Grant Application Tips
Before applying
- Talk to the relevant grant officer to find out if and what grant your idea might be best suited to.
Check the closing date – do you have enough time to write your application and gather all the information needed.
- Check the grant program’s eligibility criteria and guidelines to ensure that your organisation and your project are eligible. If you are not sure, always give the organisation a call.
- Make sure the grant covers the items that you want funded and only include items that are eligible for funding.
- Be clear on what you want to achieve with the funds, how are you going to do it and why.
Writing your application
- Don’t assume that the grantor knows anything about your organisation or your project, describe them well.
- Always include who, what, where, when, why and enough information to give the assessor a really good idea of what your project is about.
- Make sure you answer all the questions.
- Try to choose a good name for your project – something that captures the assessor’s imagination is good.
- The grant assessor will have many applications to read through – try to make yours interesting and include all the critical facts.
- Use plain English and steer clear of jargon.
- Always include any relevant statistics you have for your project and community.
- Include any letters of support you have for your project.
- Give your draft application to a colleague or someone who knows your project to read through and give feedback.
- Include any plans for continuing your project after the grant, if applicable.
The budget
- Check carefully what is required for the budget and ensure you include all information. If you are not sure – ask.
- Always check the requirements for quotes and include more than one if requested.
Include details of funding that you are applying for from other sources, or that you have already sourced.
- Usually budget amounts are excluding GST but check the grant guidelines or application form.
- Include the cost of a financial audit of the project expenditure if required and only if it is an eligible item for funding (usually this is only for larger grants – ask the grantor if you are not sure).
- Before submitting your grant application
- Proofread your whole application.
- Get a colleague or someone who doesn’t know your project well to read through your application so they can provide constructive feedback.
- Always ensure that you have included all documentation required – many application forms have a checklist, make sure you have a tick against each item (or provide information as to why you haven’t).
Lastly
If you are not sure of anything, phone the funding organisation and talk to them – they will always help.
Acquittal of Funds
How do I acquit my approved Council funding?
Once you have received confirmation that your funding application was successful, a funding agreement will be established and then you may commence your project/event.
You will need to provide a report on your funded project or event six weeks after you have completed it. This is called an acquittal report. Council will ask you to provide certain information about your project/event. Remember to keep this information together as you work through your project/event.
Things that we need to see in your acquittal report:
- Evidence of how you acknowledged Council support eg. Take photos/screenshots of any advertising/social media; ask to use Council banner and display it at your event, have a Councillor attend your event.
- How you spent the funds i.e. keep a record of all invoices etc. to the total of funding you were granted – these will need to be uploaded into the acquittal report in the Smartygrants portal.
- An accurate budget of income and expenses i.e. this may be different to the budget in the application.
- Photographs from your event or stages of completion of your project.
- How your project/event met the objectives you outlined in your application. Once your acquittal report has been submitted, it will be assessed against the application itself. If you have not provided sufficient evidence your acquittal report might not be accepted. If this happens, your organisation may be required to return funds not spent or may be deemed ineligible to apply for further funding.
Town Acknowledgement
This information outlines the ways in which a grant recipient is to acknowledge the Town of Victoria Park. It includes both mandatory and optional acknowledgment.
Mandatory:
Grant recipients must acknowledge the Town’s support through the acknowledgment methods listed below. Any use of Town branding must be approved by the Town. Town Grant Officers need to ensure these are listed in the appropriate grant paperwork provided to grant recipients.
- Display the Town’s logo and include ‘Supported by the Town of Victoria Park’ on promotional materials, website and event signage (the Town’s logo can be requested by emailing admin@vicpark.wa.gov.au).
- Mention the Town’s support in the form of public statements, media releases, newsletters and social media posts.
- Provide verbal acknowledgment at events, launches and presentations. The suggested wording for this acknowledgement is: “The Town of Victoria Park is a proud supporter of (the organisation and/or name of the event/program).”
- Include a written acknowledgment in reports, publications, and project-related documents. The suggested wording for this acknowledgment is: “The Town of Victoria Park is a proud supporter of (the organisation and/or name of the event/program)."
Optional:
Town Funding Officers may include the following optional acknowledgment methods at their discretion.
Thinking about applying for a grant, sponsorship or donation through the Vic Park Funding Program? Hear from some past recipients who provide excellent tips to help you with your application, from having clear objectives to budgets.