This May, community members from across the region gathered in Coorow to work on the skill of writing grant applications.
Love them or hate them, grants are a key ways to access funding for many groups and organisations. And with the announcement of the 2019 State NRM Community Stewardship Grants to support community-based projects that serve to protect and restore the local environment, NACC NRM has had a lot of enquiries about what the best tips are for writing grants.
This want for grant writing support was clear to see when more than thirty participants packed into the Coorow Town Hall for NACC NRM’s Grant Writing Workshop.
Leading the workshop was Tuna Blue Facilitation’s Becci Clarke – who provided the practical knowledge and tools to improve grant writing and top tips on how to best prepare your own grant applications.
Participants were eager to increase their understanding of the grant process and learn the steps to ensuring their organisation is ‘grant ready’. This led to a discussion on the range of grants available and where to find out about these – ‘Our Community Newsletter’ was noted as a great starting point.
As the workshop continued the four key elements of most grant applications were covered, expanding on how to clearly and concisely address the following points:
- This is who we are.
- This is why we need support.
- This is our proposed project.
- Demonstration of value for money – get this crucial step right and you are well on the way to a successful application.
As the coffee flowed so did the conversation, with participants encouraged to ask questions and share their own experience.
Shire of Dandaragan employee Julie Rouse attended the workshop and summed up the day when she said “I walked out of the workshop motivated and enthused about where grant writing could take me in my role”.
NACC’s Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitator Annabelle Garratt helped host the workshop and said that providing capacity building activities is an essential part of assisting regional communities to develop projects and seek funding opportunities.
“I would like to thank Becci and Tuna Blue Facilitation for their experience and insights into the grant writing process. A big thanks also to the Coorow CRC who provided the location for the event.”
“If you missed the workshop, never fear, NACC has put together our top ten tips from the day and you can find them on our website.”
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: Lizzie King (E) Lizzie.King@nacc.com.au or (P) 0447 361 335 and Annabelle Garratt (E) annabelle.garratt@nacc.com.au or (P) 0448 986 879.
Top Ten Tips for Tip Top Applications!
Where to Access Grants:
- Go to ourcommunity.com.au and subscribe to their free newsletter
- Consider signing up to the Easygrants newsletter (fundingcentre.com.au/easygrants )
Preparation:
- Compile your key organisational data for easy access (e.g. ABN, TFN, Website, Business name, trading name, banking details etc…)
Read the guidelines! Make sure your project fits with the grant criteria.
- Inform yourself about the funder you are applying to: Look at their website, their values and the types of projects they have funded previously.
Writing the Application:
- Incorporate the language on the funder’s website and the grant guidelines into your application (i.e use their terms)
- Write clearly and concisely; assume the assessor knows nothing about who you are and what you/your organisation does.
- Ask somebody who has not been involved in your project to read through the application before you submit it
- Save a copy of your application before you submit it!
- Keep a record of your answers. As you apply for more grants, you will end up building a database of information to refer to which you can sort by question type. This can be a great time saver for future applications.
This workshop was supported by NACC NRM, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.