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Funding guide - Revenue fundraising
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Funding Guides

Revenue fundraising

The purpose of your fund raising efforts is to get the money you need to cover the costs of your activities. Most of your costs will probably be day to day running costs like rent, photocopying, telephone and perhaps wages: i.e. revenue costs. Some of your costs may be capital, such as items of equipment or work needed on buildings.

 

However, it is far easier to raise money for something specific, like a piece of equipment or a particular activity or project, because funders want to feel that their money is doing something: and to be able to see what their money is doing.

 

This presents a problem for many groups. The main need is often for ongoing revenue yet many charitable funders are not interested in this.

 

The way through this is to ask funders to pay for things which contribute towards your general running costs but which are clearly defined and specific. You need to be able to think about your work in "project" terms: in terms of "chunks" or "pieces" of work which can be clearly defined and measured, and importantly, costed.

 

Those areas of work which are less attractive to funders, like photocopying or rent, need to be "packaged" up within projects so that these costs can be met.

 

There are several issues to bear in mind when approaching your fund raising in this way:

 

Be creative in your project thinking. Design projects in ways which are attractive to funders.

A "fundable" project should be:

 

Specific

an aspect of your work or item of equipment which is clearly identifiable

 

Meeting a need

you should be able to identify and describe the need you are meeting and to say how your work will address the need

 

Important

to you, your users and the potential funders

 

Of benefit

the outcome should be effective and worth while

 

Realistic

the project must be achievable

 

Cost effective

the project should demonstrate value for money. While this is not the same as cheap, you need to ensure it is not needlessly expensive

 

Topical

if possible it should reflect current concerns and practices

 

Relevant

to the funders concerns

 

Bite-sized

it should be an appropriate size for the funder: neither too large nor too small. Larger pieces of work can be broken down into smaller parts if necessary.

 

When you have a project or a piece of work you are looking for funding for, take it through the above check list and see if you can improve its "fundability".

Problems and pitfalls

 

 

 

For more specific help from RVA’s Funding Advice service email fundingadvice@rva.org.uk 

May 2011



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