A Q&A SESSION WITH A GRANTS MASTER

With Prue Saxby –Indigo Gold Pty Ltd & Grant Writing Academy

The team at Rural Entrepreneur Australia recently spoke to Grant Master Prue to uncover some important tips on how you can secure more grants, to grow your business.

What common mistakes do people make when applying for grants?

A lot of mistakes occur right at the start, when people fail to read the guidelines in enough detail. It’s important to check what is, and isn’t, eligible (allowed) under the grant opportunity. If they haven’t been careful enough, and they apply for ineligible items their application may be deemed ineligible. This is a shame when it’s a lost opportunity.

I encourage would-be applicants to contact the funder and discuss anything that needs clarification. Most grant personnel are super helpful, so it’s well worth the effort.

When I talk with grant personnel and ask them the key things that applicants struggle with, ‘the budget’ is always mentioned. I recommend you create a budget early and make sure it’s accurate with enough detail.

Give yourself enough time to get the application completed without rushing!

When there is limited time, people tend to omit important information and the whole application can be messy (not cohesive) and confusing to read. This is likely to result in the assessor noting that you aren’t organised (so you may not be a good recipient of their funding).

When people come into my grant writing community, I ask them to list the three things which are a struggle, in relation to grants. A common response is ‘knowing what to write.’ And this is reflected in drafts I see from applicants. It’s obvious that they don’t understand the question, and this can result in waffling on about the same topic, or including irrelevant information and not explaining other information the funder is wanting.

During the response-writing process, applicants can fail to understand or communicate the benefits of the project and impacts to the wider industry or community –things like employment or the flow-on effects to residents or other organisations in their industry.

You want your application to be enjoyable for the assessor, so make it easy to read. Think about breaking up large amounts of text with dot points. You don’t want to make it confusing to read, so make sure your sentences are in the correct order.

What are important things to keep in mind when engaging a grant writer?

Do a bit of prep before you contact them. Do a bit of homework first to understand the requirements of the grant and write down the questions you want to ask. Do you want them to write the responses, or do you also need them to prepare attachments (such as a Project Plan) and help with support letters?

Does their availability match with yours? Can they confirm they will have it finished when it suits you?

Don’t just ask for an hourly rate; get a price for the complete job. One grant writer may have a low hourly rate, but may take them three times as long to do the job as another grant writer. Ask if you will get the originals of all the documents that they create; i.e. who will ‘own’ the documents? If they aren’t asking you for more details that could be a flag that they haven’t got the experience required for a quality job.

It’s important to ask them about their experience writing grants for your industry, and with the amount you are requesting. Ask for at least two names of referees, and then phone the contact to check on the quality of the grant writer’s work. You might expect their experience will be reflected in the price, so expect a fair and reasonable cost for the service and complexity of the grant and attachments that are needed.

What are the common questions which will be asked in a grant application?

The first thing to keep in mind is that grant applications vary. There will be a mix of questions; some needing just a few words, and others which will require longer responses. The smaller questions will confirm your eligibility, ask you for a project summary, capture project start and finish dates and general organisational details (key contacts, project location).

Longer responses, in a non-complex grant application, will require you to explain:

• What your organisation does

• About the project (what you want to do)

• Why the project is necessary and who it will benefit

• How will you deliver and manage the project

What should I do if my application is unsuccessful?

It’s important to persevere. If you believe your project has great alignment with the intent of the funding, keep trying. Your application may have been a worthy application, but unfortunately didn’t make the final ‘cut’ this time.

I encourage you to find out if the funder provides feedback on individual applications, and if they do, ask for it.

Sometimes they provide general feedback, so reviewing this can also be helpful.

Evaluate your application and consider why it may have been rejected.

Consider: what else you could have included; the quality of your attachments; did your project align well to the intent of the funding?

When the successful applicants are announced, review the information and compare successful projects with yours. Do a bit of research to determine: their successful applicant’s organisational size and experience; length of time in the industry; how far (geographically) they will administer the project (if it’s a service delivery grant).

Note what you could do to improve your grant writing and process for next time.

Have an independent person, with grant writing experience, review your unsuccessful application. Ask them to let you know how well your responses answered the questions and met the objectives listed in the guidelines.

What can I do if I’m struggling with grants?

I offer heaps of free help and information. You can enjoy weekly grant tips, a monthly grant list, and a blueprint for grant writing. If you want to ask questions you can do this in my free Grant Writing Academy Facebook group.

It’s all easy to access at www.indigogold.com.au