Our popular annual Funding & Finance Seminar was held on Thursday 10 September 2020. Covid-19  restrictions meant it was held as an online webinar rather than a live networking event.  With 8 speakers and a total of 60 attendees we were delighted with the level of interaction and engagement.  As always this event was free to CRNS members and provided access to key funders for our sector as well as the latest information on current funds.

 

Key Funds Presented

We had a packed programme for the three hour webinar hearing from the following key funders (click on links for a copy of their presentations where available):

National Lottery – Awards for All and Communities Funds

Zero Waste Scotland – Circular Economy Investment Fund (website link)

Scottish Communities Alliance – Community Learning Exchange and Pockets & Prospects

Crowd Fund Scotland – An Introduction to Crowdfunding

Greenspace – Tesco Bags of Help

First Port – Recovery Fund and Boost It Fund

 

Top Tips for Funding Applications

We heard from Edinburgh Remakery CEO Elaine Brown and from Stella’s Voice CEO Mark Morgan about their real life experience fundraising during the Covid-19 lockdown.  They shared some great top tips to apply to your funding applications including:

  1. Seek Wider Support – for example talk to Just Enterprise and engage with their funding support team, they can act as a critical friend.
  2. Talk to the Funder – take time out early on to pick up the phone to the funder, they want to help you and it can save you a lot of time.
  3. State the Obvious – it may be obvious to you but it won’t necessarily be obvious to the funder.  You need to clearly and concisely state what the project is going to do and don’t assume the funder has any prior knowledge.
  4. Understand Your Cashflow – this is especially important for resilience and recovery type funding, you need to clearly explain how the funding applied for will make a financial difference to you.
  5. Match the Funders Criteria – if you are applying for an education programme but the funder is prioritising carbon savings it isn’t a good match.  You need to demonstrate clearly how the project resonates with the funder’s criteria.
  6. Sense Check the Application – get someone who is not familiar with the application or project to read the application before you submit it.  Their fresh perspective can only improve the quality of your application.

If you missed it – the Webinar is still available

CRNS run a Funding and Finance Seminar every year for our members.  Free access to the event is one of many exclusive benefits to CRNS membership

A full video of the webinar is available for our members to view, even if you did not attend on the day. Please contact matt@crns.org.uk or elaine@crns.org.uk for full access details.