the organisation and ask why your proposal was rejected.
- If your proposal receives poor response, you must next ask yourself why. Be very self-critical.
- Are your plans unrealistic? Are you asking for too much? Is your proposal readily understandable? Does your proposal appear truly worthwhile?
- Do not be demoralised. If the objectives of your proposal are worth achieving and are realistic, you will find funding eventually.
- If you do receive funding, acknowledge this immediately. Keep the donors informed of the progress of the project, and keep in contact with them.
