Funding
The funding advice service is free and available to all voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations based in and/or providing services within Darlington. The service aims to raise awareness of the various funding opportunities available to VCS organisations and maximise their chances of securing them.
Whilst the principle of fundraising is to raise money by asking for it, there are various ways in which to do it and this can be a daunting task for some organisations – regardless of whether the amount you require is a couple of hundred or tens of thousands of pounds. It can take a lot of time to secure the amount required and the process can involve a variety of fundraising methods – including grants, fundraising events & activities, sponsorship, trading and procurement.
The Funding Advisers (Jo Anderson & Sharon Gollan) can help identify the most appropriate source(s) of funding for your organisation and/or project. We also provide the necessary guidance and support to access, apply and report on a wide range of funding issues, including:
• Preparing project/organisational budgets;
• Producing fundraising plans and strategies;
• Planning a fundraising event or activity;
• Identifying and developing trading opportunities;
• Developing funding applications; and
• Monitoring and evaluating.
Funding advice sessions can be conducted over the telephone or by e-mail although the advisers prefer to meet organisations in person. Meetings can be held here at our offices or we can visit you at your organisation premises/project location. During the initial meeting we will ask questions about your management committee, aims & objectives, income levels, accounts and funding requirements etc - to help determine how ‘fit for funding’ your organisation is. It may be that you will need advice or support in implementing systems, policies or procedures that are essential to have in place before you are eligible to apply for funding. If this is the case, we will refer you to one of our Community Development Workers (Peter Locke and Mark Wilkes) who can provide advice and support in areas such as developing constitutions, policies and procedures etc.
eVOLution subscribes to Grantfinder which is a funding database that carries details of over 4,000 UK and EU grants, loans, venture capital and advisory programmes. The database is continuously updated and can be used to identify suitable funding sources dependent on location, grant applicant, purpose and amount required etc. Access to this resource is free via the Funding Advisers.
We can also assist organisations in completing applications forms before they are submitted – this service is extremely popular as organisations find it useful for a Funding Adviser – who is external and independent - to review the budget, wording and/or layout of a bid before it is sent to a funder.
We recognise that ongoing support is often essential and that funding is a continuous process. As such there is no limit as to the amount of times that an organisation can access funding advice support at eVOLution. We provide funding surgeries in association with some of the more common grant makers in the region. In the past these have included County Durham Foundation, Children in Need, Big Lottery Fund and Sherburn House.
There is a comprehensive range of funding books and directories available for VCS organisations to use or loan at the office. We provide e-bulletins on funding opportunities so VCS organisations are kept up to date with new grants or changes in criteria or guidelines of existing programmes.
For advice or support on any area of funding advice please either contact Jo Anderson or Sharon Gollan on 01325 266888 or email them at jo.anderson@evolutiondarlington.com or sharon.gollan@evolutiondarlington.com
