Big Lottery Fund

Greenwich Action for Voluntary Service 17th April 2015

Introduction

─ Hugh Stultz - Funding Officer

─ Key role

─ Supporting applicants and potential applicants

─ Raising BIG’s awareness of local needs and priorities

Aims of today’s talk

To give a brief overview of BIG

To highlight some of the funding streams most

relevant to you

Give some hints on writing a successful bid

Big Lottery Fund Mission

“The Big Lottery Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and to the

lives of people most in need”

What do you do

I

• What does your organisation do

• What is the greatest areas of need

• What is the biggest challenge your organisation faces

Big Lottery Fund

─ BIG is one of four distributors of Lottery funding

─ We are responsible for 40% of all the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery

─ We distribute £600 million in funding each year

─ 80-90% of our funding goes to community and voluntary organisations

How the lottery £2 is spent

BIG is responsible for delivering 40 per cent of all funds raised for good causes - about 12 pence of every pound spent on a Lottery Ticket

BIG is an outcomes funder

Your project must meet at least one of these four outcomes:

People having better

chances in life

Stronger communities

Improved rural and

urban environment

s

Healthier and more

active people and communitie

s

Big’s Funding Principles

─ Partnership

─ User Informed

─ Local

─ Long Term

─ Evidence, Impact and Influence

BIG targeted funding

programmes

BIG open programmes

Awards for All Programme

─ Small grants scheme awarding £300-£10,000

─ Applications from community & voluntary groups, schools, health bodies and parish / town councils

─ Single stage application process

─ BIG gives decision within 6 weeks of application

─ Project must be complete within one year of award

Reaching Communities Programme─ Larger grants scheme awarding grants over £10,000

─ Main programme:o Revenue projects funding from £10,000 (average

£300,000)o Smaller capital projects funding from £10,000-

£100,000

─ Buildings programme:o Larger capital projects funding from £100,000o Geographically targeted at most deprived areas

Reaching Communities Programme─ Very competitive programme

─ Applications from community & voluntary groups, charities, statutory bodies, social enterprises, not-for-profit companies

─ Two-stage application process to identify fundable projects

─ BIG gives decision typically within 8-9 months of application

─ Project can take up to 5 years to complete

BIG Awards in Greenwich

―Awards for All Grants

―Total value £482,313

―Success rate 68%

― Reaching Communities

―Total value £716,344

What is BIG looking for in an application

─ Project that is appropriate for the programme

─ A good fit with BIG outcomes

─ Strong evidence that your project is needed

─ Proof that your project will make a difference

─ Beneficiaries consulted and involved in all stages of the project

Tips on completing your application

Defining Need

─ Go back to basics – assume the Funding Officers assessing your application know nothing about the needs of the people you are trying to help

─ Quote your sources - make sure all sources of evidence are listed and dated, and all the information is recent and relevant to your project

─ Make a strong case – use a broad range of information and if in doubt add more rather than less

Use a broad range of evidence

‘Hard’ Information

Local statisticsFocus groupsQuestionnairesInterviews

Focus groups

Consultations

Interviews and quotes

‘Before and after’ data Deprivation

Index

Census

Strategies and policies

Research reports

Local & national priorities

Local statistics

Questionnaires

Letters of support

‘Hard’ Information

‘Soft’ Information

Waiting listsOffice for National Statistics

Exercise: What evidence can I use

• In pairs or groups discuss the type of evidence that you could use to support an application for your own project.

• You should seek to use ‘hard’ factual evidence and ‘soft’ evidence which focuses on the subjective responses / needs of the client group you work with.

Defining Project Aim, Outcomes and Activities

─ Project aim - one simple sentence to closely reflect the need identified

─ Outcomes – strong and clear points to explain the change you want to make for the project beneficiaries

─ Project activities - together should add up to show how the outcomes and aim will be met

Developing a strong application

Project OutcomeProject OutcomesThe difference you want to

make or the change you want to bring about for your

beneficiaries

Project AimThe overall

point of your project

Project ActivitiesThe services and activities you will carry out

to meet the outcomes and achieve the project aim

Project Need Project Need

Developing a strong application cont’d

Comments on Unsuccessful Applications

─ ‘The outcomes need to focus on the difference that the project will make to the lives of the beneficiaries’

─ ‘It is unclear from the activities as to what services they will provide to achieve the outcomes’

─ ‘Evidence of need could be much stronger and is not dated so it is hard to establish how current it is’

─ ‘The applicant lists the organisations and people they have consulted but does not provide any dates or findings’

Comments on Successful Applications─ ‘Beneficiaries and their needs are clearly identified’

─ ‘A full range of activities has been provided that will clearly deliver the project outcomes’

─ ‘Varied and relevant external evidence confirms the issues identified and shows the gaps in current service’

─ ‘Beneficiaries involved in management committee, consultation, project planning and design, volunteering, recruitment and evaluation’

Tips for Success

―Read the guidelines and use all other help available

―Start by defining need – make it the core of your application

―Focus on your beneficiaries and the difference that your project will make to them

―Get a ‘critical friend’ to review your application before submission

Leave plenty of time to research and re-read your application before submitting.

Support and Guidance Available

─ Big Lottery Fund website: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

─ Getting Funding & Planning Successful Projects

─ Case studies of successful projects

─ BIG Advice Line: 0845 4 10 20 30

─ Email enquiries: general.enquiries@biglotteryfund.org.uk

Questions and Comments?