How to get a grant

This is by way of explaining why I'm a bit distracted at the moment.

I'm currently assessing - with others - applications from artists to an art society for some grant funding for very specific projects. 

This is going to take a bit of time....

In a past life, assessing grants - from tiny ones to humungous ones, was part of the seasonal routine of working life. Different sources of funding - for economic and social developments, a range of reasons why grants were available and different aims and objectives for giving out the funds.

There's a more than a few businesses running in London today which I recommended approval of an economic development grant for when they were just starting out. 

The team of people I worked with used to be much loved by central government because we were very good at our jobs. We could always be relied upon to do a robust assessment and make sure all applications had done their homework and got their costings right and had a decent project plan and timeline for delivery - and hence spent the money in the time period they said they would and produced the outcomes and the performance indicators to justify that expenditure. Which is how come we always got the unused funding from other councils to spend on our area. We always kept a list of organisations and projects which could spend more very fast at the end of the year.

There's an art to getting a grant. 

There are things you need to know about what to do - and what not to do.

I can always tell

• those who've made a grant application before; and  
• those who never have; and 
• those who have learned from previous mistakes and know what makes a difference.

It's always a joy to read an application which tells the story simply and clearly and shows the workings in a transparent and comprehensive way. You just know they understand how to make things happen.

Essentially, you need to:

• be specific and focused throughout
• tell them what they want to know i.e. respond precisely to the questions asked in a simple and clear manner 
• provide evidence that you've done your research
• demonstrate you know what's involved 
• justify your costs
• evidence how you've delivered before - and why you're a good prospect

In the past, I've had artists come to me and ask whether I'd cast an eye over their grant application. I'm always delighted to make suggestions and even more delighted when it helps them get their grant. Very often it's about making the writing simpler and easier to understand.

I do what I call "5 minute freebies" for people i.e. I can stop my life and spend 5 minutes in helping you. Or you can ask for more help....

I've been asked to consider doing a talk about the topic of "how to get a grant" next year and will probably do this - to help aspiring grant applicants to do better in future.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on what help you need or you think artists need in making applications for grants and other forms of funding. I'll be highlighting this post on my Facebook Page - and will be inviting comments there.