In some cases, helping others to help communities is more impactful. So we support organisations to do great work. For organisations, we undertake business development activities, bid development activities and also project management activities. For those needing ideas, we support through consultancy and guidance. In addition for those that need extra help, we deliver projects for you. So in this blog we discuss our bid development workshops.
Aspire4U CIC’s mission is to support communities to create better futures by using evidence of things that work and bringing it back to the community. We have been working with experienced minds in the professional community to train community organisations. We have been working with individuals as well on how to develop their own community projects and understand how funding grants work.
Create & Communicate
Explaining our ‘why’ helps to show why bid development programmes are a natural offering to those we serve.
We create: life learning experiences (through programmes, events; research) to develop mindsets and mentalities necessary for a better life.
We communicate: things that make lives/ communities better through simplifying research; inspiring information or stimulating the mind into action.
Over the last few years, communities have expressed frustration about gaining funding. A few bad experiences have left them seeking more clarity and insights.
We wanted to add something positive, useful and tangible to the bid development and bid writing ecosystem. As a mindset led organisation it was clear to us that understanding why funding exists and how the opportunity givers view the world and how they are trying to facilitate change is a missing conversation. We emphasise we do not believe in any short cuts, and we’re not trying to get communities to game the system for example. But instead we wish to bridge understanding and reduce mis-assumptions.
The Basic Workshop Programme Description
Many people think only good ideas get funded and so the other applications must have been bad. But this is not true! In fact, there is a lot more to it. We’re here to help people understand how funding for social enterprises and community organisations works.
Our series of mindset-led programmes are designed to enhance your chances to deliver competitive and higher quality bids for grants.
In fact our experiential learning based workshops put you in the room with proven bid writers, project planners and funders (advanced courses only) to get the best insights into developing a bid you can feel proud of and confident of submitting.
Also, we have content designed to improve your confidence and enhance your awareness of the right bids for your circumstances.
Firstly: Our Course Outline
This workshop covers the basics you need to understand about the mindset for developing bids and the mindset of the opportunity giver (the funder/ assessor). This introductory level workshop consists of 4 modules.
- Overcome the fears – Our content aims to help develop your mindset to overcome fears, challenges and anxieties in applying for bids. We will help you understand how to afford the time to submit bids regularly and with frequency.
- Turn ideas into bids – We help you organise your thoughts and ideas into bids that help funders understand your value and impact.
- Mindset of the funder – Understand how funding opportunities work and how funders assess applications.
- Building trust with funders – Learn the key factors that reduce rejection and builds trust between you and a funder.
Get Into The Mind Of A Funder
Who should attend?
Understanding Funding & The Mindset of Funders (BASICS) is an introductory course providing key principles to those who would like to write successful grant and funding proposals.
– Board members or trustees of charities, volunteers, schools, associations or non-profit organisations writing their own bids, to grow their grant income.
– Bid writers and partnership managers looking for a refresher or confidence boost.
– Social enterprises in need of mindset based guidance and practical advice to improve grant submissions.
– Self-trained bid writers that value professional development.
– Leadership teams that need to understand what their bid writer does or need ways to motivate them.
Still not sure if this is for you? Contact us on admin4@aspire4u.co.uk and we can help you understand what you will need. Additional Full day and 2 day courses are available for those seeking in-depth technical training and development.
Cost & Length
The basic course takes 2 hours with a little time for netwroking after. We have early bird and standard tickets available. See more and book here.
Why Us?
Our team will give their strongest intel and insights into successful bids for grants. We are pooling a range of knowledge in bid writing by professionals that have won grants for social enterprises, local authorities and community led initiatives. Our partners combined, have experience of raising over £1m in grants and investment capital.
Our team includes experienced bid developers that have considerable practice in bid development. Aspire4U helps organisations with project management, business development, as well as delivering activities in communities.
Although bid development is a small part of our practice, we have written bids for individuals and community groups, yielding over £106,000 in grant funding and another £135,000 in sponsorship opportunities for organisations over the last 24 months.
We also work to find effective and proven people in your community to help share good practice:
One of our many partners include Lynn from Beat It Percussion. She raised over £150,000 in funding support to reach elderly people with dementia over the last 2 years (Sandwell, Birmingham and Herefordshire);
Another is Ian who helped to raise £1.8m from the Home Office for West Midlands interventions for safer communites;
And finally Andrew, another Institute of Fundraising qualified specialist. We helped him raise funds for charities and sports initiatives.
In addition our other partners on this initiative include specialists in creative arts funding, crime & violence reduction, media & technology, homelessness, environmental funding, sports, education, youth engagement, employment, poverty prevention, ageing, heritage and building acquisition besides.
Look out for more content we are developing on bid development. Join us at our next event.
From Aspire4U CIC,
The Mindset Lead Organisation
Also, click here to read more of our blogs
We are a not for profit community engagement organisation that uses the arts to develop mindsets towards well-being, financial literacy, & employability.
Finally To Get Involved: Contact hello@aspire4u.co.uk to discuss our current opportunities.
One Comment