Are you getting the funding you need? Five steps to boost your chances of getting a grant or funding award.
Funding and grant applications are critical to financing a particular arts project or piece. Several grants are available to individual artists, collectives and organisations to apply for. However, there are far too many applications that do not get awards, far too many that do not address the remit of the grant and far too many people who feel aggrieved that they did not get funding. Why is this?
The most common issue stems from the lack of preparation for the application. People fill in an application for awards without paying attention to what the grant is for or understanding and following the instructions on the application form. Usually, for example, 500 words usually means just that, 500 words and no more or if the award asks for local artists, people outside this geographic reason will apply, thinking they can obtain the award. The only person that doing this is going to hurt is the applicant. The awards administrators know they will receive far too many applications that they can support, so anything that allows them to say no will take. So why put yourself through this heartache?
5 Steps to help your chances
The first piece of advice I would give is to identify which grants you would like to apply for well before the submission deadline. Trying to complete an application in one or two days will not work out. Rushed applications stand out. They tend to be confused and very generic in their style. So rule number one, identify your grant well in advance. Have a calendar, put the submission dates for the grants you would like to apply for, and work backwards from there.
Secondly, look to see if the grant is really applicable to you. Check out the details. Does your work fit with the remit? Are you in the current location? Work in the right medium? Look at the size of the grant, if you are new to the area, the likelihood of you getting a major award is slim. Can you afford to put effort into the application to get the award, as applications are lengthy and time-consuming and you need to work out if the rewards justify the time spent? Many people are disappointed simply because they just applied, they didn’t read the application form or the remit for the award.
Thirdly, look at the amount of the award. Financially, does it fit with what you are doing? Even if the maximum award is €200,000 should you be applying for €200,000? Think about it: if you only are looking for an award of €20,000, only apply for €20,000. Achieving the maximum grant will be nearly impossible unless you have a huge track record or the career experience necessary. So check the terms and conditions, the objectives, and what you must do before starting the application form.
Fourthly, read the application form and make a checklist of all the supporting documents or information needed to apply. Again, this comes back to the first point. You will find it difficult to get complete financial information in 1 day, in fact it will be almost impossible. Getting examples of work is another time-consuming process, let alone writing up a concise project plan or even articulating your project. So read the application form, note the items you need and add dates to your calendar as to when you will have these parts completed.
Finally, for now, when you come to write your application, refer back to the remit of the award within the application process. Make sure that you answer the questions the remit poses, in many respects referring back to the application remit and how your work fits in with it is the most critical part of the application process. The people reviewing your application have very limited time to go through each application, so if you do not make it clear and obvious that your application fulfils the remit, then this gives them another reason to say no. Be concise, be clear, but most of all, be relevant. It does not matter what the size of the grant is. Just be relevant.
If you only follow these five steps, you will have given yourself a far greater chance of getting an award. Obviously, you can take several other measures, but these steps are critical to me.
Ian Oliver
Head of Operations
Head of Operations at Letcombe Production I have been working in the arts and culture sector for over 20 years in Ireland. I am passionate about business development for artists and creatives as well as building totally inclusive societies.
Letcombe Production
The Digital Agency For Arts & Cultural Organisations
Letcombe Production is dedicated to the arts, creative and social enterprise sectors. Our website has dedicated reels on running your creative or artistic practice as a business, articles and opportunities for artists. In addition, we can organise digital media, marketing, project management, grant writing, application assessment, and tools to help you run your creative and artistic practice.
Working predominantly with arts and social enterprises, Letcombe Production can assist in all getting projects from idea to distribution. We can look after any size of project.
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