@SimonTanner

Raising Funds:Some advice for our PhD students

Simon Tanner

Department of Digital Humanities,

King’s College London

Twitter: @SimonTanner

15/04/2015 13:50 ENC Public Talk 19 February 2013 1

Getting started

• Formulate your ideas

• Develop project or proposal outline

• Identify potential funders

– matchmaking

• Prepare proposal

• Target the proposal

• If you get funds - administer the grant well

@SimonTanner

Different Sources of Funding

• Foundations – public and private

• Public money

– Government funding

– Local / Regional funding

– Lottery funding

– Research Councils, etc.

• Corporate funding

• Private funds

– Personal wealth

– Community contribution

• Any other suggestions?@SimonTanner

Different Sources of FundingResearch Professional (VERY useful – can tailor searches according to disciplinary/funding type being sought)https://www.researchprofessional.com/

AHRChttp://www.ahrc.ac.uk/Funding-Opportunities/Pages/Funding-Opportunities.aspx

Leverhulme Trusthttp://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/funding/funding.cfm

British Academyhttp://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/index.cfm

The Culture Capital Exchange (register for newsletter that can include funding opportunities)http://www.theculturecapitalexchange.co.uk/

NESTAhttp://www.nesta.org.uk/?gclid=CP6Z3NiJ-MQCFa7KtAodv0EA6g

UK Research Office (mainly concentrates on EU funding, not so relevant for PhDs)http://www.ukro.ac.uk/Pages/UKRO.aspx

Remember to check your eligibility for everything you look at

@SimonTanner

Different Sources of Funding

www.postgraduate-funding.com

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Different Sources of Funding

www.fundraisingdirectory.com

www.acf.org.uk

www.turn2us.org.uk

@SimonTanner

Modify your approach

according to the opportunity

www.stapleytrust.org

@SimonTanner

Modify your approach

according to the opportunity

http://simon-tanner.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/supporting-culture-through-charitable.html

@SimonTanner

The proposal

What is it?

• A written presentation to another party in order to gain its acceptance

@SimonTanner

The functions of a proposal

• Represents a project, activity, program or function to undertake in response to a need

• Request for the allocation of resources

• Instrument of persuasion

• Promise to the funder to do certain things in certain ways

• A plan that serves as guidelines for the implementation of the activity

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Planning for Persuasion

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Cause & Effect?

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Planning for Impact

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The Funding Proposal • the need

– the proposed solution

– the result of the solution

– the market need and the audience needs

• the activities to be carried out

– the way they will be accomplished

– the number and type of staff needed

– the management of the project

– the required equipment and facilities

– the cost

– the starting and completion dates

@SimonTanner

• Describes the conditions in a certain place at a certain time for a particular group of people

• Describes what needs to change or what will be changed by the proposal

• This is often the motivator

• If the funder agrees with the need, you have them “hooked”

Statement of problem/need/purpose

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The proposal: need

• Clear relationship to a mission and a purpose

• Focus on a need in a broader community, not on yourself

• Support assertions with evidence

• The need should be expressed in a way that is consistent with your ability to respond

• Make it easy to read; avoid jargon. Assume a non-expert reader

@SimonTanner

The proposal: need

• Focus on what you can accomplish

• What need YOU have a solution for

• Collaborative projects are attractive to some funders

• Models

– if your solution can act as a model, mention this

– “addressing the need on a larger level through the

development of model program”

@SimonTanner

Objectives/Strategies/Outcomes

• What will you accomplish?

– Derived directly from the need statement

• Indicate action and a measurable result

• How would the situation look if the need were satisfied?

– Who would benefit and how?

• State outcomes, not methods at this point

– the result of an activity, not the activity itself

• Be REALISTIC@SimonTanner

The proposal: methodology

• A detailed description of the activities to be done to achieve the objectives

– How are you going to achieve your goals and objectives?

• Why did you choose these methods?

– research findings, experts, past experience, etc.

• Evidence Based

• Be SMART:

– Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound

@SimonTanner

The proposal: budget

• translates the methodology section into cash terms

• government sources require more detail than foundations (usually)

• follow funder forms and guidelines precisely

• Be realistic, even if it makes the project look expensive, and think of all the components

– don’t undercost just to get the money. You will regret it later

– don’t promise what you can’t deliver

@SimonTanner

The proposal: evaluation

• Outputs are facts

• e.g. Online History Project

– number of items digitized

– number of users logged

– number of students who write essays based on web based materials

– number of teachers who use online resources

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The proposal: evaluation

• Outputs may not tell us if our goals and objectives were

met

• Evaluation - how did we do?

• Measure Outcomes & Impacts

– has our target audience changed or improved skills,

attitudes, knowledge, behavior, status, or life

condition in any identifiable way?@SimonTanner

@SimonTanner