Grant Ready
Is your Business Grant Ready?
Grants should not be viewed as a quick cash grab and should never be an afterthought in terms of trying to claw back money already outplayed on your business growth and expansion projects.
There are many advantages to making sure your business is Grant Ready as grants are highly competitive and many have short time frames for submission. Therefore, there are key factors you need to understand, consider, and prepare for before you apply:
- Do you have a strong enough project?
- Are you clear about your message and purpose?
- Additional benefits that your success could offer community and employment?
- Do you have capable leadership within your organisation?
- Does your company and board of directors have good reputations?
- Do you have efficient operating and support systems in place?
- Do you regularly evaluate your business position?
- Are your finances stable?
- Do you have a history with grant application and grant success?
- Are you aware of any legal requirements or obligations?
- Do you have an active business plan?
Understanding the grant landscape and the intricacies of the application process is paramount. While there are no guarantees of an applications success, by engaging an experienced grant strategist and implementing the below steps, you will be better equipped to stand out during the selection process and better prepared to provide vital information at critical times along the journey
Step 1: Consider your readiness for a business grant application
Is your business ready to apply for grants? Do you have a business and strategic plan that clearly articulates your goals and vision? Do you have a clear narrative that demonstrates where your organisation is, where it plans to be in the future, and how it will get there?
Step 2: Identify a suitable project
Identify a project that supports your business vision and that you require funding for. Does your project meet all the grant eligibility requirements? If not, how could it?
Step 3: Understand the detail to stand out in the application process
The application processes and documentation requirements are becoming more onerous and the funding available is allocated in a competitive process. How competitive are you? How can your application address all the required outcomes yet stands out from the others?
Step 4: Prepare and plan for success
The planning process will ensure your business already has much of the supporting documentation required for the grant applications. In addition to business and strategic plans, larger grant programs may require financial projections. Do you have this information ready to pull together in a short time frame?
Step 5: Maximise your funding potential
Have you scoped out all the project requirements? Are there any supporting activities that could also be funded? Is there more than one grant that you could apply for?
Step 6: Understand and prepare your financial contribution
Larger grant programs now require you to commit to some sort of co-contribution up to 50 percent of the total project costs. Are you in a position to co-contribute? If not, how will you fund your co-contribution? What evidence do you have to support this?
To find out more please contact Melrose International on mm@melroseinternational.com.au.