From the Five P’s to the Three C’s – We have all the top tips for Great Grant Writing!

Home 🞂 Newsroom 🞂 From the Five P’s to the Three C’s – We have all the top tips for Great Grant Writing!

Funding community NRM projects is often a challenge. Most of the local groups that NACC NRM works with rely heavily on grant funding to remain operational.

Issues like finding relevant funding sources and completing application forms, all whilst competing for a small slice of the pie, are all too familiar to many of our local landcare and community groups. To help address some of these issues, the RALF team ran another online grant writing workshop on 9th June, with Becci Clarke from Tuna Blue Facilitation. 

Participants from organisations based all over the Northern Ag Region had the chance to ask questions, brainstorm ideas, discuss projects and wording with peers, and receive expert advice from Becci on grant writing. We have collated some of our learnings from the workshop below:

The best funding applications are usually started well before the due date and are often in the pipeline before a funding opportunity is even announced. Begin with community consultation and engagement that identifies and articulates the need. What should follow is a well prepared and bounded project plan. Trying to fit a project to a funding round that is not well aligned to your project goal, or designing a project that fits the funding guidelines but doesn’t address a real community need can be a disaster.

Make sure you are answering the following:

  1. Does the problem really exist, and are you solving a need? If so, what is it?
  2. Is the problem fixable? And more to the point, can you/your group fix it?
  3. How will the grant money help you to fix the problem? 

Funders want to receive convincing applications that clearly demonstrate your group can be trusted to use their money to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Ensuring your proposal is clear and achievable that demonstrates good planning, rigorous assessment, and community support will help to achieve this.

When you’ve completed your writing and you’re not only ready to submit but ready to tear your hair out, find somebody who is not involved in the project to read over it and ensure it makes sense.  It is easy to forget that grant assessors do not know your project inside out like you do. If it is coherent to somebody outside the project, then you can be more confident it will also be clear to the assessors.

Keep your budget realistic. Get quotes for large expenses and show your workings rather than just writing down rounded figures. Look up actual costs where you can. The assessors will double-check your calculations!

Here are a few more of our top tips from the day:

  • READ THE GUIDELINES
  • Don’t overcomplicate it!
  • Make it Credible, Clear and Connected (the Three C’s!)- make every word count
  • Use a Program Logic or similar tool to get your head around your project before you commence writing your application. 
  • Plan, Prepare, Partner, Perform and get others to Proofread (The Five P’s!)
  • Spell out the connections between activities, objectives and benefits, don’t just imply them.
  • Make sure your budget correlates with your application
  • Do your homework and research, check out who is providing the funding and ensure you show them how what you want to do corresponds to their values and goals.

This workshop was supported by NACC NRM, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

If you or your organisation are developing projects to improve the sustainability, productivity and profitability of agriculture and NRM in the NAR and would like support to do this, please contact our Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitators: Annabelle (E) annabelle.garratt@nacc.com.au or (P) 0448 986 879 or Lizzie (E) lizzie.king@nacc.com.au or (P) 0447 361 335.

Lizzie King & Annabelle Garratt – Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitators

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In 2020-21 I talked about ‘raising the bar’. In 2021-22 we worked on setting the bar on fire. Over the last 12 months, the team at NACC NRM has not stopped.

The Sustainable Agriculture team has extended the program’s reach through collaborations with grower groups in the regions. Specifically, the Beyond Reasonable Drought project and Grower Group Alliance – South West WA Drought Innovation Hub – Geraldton Node project. The Beyond Reasonable Drought partnership with grower groups supported farmers across the region to improve the environmental sustainability of their agricultural production and drought resilience. The outcomes of this project have been consolidated through our successful Expression of Interest to the South West WA Drought Innovation Hub, with support from grower groups across the region, to host the Geraldton Node of the Hub. The program continues to focus on working with agricultural networks to share technical expertise and provide opportunities that will improve land management practices in agriculture across the region.

The conservation outcomes of ranger teams have expanded through work on several land tenures. Maintaining Heritage sites such as Willi Gulli, Racecourse Paddock and Buller River has long been a priority. During 2021-22, the teams have increasingly focused on threatened species and ecosystems.

To this end, Western Mulga rangers have improved management across 19,000 ha for the conservation of Malleefowl through firebreak and access management. They completed the maintenance of water holes and supported the monitoring of over 90 Malleefowl mounds.

Similarly, the Kwelena Mambakort Aboriginal Corporate ranger team have contributed positively to Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo populations by installing artificial hollows and habitat restoration.

All ranger teams have collected native seed, propagated native plants for restoration, and planted native vegetation in key locations across the NAR. Seed collection provides valuable industry experience and has facilitated the planting of over 100,000 seedlings during the year.   

In September 2021, the NACC NRM team delivered the WA Threatened Species Forum, held in tandem with the National Malleefowl Forum. Given the impact of COVID and the timing of this event, having more than 100 delegates from all over Australia was a significant achievement. The two Forums brought together 12 events over five days and featured 14 local artists, 25 businesses and 36 youth participants.

Following the successful relaunch of our updated NARvis, NACC NRM was invited to help lead a significant piece of strategic planning work for the region with Mid West Development Commission and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. With funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, the consortia delivered a Regional Drought Resilience Plan covering the shires of Northampton and Chapman Valley and the City of Greater Geraldton, along with significant technical analysis of drought vulnerability for the South West land division. The development of this plan also included extensive community consultation to ensure that local knowledge and technical advice guided the development of priorities for action.

This planning work links to existing NACC NRM on-ground projects, including Beyond Reasonable Drought and the Chapman Catchment Collaborative regeneration project.

It was a busy year for events with face-to-face events becoming commonplace again. During 2021-22 we hosted events in Gingin, Moora, Dalwallinu, Cervantes, Jurien Bay, Walkaway, Nabawa, Perenjori, Kalannie and Morawa. We supported events in Karakin, Thundellara, Perenjori, Paynes Find, Wubin, Cataby, Warradarge, Northampton, Yuna, Dalwallinu and Dandaragan.

We also supported on-ground works throughout the region, including at the following locations Yuna, Dalwallinu, Dandaragan, Merkanooka, Goodlands, Kalannie, Bunjil, Yardarino, Canna, Kondut, Latham, Kadathinni, Nabawa, Red Gully, Sandy Gully, Waddy Forrest, Devils Creek, Perenjori, Bowgada, Ellendale, Wandana, Namban, Hill River, Warradarge, Gillingarra, Regans Ford and Moonyanooka.

Our region is vast – slightly larger than Tasmania, which for comparison, is serviced by three separate NRM organisations. Covering the NAR region and its many environmental threats is challenging. We continue to focus on partnerships and collaboration to address this challenge. We know that by working with our community through passionate delivery of collaborative on-ground projects and education, the community will value and actively protect our region’s natural capital.

This year we have launched a new Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The RAP Working Group consulted widely and developed an Innovate RAP which Reconciliation Australia approved in March 2022. The activities to fulfil these commitments are now in full swing.

Sadly, at the end of 2021, we farewelled former NACC NRM CEO Shelley Spriggs, who lost a long battle with cancer. Shelley was an inaugural inductee to the NRM Leadership Honour Roll. I will always be grateful for her guidance and no-nonsense approach, not to mention her passion for life.

While we have said farewell to some, we have welcomed many new faces across all programs, including our Administration team. We have also hosted a school-based trainee from Nagle Catholic College who has been working towards a Certificate II in Conservation and Ecosystem Management. This trial position has been very successful, and we look forward to making this opportunity available again in 2023.

During 2022 we have taken on new projects that align with our organisational and program objectives, and we have successfully completed some great initiatives that support continued conservation and sustainability outcomes. I want to thank the whole team who continue to go above and beyond for the organisation and each other proving their ongoing commitment to our purpose and our values.