Fundraising

This is the step by step guide

How do you find matching funds and subsidies?

• Look for suitable funds by analyzing your project

– Who is your audience?
– What is the goal and what are possible sub-goals of your project?
– What is the social, societal, cultural, economic context? Name them all!
– What are your values and the values surrounding your project?
– Who do you and/or your project connect with?
– What does it add?

• Collect and create keywords from the above analysis.
• Search for funds and subsidies using these keywords.

For example, you can do that locally, such as: fund, colonialism, Rotterdam
or fund, sustainability, waste, re-use, Rotterdam
or: fund, art, dyslexia, critical, information, film
or dive into the commercially offered fund search engines
or read our website https://www.wdkabusinessstation.com/grants-subsidies
or use the fund book, het Fondsenboek

All these are important parts of your application! 

Before you begin

Most funds expect your project to have broad financial coverage, with a contribution from yourself or from the organization you may be working with, participant fees, donations from other funds, a subsidy from the municipality or income through entrance, sales or crowdfunding.
– Before you draw up and submit your grant application, it is useful to know how and when it will be assessed.
– The assessment is carried out by an advisory committee of the call, based on the call text to which you are responding/applying.
– Make sure that you read the criteria and specific objectives set out in the text from the fund carefully. Also study the conditions, the grounds for rejection and the tender procedure, to prevent later disappointment.
– For that deliver a good matching story, a correct and realistic plan and budget.
– Check de deadlines en vergaderdata van de fondsen voor je planning

Try to understand that they are willing to give you money for your project if you have a match with their goals and objectives. 

Immerse yourself in the possibilities

Check de deadlines!
Describe the values of you and your project. You can use Strategic Narrative and Telling Your Story from Making a Living to create this.

Project Plan

The project plan is the cornerstone of your application.
You can use our sheets to work on this (Create your Narrative + Strategic Narrative).
In the Project Plan you describe the form and content of your project as clearly as possible, in response to the challenge formulated in regulation.
Present your work in a compact description of 1 paragraph and explain it on a practical and substantive level.
Tips:
– Separate the main from the minor.
– Make a clear definition and the issue in question, in response to the challenge formulated in the call.
– Explain why your project is relevant to your development
– Place your proposal within current art/design practice
– Explain the relevance of your project.
– Explain who you are making the project for (target group, audience, public)
– Define and discribe your collaboration partners
– Try to avoid repetition of text fragments.
– Make sure you have an evaluation plan

Communications Plan

Your application must (in most cases) include a communications plan or presentation plan.
– Where you are now and why and how do you communicate.
– What do you want to achieve and why?
– The primary and secondary audience you want to reach and what you know about that.
– Errand: The main information that you want to convey to your audience.
– How you will achieve your goal,
– What choices you make,
– What overarching concept you come up with for this.

Resources
– The specific means of communication you will use.

Planning

A good planning allows you to provide insight into the steps you are going to take to carry out your project and how long they will take. It is necessary for you, the people you work with or will deal with, the application and the fund.
A fund always sets a time limit for a project (this is defined with a start and end date).

Budget

The budget provides a realistic picture of the estimated costs and income that are related to the implementation of your project. The specification of costs and income must enable the Fund to assess your underlying calculations and estimates.

– Determine the costs
Estimate realistic costs. Create 3 scenarios for yourself: one for the subsidy in which you have enough money to do everything you want, an ideal and a ‘slimmed-down’ version for yourself that is based on the minimum amount for which you can still realize the plan.
– Determine the income
The cost estimate is offset by the coverage plan, or the income from, for example, entrance fees, other subsidies, donations, sponsorship, merchandising and co-production, co-finance (funds can then get an idea of how the possible contribution relates to the total budget).
– Determine the amount you are going to ask. Also find out how much a fund contributes in principle.
– Write an explanation of your budget.
You have to explain on what basis you base certain costs and, for example, for how many hours you hire someone and at what daily rate. Request quotes from suppliers and specialists. Ask around you what is realistic.

Note: At many public funds they want you to adhere to the Fair Practice Code. Inform yourself about this! It is necessary.Most funds work with a net budget. This means that you do not include VAT in the budget!

—Use always the budget form suggested by the fund.—

Ultimately it is a lot of work

Unfortunately, there are no guarantees.
You learn by doing.
The first is a nightmare.
The next one too.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
The Business Station can help with:

– Finding and writing a good plan
– Creating a realistic budget

AT WORK