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Researching and Applying to Trusts

Introduction

It is important to remember that although there are a vast number of Trusts, each year most Trusts receive more applications than they can support. This makes it important to do your homework well before applying and include everything that will give your application the best chance of being noticed. But remember it will not help your cause to send paperwork that they do not want or need. Do your research, find out what a Trust wants and stick to it.

Research

Some Trusts have very general criteria when it comes to deciding what sort of Projects they can support, however there are also a vast number that have very specific criteria and applying to a Trust that does not support the type of Project that you want to do will be a waste of your time and theirs.

There are various ways to research Trusts. There are books available in the Reference Library that give information on the thousands of possible Trusts available, alternatively you could spend time on the Internet looking up Trusts that you have heard of and then reading anything you can find about them. But perhaps the best way forward unless you already know who you want to apply to, would be to contact someone like Church Links who has funding software available.

Using funding software can filter out all of the Trusts that definitely wont give money to your Project, it can also tell you briefly about any Trust that might, including examples of others they have given money to, how much money they tend to give out, what time of year to apply, and also it will show you their list of exclusions for example some Trusts will not support Religious Organisations or Children’s groups etc. There are all sorts of variations and using the software can help give you a better chance of being successful.

However you decide to search for suitable Trusts, you first need to have done your preparation work. Before you start to look for money, you must decide what you want it for, what it will achieve and how much do you need. Every Project needs to have their information available and on paper.

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Once you have identified possible Trusts, you will need to check on how you should apply. Some Trusts have application forms, some prefer a letter. Some will have guidelines on what information you should include in a letter and some will even tell you how long the letter should be.

Find out everything that you can about each Trust that you want to apply to, bearing in mind that some welcome telephone enquiries and some do not. Good funding software can tell you this information.

Match Funding

Some Trusts may mention match funding. They may mean that they will only give money once you have a similar amount already raised either through your own efforts or from another Trust, or they may be happy for you to use their donation to lever match funding from someone else. Trusts that are involved with match funding tend to do so either because their funds are limited and they can’t support you to the full amount, or because they want to share the cost with another Trust who has also decided to “trust” you with their money.

Application letters

Some Trusts, particularly smaller ones, may only require a letter from you when you apply for funding. If they do not specifically tell you what to include in the letter, then here are some things to consider.

• Applications should have immediate appeal, Trusts get thousands of applications, if you are not clear about what your Project will do, why there is a need for it and how much it will cost, you may get rejected and someone else’s letter may get chosen.
• Personalise the letter, avoid putting Sir or Madam if at all possible, and put the name of the Trust in the content of the letter as it make it look less like a general letter that you may be sending to lots of people.
• Write “Grant Application” on the envelope, if the person to whom you have written is out of the Office or has left the Organisation you do not want your application to get passed over.
• If you are going to include other paperwork with your letter make sure each page says which Project it relates to, if the pages get separated it needs to be easy to put it back together.
• Include the name of a person who can answer any further questions.
• To whom should the cheque be made out.

Finally

Check that you meet all of the criteria before applying, especially the exclusions — the type of work that they do not fund.
Get someone else to read your application, it may be clear to you but not to someone else. If they need clarification then perhaps whoever reads it at the Trust will also need clarification.

Looking for and applying to Trusts may seem daunting, but the key is to work on one area at a time and if you need help then Church Links is happy to help. We work with Churches, Groups and Organisations that are at different stages of their Project work, some may want more help than others.

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