brilliant bid writing 2013

They thrive on ideas

Brilliant Bid Writing

Let’s get started!

Housekeeping

Introductions

Aims

Your Aims?

There are over 8,500 in the U.K

CAF / European Foundations Centre 2006 Research Task Force

Top 15

Next 485

£1.6 Billion

£1.6 Billion

They exist to give ….

Many operate on a skeleton staff

They thrive on ideas

They don’t like dependency

How do you score? Are you strategically well positioned?

A three strand strategy

Is it getting harder …?

Shorter commitments. Less risk

Narrower focus. No new organisations

Fewer programmes

More proactive partnering

More pressure, slimmer chances

More bang for their buck

More consultation, more user control

Spend down

Moratorium

“Due to an unprecedented number of applications for funding over recent months, caused by the economic downturn, the trustees have decided to close the fund to new applications for the next few months until the current backlog has been attended to”.

These things, we can do something about …

• Consultation and User Control

• Developing exemplar projects, perhaps in partnership, to address root causes and/or change policy

• Long term forward planning to target a specific trust fund

So what does this mean for you?

• Longer planning/consultation timeline• More flexibility• Better measuring, monitoring and evaluation

systems• Greater creativity and innovation• See them as part of a portfolio of funding

options, rather than as your critical funders• Better marketing, branding and positioning

The future will be increasingly about using your knowledge, skills and experience to find

new and interesting solutions to the problems faced by your

beneficiaries. It will not be about funding your services

The published research• Directory of

Social Change

• Funding Information North East

• Your Council for Voluntary Service

DSC Publications

£75.00

£75.00

How old?

Socio – economic group?

Gender?

Geographical location?

Racial group?

Trustee Profile?

From Red To Green …

Take account of the pressure

Try to be interesting

Allow for misunderstanding

They need to buy into the business case, but

they also need to CARE!

Building blocks of an effective proposal

“… the worst (proposals) are hernia inducing slabs of desktop publishing literature, press cuttings, pamphlets, booklets and endorsements that no one honestly has the time to read”

Wates Foundation Annual Report

2001/2

Proposal Structure

Summary

Establish your credentials

What’s wrong?

What will you accomplish?

What will you do?

The Budget

Evaluation

1

6

2

5

3

4

7

Summarise

The Essentials

“ I had six honest serving men.

They taught me all I knew.

Their names where How, and Why and When and What and Where and Who.”

Kipling

USP’s

Toyota Prius

Porsche 911Smart

Honda

USP’s

Service

AchievementsCulture

People

The magic

formula?

What’s wrong?

eople

itched

recise

assionate

Effective Need (or Problem) Statements …

… are about the people you help, not the project you run

Performance Measuring Model

Inputs

Process

Outputs

Outcomes

The resources put into the organisation

How the organisation uses these resources

What the organisation does

The impact or effect of what the organisation has done

The Lack of an Input

‘The Poortown estate needs a community centre because we have nowhere to run education sessions, confidence building workshops, cooperative development activities and a job club’.

The Lack of an Outcome

‘On the Poortown estate unemployment, poverty and crime rates are very high. The drug problem is increasing as young people feel increasingly alienated and have little chance of a job. We have nowhere to run the range of activities that could help improve the quality of life for local people, give them a route out of poverty and create real opportunity for the youngsters.’

Pitched

How ‘poor nutrition’ can be sold to a variety of funder's

For a funder interested in the welfare of children

Poorly nourished children suffer from increased vulnerability to fatigue, headaches, irritability, inability to concentrate and frequent colds. Iron-deficiency anaemia in children can lead to developmental and behavioural disturbances. Hungry children are less likely to interact with other people or explore or learn from their surroundings.

For a funder interested in education

Poor nutrition has a negative impact on children’s ability to learn in school. School-aged children who are hungry cannot concentrate or do as well as others on the tasks they need to perform to learn the basics. Research indicates that low-income children who participate in School Breakfast Programmes show an improvement in test scores and a decrease in lateness and absenteeism compared to other students who do not eat breakfast.

For a funder interested in the welfare of the elderly

Malnutrition caused by poor eating habits can exacerbate chronic and acute diseases and speed the onset of degenerative diseases among the elderly. This not only leads to an unnecessary decrease in the quality of life for many older people, but also increases the cost of health care. National data for people aged 65 to 75 show that a majority are not consuming even two-thirds of the nutrients they need to stay healthy.

For a funder interested in mental health issues

Hunger, and insecurity about whether a family will be able to obtain enough food to avoid hunger, also have an emotional impact on children and their parents. Anxiety, negative feelings about self-worth, and hostility towards the outside world can result from chronic hunger and food insecurity.

Precise

Make it Precise

Compare the following statements:

Consumer credit is at an all time high in the UK

AND:

Between us we owe credit and mortgage companies £1 trillion!

Make it Concrete

Compare the following statements:

Many of the teenagers suffer from social problems. Poverty and drugs use are rising.

AND:

Unemployment amongst 16-25 year olds currently stands at over 80%. These young people have 3 times as much chance of sampling hard drugs before they leave school than those in other areas of Tyneside, such as Heaton, Jesmond or Gosforth. Heroin use has doubled in the last five years. Last month another family lost their 15 year old child to a heroin overdose.

Make it Tangible

Compare:

We now make more telephone calls than ever before.

AND:

In the last 24 hours, more phone calls were made in the UK than during the whole of 1983.

Passionate!

Answer this question …

So what?

Mandated

Prove that there is a demand

‘I have a sister, Ellen, who is four, and we have a park near our house. I learned to ride my bike in our park. There are houses nearby so you feel safe and naughty strangers can be easily seen. We don’t want nasty people to take us away like in big parks. Instead of destroying our park make it better. We don’t want to play on the roads.’

Marcus Johns, Aged 7.

“Possibly the most effective deputation I have heard in the 22 years I’ve been on the Council.”

Douglas Eyre, Mayor of Bournemouth

Consultation

More consultation, more user control

“How do you know this project is needed and how does it fit with other projects in your area?”

“How have children and young people influenced how you planned this project, and how will they continue to be involved in how your project is run?”

How have you consulted with the people and organisations who will benefit from your project and what did you find out?

Examples of consultation include:

● community surveys

● focus groups

● public meetings

● discussions with other organisations of the wider community.

You need to tell us who you have consulted and when you talked to them about your project.

Consultation should be less than two years old. If you can’t consult with the people that you want to help, tell us why. We also want to know how:

● your project has been influenced by what people have told you

● you know that the people you want to help will use your project.

Three Stages to Understanding

Clarify the need

Demonstrate the results

Describe the tools

1

2

3

Bridge the comprehension gap

We can make some young people more employable by building their self esteem, team skills and confidenceThe problem is youth

unemploymentWe do this by organising rock climbing sessions

The problem

On the Poortown estate unemployment, poverty and crime rates are very high. The drug problem is increasing as young people feel increasingly alienated and have little chance of a job.

The Outcome

We want to run a range of activities that could help improve the quality of life for local people, give them a route out of poverty and create real opportunity for the youngsters.’

Our method ….

With a new community centre we could achieve this by running education sessions, confidence building workshops, cooperative development activities and a job club.

Budget

They need to buy into the business case, but

they also need to CARE!

The Budget

London Olympics

• Costings went from

£4 billion to £9 billion

• Forget to include the

VAT

• Put in £2.7 billion

‘contingency’!?!

Create financial momentum

Momentum Management

Version A

Expenditure

£10,000

Income

Nil

Balance Required

£10,000

Momentum Management

Version B

Expenditure

Salary £8,500H/L/P £1,000Travel £1,500Training £1,000Telephone £500Postage & stationary £500Rent £6,500Audit £500Printing £500Total £20,500

Momentum Management

Version B

Expenditure

Salary £8,500H/L/P £1,000Travel £1,500Training £1,000Telephone £500Postage & stationary £500Rent £6,500Audit £500Printing £500Total £20,500

Momentum Management

Version B

Income

Local Authority £8,500S&G Accountants £500The Inkspot Print Co £500The Moneybags Trust £1,000Total £10,500

Result …

Still need £10,000, but this is now less than 50%

Step one – roll in some of your own money

Target £100,000

• Money raised so far £60,000

• Our own resources £30,000

• Balance still to raise£10,000

Step two– roll some of it out

Target £100,000

• Money raised so far £70,000

• Our own resources £20,000

• Balance still to raise£10,000

Do all this – and the cheques get written!

4 Things to Cover

The Guidelines

Project management

Proofing

Language

The Guidelines

• Read them

The Guidelines

• Read them

• Read them again

The Guidelines

• Read them

• Read them again

• If it is important enough – READ THEM AGAIN!

The Guidelines

• Read them

• Read them again

• If it is important enough – EAD THEM AGAIN!

• At the end, ask ‘have I told them what they need to know?’

What is the problem or need you want to address and how do you know about it?

A fulfilled life is often based on personal dreams, purpose, choice, accomplishment, satisfaction and variety of experience. But for many people with a learning disability, carers sometimes reduce the amount of choice and control available. Reasons range from negative beliefs about ‘capacity’ for choice to lack of resources. Available respite facilities often focus on physical and medical care supplemented by fairly limiting structured activities – but not on the potential and abilities of the individual. Clients are thus often catered for as a group, and this reinforces their isolation and allows their learning difficulty to define them. The resultant and associated limited opportunities for physical, emotional and intellectual stimulation in respite settings can result in a reduction of independence, a diminished emotional life, and contribute to illnesses such as depression in the short term, and dementia in the long term.

Project Management

• Read the whole form before you begin – get an overview

• Work backwards from the deadline

• Work out a timetable/ plan of action to complete the form

• Build in time for colleagues/ managers/ board members to comment before final draft

Project Management

• Decide the order in which to complete the sections (you may want to start with the outcomes – but this may be the last section on the online form)

• Plan out the time/ effort/ emphasis/ input required for the various sections

• Prioritise as necessary.  

Common Mistakes

• Do the requested budget and activity levels balance

• Have you completed all the questions, within the specified word count? (if there is one).

• Have you used any jargon

“Ask, ‘what am I trying to say’ – and then SAY IT”

ERIC BLAIR

Word Count

George Orwell

Will Self

Jargon

Communication

Getting the balance right – Take 1

“The situation at this football club remains the situation at this football club and that will continue to be the case until such time as the situation changes” –

English Football Boss Peter Kenyon commenting on a possible change of manager.

Communication

Getting the balance right – Take 2

“We are a cherry tree in a garden filled with hungry finches. Our heavily laden boughs offer rich pickings for the siskin and the linnet, though thankfully the rosy hued crossbill is more interested in the pine nut”-

Yugoslav Football Boss Haka Flugg commenting on a possible change of manager.

“Read over your compositions, and where ever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out!”

Samuel Johnson

“The resources allow a fluid response to mobilise our assets based on analysis that is inputted to HQ.”

A Northumbria Police spokesman commenting on the new motorbikes

bought by the force

“a multi-agency project catering for holistic diversionary provision to young people for positive action linked to the community safety

strategy and the pupil referral unit”?

A Go Kart Track