Find and access funding
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Turn your community idea into a fundable plan. This free action plan shows you where to look for funding, how to write a strong bid and how to add other types of fundraising to the mix.
Where can community groups find funding?
Sign up for funding alerts from your local authority and charitable foundations, and search social media for opportunities that match your work. Grant databases such as Grants Online, and grant matching platforms such as ActionFunder, Neighbourly and Localgiving, can match you with funds. Look for match funding on crowdfunding platforms, and talk to local housing providers, councils and other organisations that might support you.
How do you write a good funding bid?
Read all the funder’s guidance and check you’re eligible. Then plan backwards from the deadline. Work through the form, list the documents you’ll need, write a first draft and ask others for feedback. Finalise your budget so it includes all your costs, then submit and note when you should hear back. If you’re unsuccessful, ask the funder for feedback and try again.
What is this toolkit and who is it for?
This community action plan from Local Trust and Stir to Action explains the main ways to fund community projects: grants, donations, crowdfunding and match funding. It shows you where to look for opportunities and takes you step by step through writing a funding bid. It also explains how to build a funding mix with crowdfunding, online fundraising, grant matching platforms and events.
It includes two examples. Better Communities Bradford continues the work of Greenmoor Big Local through a mix of grants and council contracts. The Friends of Stretford Public Hall raised more than £150,000 in community shares and over £500,000 in grants to save a Victorian building for their community.
This guide will be useful to community groups, community organisations and residents looking for money to deliver a local project, whether you’re applying for your first grant or want to rely less on a single source of income.
What will I learn?
- The main types of fundraising and how they work
- Where to look for grants and match funding
- How to plan your project and get funding ready
- Writing, reviewing and submitting a funding bid
- What to do if your application is unsuccessful
- Using crowdfunding, grant matching platforms and online fundraising
- Running fundraising events
- Building a mix of income so you don’t rely on one source
- Lessons from Better Communities Bradford and Stretford Public Hall
- And much more, including top tips from community fundraisers
Attribution
Produced by Local Trust and Stir to Action as Find and access funding: a community action plan. It includes examples from Better Communities Bradford, which continues the work of Greenmoor Big Local, and the Friends of Stretford Public Hall. Adapted by Locality for MyCommunity.
Photo credits appear alongside images in the PDF.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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