In our new regular feature in the Funding Information North East (FINE) ebulletin we ask funders to tell us about their grant giving over the next few months. Subscribe to our FINE ebulletin by getting in touch with jen.thompson@vonne.org.uk
Thanks to Laura Lines, Grants Manager, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for responses.
What are your current funding priorities?
We fund in the Arts, Children and Young People, Environment and Food, and Social Change. Within each of these areas we have three or four funding priorities which range from developing artistic talent, the rights of young people, environmental conservation to fighting injustice and increasing participation. It’s a broad remit and we fund UK wide.
Are there any applications that you are struggling to bring in that you would encourage?
Like most funders there are areas of the country where we know need is great, but from where we receive few applications. When we do, the work might not be a strong match with our priorities or might not come across as inspiring on paper. We are trying to get out and about more to meet organisations working on the ground and to understand these areas better.
Are there any key pieces of advice you would give groups to help them submit quality applications and increase their chances of being successful?
It’s an obvious one but really important in terms of tailoring your application to the funder: read all of the information, look through the website at grants we’ve made and featured grants to get a sense of what we fund.
Tell us about the impact you have had and give us evidence to support this.
It is always encouraging to see organisations that have developed networks based both on geographical area and/or issue and to see collaboration and understanding of what else is being done. This is key to convincing us that your organisation is informed and offering something different or above and beyond what others are doing.
When is the next deadline and how do groups go about applying?
There are no deadlines. It’s a rolling process with meetings regularly throughout the year. We have a two stage process. Stage one takes up to a month and stage two can take up to four months. All applications are submitted online.