I provide practical support to public organisations and the VCFSE sector to help them develop their own capability around funding, bid development, innovative funding approaches and social investment.
The emphasis is on building knowledge and capability within the organisation, rather than creating a continuing dependence on external support.
Before the bid
Bids rarely fail because somebody cannot write.
They fail much earlier, and there are many reasons why: The problem has not been sufficiently understood; the intervention has been decided before the evidence has been examined; the people who understand delivery, finance and the people the intervention is intended to support have not developed the proposition together; outcomes are asserted rather than demonstrated; the business case is constructed to support an idea rather than test whether it is the right one; the right questions were not asked at the beginning.
By the time somebody starts writing the application, many of the decisions that determine whether it is fundable have already been made.
That is why I work before the writing starts.
Funding and bid development
I provide bid development workshops for public organisations and the VCFSE sector, designed to help people think differently about how they approach funding opportunities.
The workshops go beyond the mechanics of completing an application form. They explore how stronger projects are developed, how organisations can become better prepared for future funding opportunities, and how funding activity can form part of a longer-term strategy rather than being driven by individual calls and deadlines.
The approach has been developed through practical experience of supporting funding applications and has been delivered to hundreds of participants across public and voluntary-sector organisations.
Workshops can stand alone or provide the starting point for further support, helping organisations develop stronger project pipelines, improve their internal approach to funding and build the capability to develop future applications themselves.
The aim is to leave organisations better able to identify, develop and pursue future funding opportunities themselves, and not depend on external support.
Innovative funding and social investment
Social investment should not begin with the question “How can we use social investment?”
I help organisations understand the different approaches available, how they work and when they may — or may not — be appropriate.
This can range from introductory workshops for organisations beginning to explore social investment through to helping teams think about outcomes-based approaches and the development of propositions that may subsequently be suitable for social investment.
Success means developing enough understanding and confidence to decide for yourselves when social investment is, and isn’t, appropriate.
Systemic thinking and intervention development
Sometimes the most useful question is not “How do we fund this intervention?” but “Are we sure this is the right intervention?”
I work with organisations to challenge emerging ideas: examining the condition they are trying to change, the assumptions behind the proposed response and whether the activities being proposed are likely to produce the outcomes expected.
This can include looking at an emerging proposition from the perspective of the person who may eventually be asked to fund or appraise it — identifying the questions that are likely to be asked before the organisation commits substantial time to developing an application or business case.
The aim is to build the confidence and capability to ask these questions internally, before external support is required.
The objective
However the work begins — a workshop, a conversation, or support around a particular challenge — the objective remains the same: to transfer knowledge and capability into the organisation rather than create an ongoing dependence on external expertise.
The principle remains the same.
Success is when you no longer need me.