KateS

 

Author: Kate Sunners

 

Like the tango is to the two-step, the tender is to the average grant-application. Tenders can be complex and time-consuming beasts requiring greater depth in planning and responses, more evidence and preparation of attachments.

Don’t panic! Break it down into manageable pieces! Here are a few tips to remember when writing your tender. sfrias Tango 300px

1. Read ALL the tender documents – and highlight the criteria! Are the criteria weighted? Are some more important than others? Does your project satisfy those criteria?

2. Check what attachments you’ll need as a first step- attachments like letters of support can often take the longest time to pull together! Some of the attachments commonly required for Government tenders as an indicator are:
-Business Case
-Project Management Plan
-Independent Cost Benefit Analysis
-Written confirmation of cash and in-kind contributions
-Audited financial statements
-Risk Management Plan
-Procurement Plan
-Asset Maintenance/Management Plan (for capital works and equipment funding)
-Evidence of Experience/Capacity to deliver the project
-Letters of Support

3. Make sure you can answer all criteria before you sit down to write – if you don’t have the answers, make a list of all the information you need and hassle the relevant people til you get it!

4. Ask yourself if you have the necessary evidence to support your tender application? When making any claims about your project or your organisation’s work and its outcomes/impacts you need to be able to back this up with evidence! Government funding is all about proof of accountability, experience, and value for money (outcomes for $). Keep in mind that the assessor will be looking for indicators of these things as they read responses.

5. Use the language in the tender documents in your responses

6. Answer questions fully, even if you’ve covered some of the same information in previous responses. It may not be the same assessor reading each response to criteria.

Tango with us!
If you need assistance putting your tenders together, give us a call as soon as you have decided to apply (the longer the lead time the better with tenders!). Strategic Grants is experienced in working with organisations to produce high-quality tenders, and can also provide critiquing to help you identify areas to be strengthened or gaps in information/responses to criteria.

KateS

Author: Kate Sunners

 

 

Our research team is noticing an increasing number of grant rounds that are only open for 3-week periods or which state an opening date, and close when they have sufficient applications.
Panic ensues! How can we pull together a project package or plan in that timeframe let alone write the grant application?! In the vein of the ‘stop, drop and roll’ community fire education catchphrase of yore, we’ve developed a catchphrase for you!

Wish, Plan, Communicate! (maybe not so catchy, but useful!)plan

Having a wishlist of the projects, equipment or capital items you would dearly love funded for the next 6-12 months is the only way to go. “But our projects are responsive” I hear you cry – well that’s awesome, but they’ll need to be planned out and added to your wishlist in just the same way as they arise! Your wishlist might be very dynamic, or you might be seeking funds for similar things each year. It doesn’t matter, just having a wishlist on hand, with each item signed off by your executive/board makes decision making for short lead-time grants a cinch! All you need to do when a three-week closing date pops up on your radar is match which of your projects on your wishlist corresponds most closely with what that funder is wanting to fund. Hooray! 

Planning your projects ahead with a lot of the finer details hashed out and documented in a project information template is going to give you a huge advantage when dealing with short-notice grants. You want to make sure you’ve got a budget planned out, a timeline of the activities you’ll need to undertake, the aims and outcomes of the project, information on the need for the project and who it serves, and why your organisation is best placed to undertake it.

You’ve got your wishlist and a couple of really well-planned out projects with enough information on each to have an informed conversation with a funder. A grant round opens with ‘first-in-best-dressed’ as its closing date – what do you do? Read the guidelines, check the eligibility, research the funder, and then call the funder and talk them through the two best projects you see as aligning with their guidelines and mission.

“Which would the trustees be most interested in funding?” you will ask, thinking smugly to yourself how smart you are to have planned ahead so well as to be able to have this conversation the very day the grant round opened. The foundation staff member on the other end of the line will be impressed by the quality of your preparation, understanding and diligence! Hooray!