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Building Healthy Communities - Preparing a funding submission

What should be considered when preparing a funding submission.

Checklist

• Do you have support for the project?
• Do you have a clear idea of what you could do?
• Do you have a plan for how you are going to do it?

When you can say yes to these steps, you are ready to write your funding submission. You have already done some of the most important part of project work – being organised. Usually when applying for grants, there is a standard format to use. Follow this carefully.

Just as there is more than one way to run a project, there is more than one way to write an application for funding. Many projects find preparing a submission is hard.

It will take time to prepare a good submission. Funding bodies usually have guidelines to indicate what should be included. Read these carefully. Look at other applications for funding that have been made in the past to find out how other people have done it. In particular, see if you can find applications that were successful. This will give you some idea of how to write your own submission.

It helps your submission to funding organisations if your application is clear about certain things including:

• Why your organisation wants funding to run a project.
• How the project will be managed.
• What the project will do.

Some of the main ways to achieve this include showing a high level of need around chronic disease and strong community interest in the potential project. It is also good to show that there is strong support for the proposal. This can come from an organisation, health professionals and community leaders among others. Sometimes letters of support from key stakeholders can be helpful. These may include the local council, school or health service. However, don’t include too much information. Remember this has to be read along with many other applications.

Some of the main things that a funding application should include are:

• Applicant details
  • What is the name of the group or organisation applying for funding?
  • What are the contact details? This includes main contact person; street and postal address; telephone, facsimile and mobile telephone numbers; email address.
  • Details about the organisation.
  • Previous project experience.
• Project description - This includes the name of the proposed project, a brief summary of what it is about, the project goal and objectives.
• Reasons for wanting to do the project - This is sometimes called the rationale for the project. Depending on the nature of your project, this section should cover:
  • Why the project should be undertaken. This should show the high chronic disease needs in your community. Include how you found out about these needs.
  • How the outcomes or results will benefit the community.
  • How the project fits with Government policy (this should be in the application guidelines). This might include certain chronic conditions or specific target groups.
  • Show that your organisation and community can undertake the project. List previous projects and the benefits that resulted from them.
• Details about the organisation - Provide some background on your organisation and the organisational structure.
• Project experience - Include details of any current or previous projects. This will show experience in managing projects. Describe what the projects achieved and who was involved.
• Supporting material - Funding organisations may also require you to provide material to support your application. This could include references or letters of support.
• Project details - The project plan provides this information, including the budget, approach to evaluation and timeline.
• Other details - It is important to provide all details requested on the application form. If a submission is missing some of the details asked for, the funding organisation may not be able to assess the application.

Once the submission has been prepared, get other people to go through it. This is helpful to correct any mistakes and to come up with further ideas. In particular, get at least one other person to look at the budget.

Sometimes you can get help in writing the submission.

This support can be from one of the joint partners in the application or someone who is supporting the project.

Project example: The Galiwin'ku Community on Elcho Island in North-East Arnhem Land had discussed an idea for a project to develop gardens to grow fresh fruit and vegetables. The community had been working for some time with the Menzies School of Health Research on a healthy lifestyle project to reduce diabetes and cardiovascular disease. When Yalu Marnggithinyaraw, the Indigenous community organisation, learnt about a potential source for funding, they asked Menzies to help with writing the submission.

Background information on Elcho Island.

Once you have put in your submission, it may take some time to hear if the application has been successful.

Project example: One organisation developed a timeframe for a project, with the first activity due to start a month after the submission was sent. It took many more months before they heard their application was approved. Then it took several more months before the funding agreement was completed. In the end, it took about nine months after the submission was made before the project started and the Project Officer was appointed.

After the submission has been sent, let people know. As the assessment and approval process may take some time, keep stakeholders informed. Make sure the community understands that the project is for a set period and will end.

Remember not all submissions can be successful.

Not every application can be funded. There may be a high number of applications for a fixed amount of funding. The funding organisation may have many very good applications to choose between.

Dealing with disappointment if a project does not get funding is hard. If you miss out, there will be other chances to apply for funding. You may be able to adapt your project to apply for other funding in the future. Preparing an application and project plan means you have something to work from in future. You might review it and see how it could be improved. Ask someone else to look at your submission and make suggestions too.

There may be other sources of support for a project. For instance, local government may be interested in providing some help to get the project off the ground.

Some activities could be done without funding. If you look at your project plan there may be some parts that could be funded by others. For example, starting a walking club as a program to increase physical activity may be possible to organise without money.

Checklist - Getting funding for your project

• Have you completed all parts of the application form? If you’re not sure about something or can’t fill a section in, ask others for help. If you are still not sure, contact the funding body and ask them to explain what is needed.
• Have you included your project plan?
• Is your budget included? Is it accurate and realistic?
• Have you included an outline of how you plan to evaluate your project?
• Have you shown a real interest in the project?
• Will the funding body see that you are well organised and have strong community support for the project?
• What is the closing date for applications? Where should it be sent? Make sure your submission gets there.

References

Baum Fran 2002, The New Public Health, Oxford University Press, Melbourne

(Baum also has good sections on community development and planning various types of health promotion, reference list and a list of useful websites).

Molotch Harvey L 2003, Where stuff comes from: how toasters, toilets, cars, computers, and many other things come to be as they are, Routledge, New York