Page 28 - NAS Members Guide to Funding

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to each of its funding programmes per year or for a TERMS & CONDITIONS (T&CS)
set period (“grant round”). A common mistake is to In addition to criteria, funders have terms & conditions.
apply to the right funder but to the wrong funding These usually kick in when your association receives
programme. Therefore, knowing which funding notice of funding success (‘the funding award’) and sign
programme your idea is eligible for is a key learning on the dotted line’ to accept the funding. It is sensible
point for your association. Each funding programme to check the fundersT&Cs before you apply for funding.
is targeted at a specific area of concern in life which Otherwise, you risk having to cancel the funding award
funders believe is important enough for them to spend which is frustrating and time-wasting both for you and
ould be overview text relating to the n
a proportion of their money on. Another way to think about programmes is as “problems” or “issues” that a funder wants to resolve by spending their money on.
the funder.
These T&Cs cover matters such as the type of bank account the funding award can be paid into; how long your association will have to spend the money, what type of financial accounts must be kept to show how the money was spent, stipulation to use funder’s logo on publicity or on the site notice board/gates, what type of reports (if any) must be sent to the funder during and/ or on completion of your idea, what to do if you have money left over (underspend). If you cannot meet the T&Cs, first of all see if you can remedy the issue, e.g. change the type of bank account or the way you do your accounts. However, if a simple fix will not solve the problem, you might need to look for a funder with different T&Cs or revise your association’s idea.
Additional T&Cs
Think carefully about what you are willing to compromise on too. For instance, a newer trend in funding is the “public vote” (See par t 3) where the funder will share your association’s story publicly on
its website, including photographs of plotholders and the allotment site. Some funders are commercial companies who expect your association to recommend their company’s products (e.g. insurance) to a set number of friends and family in order to qualify for
the voting stage. These T&Cs may involve more
public exposure than your allotment community feels comfortable with. If being part of a public vote is your plotholders’ cup of tea then go ahead and thrive in the attention. If not, opt for a funder that does not have this type of requirement and stay true to your community.
FUNDING PROGRAMME EXAMPLES
A funder might have three different funding programmes, e.g.“environment”,“young people” and “community”. It is your job to work out which one your association’s idea fits with best. For example, if you are planning a wildlife area it is likely to be “environment”.
Or if you are planning to install new gates and security to make the site safer for everyone then it is likely to be “community”. Sometimes, funders have multiple themes such as “environment and community”. E.g. if you are planning an accessible compost toilet for everyone on the site your
idea may be eligible for this funding programme because it is an environmentally friendly toilet that provides access to all members of your allotment community.
Or sometimes there are sub-themes within funding programmes, e.g. an “environment” programme might have a sub-theme of “biodiversity”, which might be suited to a plan to install a wildlife pond/area to increase species diversity on an allotment site.
If in any doubt about funding programmes, ask the funder before you apply.
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