preparing a grant application

Securing Funding Workshop Cairns 15 & 16 May 2008

M&GSQ Securing Funding Workshop 2008

• Name• Group or Organisation you represent• Any recent success with funding

applications• What you’d like to get from the

workshop

Introduce yourself:

Day one:•Introduction to grant writing & a range of funding bodies•NLA Community Heritage Grants•Arts Queensland Sector Grants•RADF•Interviews •Social opportunities- dinner Perrottas at the Gallery

Day two: •Philanthropy & fundraising• Local Case studies: Tanks Arts Centre; Cairns & District Chinese Assoc. Inc; Vera Scarth-Johnson Gallery Assoc.•The Budget•Interviews

THE FOLDERS- Resource for the workshop and Beyond!

Agenda & Folders


Handy Hints

• About funding bodies, their structures and decision making processes

• Designing a project

• Project Planning

• Application writing

• Choosing a funding body


Handy hints

• Design the project first. Then design the funding strategy.

Handy hints


• The project should be part of your strategic plan not an add on because you’ve seen the funding advertised.

Handy hints



• Only work on projects which are genuinely important.

Handy hints



• Only work on projects which are genuinely important.

• Work with other people on the design of a project, polishing it all the time, until it shines.

Handy hints



• Only work on projects that are genuinely important.


• Find the right funding bodies and sponsors.

Handy hints





• Find the right funding bodies and sponsors.

• Remember, funding applications are read and assessed by human beings. Write well. Be creative.

How do funding bodies make decisions?

How do they make decisions?

Applications assessed against criteriabased on the program’s aims.

How do they make decisions?

Arms length funding

Peer assessment

Internal assessment

Arts QueenslandState Government

Grants for career development (up to $5,000) are assessed internally by staff and are approved by the delegate of the Minister of the Arts.

Development and Presentation Grants (up to $50,000) assessed in five steps- a mix of internal , peer and political assessment.


Arts Queensland- Sector Project Grants

• Step 1: Applications within each artform are short-listed by Arts Queensland staff against the assessment criteria.

• Step 2: Industry experts provide written referee reports for short-listed applications using the assessment criteria.

• Step 3: The relevant Arts Queensland Director considers the industry expert assessment reports and prepares a list of recommendations within their budget allocation.

• Step 4: Recommendations are moderated internally by Arts Queensland before being submitted through the Deputy Director-General, Arts Queensland to the Minister.

• Step 5: The Minister determines the funding outcomes.


Arts Queensland major sector grantsArts Qld Staff

Industry expert Industry expert Industry expert

Arts Qld Director

Moderation by Arts Qld

Minister for the Arts

Check eligibility do short list against the assessment criteria

Write referee reports for short-listed applications using the assessment criteria

Each Director considers the assessment reports and prepares a list of recommendations within their budget allocation.

The relevant Arts Queensland Director considers the industry expert assessment reports and prepares a list of recommendations within their budget allocation. Recommendations are moderated internally by Arts Queensland before being submitted through the Deputy Director-General, Arts Queensland to the Minister.


Australia Council

Staff check eligibility butGrant applications are assessed by peers, defined by the Australia Council as people who, by virtue of their knowledge and experience, are equipped to make a fair and informedassessment of artistic work and grant applications

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Australia Council: Arm’s Length

Before the meeting: • Staff check eligibility and register applications on the Council’s computer database. • Staff prepare applications and support material for the Committee assessment meeting.

Applications are made into booklets and sent to Committee members. • Peers are invited to participate as advisers to the Committee at the meeting bringing additional

expertise and perspectives to the assessment process. • Staff also check and manage any conflicts of interest that Committee members and peers have

with applications.

At the meeting: • Committee members assess your application against the published selection criteria. • Committee members may examine support material at the meeting or by prior arrangement.

Committee members may also take into account information from other sources such as:- their attendance at performances and other events;- reports from members of the Register of Peers who may be asked to provide formal assessments

of designated works;- reviews, videos and recordings, referee reports and other material;- any previous Australia Council grant acquittal reports and performance agreements you may have

had; and- communication with State and Territory agencies.


Gambling Community Benefit Fund

Assessed for Eligibility

The Gambling Community Benefit Fund Committee

Queensland Treasurer, Deputy Premier & Minister for Infrastructure

Applications


Regional Arts Development FundLocal & State Government partnership

Contributes $

Council reps(appointed)

RADFCommittee

Community reps(elected)

Local Council Arts Queensland

Applications


The funding cycle

check eligibility, statistics

by the funding deadline

may or may not fully fund

conditions of funding: may needto do something extra;must acknowledge funding body,

any changes to the projectmust be negotiated

Artistic Report & Financial Reportcannot apply again until this is done

Grant acquitted

Project completed

Project commences

Grant awarded

Funding agreement

Assessment process

Administration

Application lodged


Designing a project

• Think of your funding application as a project planning tool.


Designing a project

• Think of your funding application as a project planning tool.

• Think of your funding application as a business proposal.


Workshop Exercise: Designing a project

1. Name of applicant (group/organisation or individual):

2. Think about what you want to do and write it clearly in a short paragraph

3. Think about why you want to do this project:For you, the applicant:

For your community

For the wider population

4. Give your project a name


Workshop Exercise

• 3 Volunteers to be the peer assessment panel.

• Volunteer applicants to read their project outline provided by Q1-4.

• “Assessors” listen to project outline read by ‘applicants’.

• Assessors ask questions to find out what else they’d like to know to help them assess the application.


Help the assessment panel!

• Develop your project ideas.

• Write your ideas for people who don’t know the nature and value of your project.

• Do a project plan.• Talk to others- seek

their support.


Exercise Post Workshop: Designing a project

5. Write an essay; not about your project, but about the background to it; What’s been going on? For your group or your community. What are the issues? What is the need the project will address?

This is a thinking exercise to help you formulate your thoughts and find the right words to communicate your project ideas.

6. What will this project achieve? (Project aims)


Homework Exercise: Designing a project

7. Plan your project in stages:

What needs

doing?When? Who will do it?

What will they

need?

Where

will they

get it?

How much

will it cost?


Exercise After the Workshop: Designing a project

8. Think about who else would support this project (community organisations, other individuals, businesses, etc). Make a list:

Write a letter, based on your essay and project description, asking for a letter of support.

What would be in this letter?


Exercise After the Workshop: Designing a project

8. Think about who else would support this project (community organisations, other individuals, businesses, etc). Make a list:

Write a letter, based on your essay and project description, asking for a letter of support. Ask them:

Do you think this is a good project? Why?

How would this project benefit you and your community?

How might you be involved in the project?

How could you support this project?


Designing a project

9. Think about what sort of funding body has aims that would match your aims.

• Search for suitable funding bodies. Find out:

When their deadlines are

Who is eligible

What they fund and don’t fund

Their criteria for funding

What information they want (including budget details)

• TALK to the contact officer/s to see if they think your project is a good match to their fund.


Designing a project

10. Fill out the funding application form

Answer the questions. Don’t send them an essay.


Designing a project



Think always about the person reading it.Be clear, don’t waffle and don’t repeat.


Designing a project



Think always about the person reading it.Be clear, don’t waffle and don’t repeat.

Be selective about the support material you send.Make sure it’s good.Send them only as much as they ask for.


Designing a project



Think always about the person reading it.Be clear, don’t waffle and don’t repeat.Get other people to read it for sense & to proof read.


Ask for what you need. No more, no less.Budget accurately. Include the value of in-kind support.If you don’t think the grant is enough, go elsewhere as well.


Designing a project





Ask for what you need. No more, no less.Budget accurately. Include the value of in-kind support.If you don’t think they have enough, go elsewhere as well.

Do not rip off artists and other professional workers.INCLUDING YOURSELF! (NAVA Fees schedule- Chapter 5)


Designing a project





Ask for what you need. No more, no less.Budget accurately. Include the value of in-kind support.If you don’t think they have enough, go elsewhere as well.

Do not rip off artists and other professional workers.INCLUDING YOURSELF! (NAVA Fees schedule- chapter 5)

Get advice.Funding body staff can seldom help you design your project.Who else can help you?


Exercise:Finding THE Grant for your project

• M&GSQ Grant Handouts in Workshop Folder

• These and the application forms and guidelines in the workshop folders are your resources for the Who funds what Quiz.


RECAP:Who Funds What Quiz

• Gambling/Casino Funds: like most funds NO retrospective funding.

• Q150: 5 September 2008• Use the key words when you write about

your project: in what sense is it an inclusive, innovative event or community project? What do you think will be its lasting significance? What benefits of the project could be described as a legacy of the Q150 celebrations?



• Australian National Maritime Museum And The Australian Government’s Distributed National Collection Program – Maritime Museums Of Australia Project Support Scheme (MMAPSS)

• Eligible projects: Collection management (registration, storage, research); conservation (documentation and care of collections); presentation (development of exhibitions, education programs, workshops).


RECAP: Who Funds What Quiz

• ARTS QUEENSLAND – REGIONAL ARTS DEVELOPMENT FUND (RADF)

• ARTS QUEENSLAND – SECTOR PROJECT GRANTS PROGRAM

Development and Presentation Grants

• Creative Communities



• RADF Principles 3 & 5 supporting regional arts development in Queensland; supporting the participation of community members in arts development projects run by professional artists and artsworkers

• RADF Categories of Funding 2. Building community cultural capacity• Objective — for community groups to engage

a professional artist or artsworker to work with them on developing their arts practice or to run arts development workshops or community projects.


RECAP: Who Funds What Quiz

4. Cultural tourismObjective – for projects and activities that focus on

communities’ locally distinct arts, culture and heritage both for members of the community and for visitors.

5. Contemporary collections/storiesObjective — to preserve and provide access to locally held

collections of significance, and collect and tell local stories from the past and the present that can demonstrate state and/or local significance. RADF grants can support:

• documentation, preservation, interpretation projects and collection management training through community-based workshops and

• community stories, which can be documented in a variety of forms and mediums, including plays, videos, artwork, digital exhibitions, education programs, oral histories and publications.



Arts Queensland: Creative CommunitiesGoal 2: Networks and building cultural capacity Goal 3: Cultural content with Queensland stories Goal 4: Animating community cultural space The following focus area has been identified for 2008: • People and Place Initiative — supports proposals that engage communities to

be active in arts and cultural activities. Projects could involve connecting people with their community, fostering and strengthening arts and cultural partnerships, building the unique cultural identity of the community or fostering a legacy through the recording and sharing of distinctly Queensland stories.

Priority will be given to projects that: • demonstrate genuine community support • celebrate and/or are inclusive of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and/or Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities • focus on children and young people • engage communities in arts and cultural activities.



• DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, WATER, HERITAGE AND THE ARTS – VISIONS OF AUSTRALIA

• Purpose: Provides funding to organisations to develop and tour exhibitions of Australian cultural material across Australia.

• Eligible projects: Tours must travel to at least three venues, one of which must be in a different state or territory than the one the tour originated from.


MAQ/RGAQ Member Funding

• For a volunteer wanting $ to attend a conference or a workshop

• For training to come to your organisation or a consultant to work with your organisation

• For a paid professional wanting $ to attend a conference or a workshop


SUM UP





• Do a project plan that answers the questions: What, Why, Who, Where, When, How.

• Talk to others- seek their support.


SUM UP

•Find the right funding bodies whose aims match your aims; whose funding criteria match your projects outcomes.

•Talk to the contact officer/s to see if they think your project is a good match to their fund.

•Write your ideas for people who don’t know the nature and value of your project. •Tell them how your project addresses the key words and phrases in the fund’s criteria.

•Remember, funding applications are read and assessed by human beings. Write well. Be creative. •Get others to read for sense not just to proof read.

preparing a grant application

Business

funding applications

funding strategy

arts queensland staff

funding body

funding outcomes

arts staff check

arts qldminister

right funding bodies