Page 37 - NAS Members Guide to Funding

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‘Evidence’ can sound scary but all it means is ‘facts’ or
‘information’ that bolster your claim that your idea
is important. Some funders tell you exactly which
evidence they want, others leave it up to you about
8. EVIDENCE OF NEED & OUTCOMES
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this section of the guide, your association will be able to:
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Know the difference between evidence and outcomes and understand how they are connected
Describe outcomes to a funder using their language
Gather the right evidence of need and describe it a funder
INTRODUCTION
‘Evidence of Need’ and ‘Outcomes’ go hand in hand and are a vital part of any grant funding application. These two topics are talked about together here in this section to help you learn about each topic and the connection between the two. This section provides your association with:
• Detailed examples of Evidence of need & outcomes • Wording to use to describe outcomes to funders
• Directions to sources of evidence to help back up
your association’s funding application.
Use this information to help design your outcomes, then include these on your application form. Of course, only use examples that are relevant to your idea and only if you think they will help your application. The support/ training available via funding routes usually includes advice/training on outcomes (see part 4).
EVIDENCE OF NEED
This requirement involves explaining two things on your application form:
1. Why your association’s idea is important 2. Backing this up with some facts.
what to provide. There are different ways of gathering and putting evidence together. How you do this depends on what you as an association are comfortable with (and who you might have on hand to help you). For example, you might be comfortable looking up statistics and policies to quote. You might be more comfortable describing with words, photographs
and quotes from plotholders and other people that your idea will help. A combination of both can be useful. However, this is not an exam on the best way to present evidence and funders do not expect your association to be statistical whizz-kids.
When you have gathered your evidence, it can save time to put it all in one document or folder called case for support for use by your association. Your association can refer back to this as and when you complete funding applications. Keep the document up to date, keep copies and spread these around your committee and come back to it whenever you make a funding application. The final section of this sheet provides examples of evidence of need and where to find evidence to back up your claim that your idea is important.
OUTCOMES
Outcomes are what will improve as a result of your association’s idea. Your association and the funder will be able to see your outcomes coming to life when you deliver on the funding award. Another way of thinking about outcomes is to ask yourselves “what will be better and for whom (or what) as a result of our idea coming to life?”
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