Lesson 3: Supporting Documents
Introduction
An important part of any funding request or proposal is submitting Supporting Documents that funding bodies will often request as part of the application. These could be financial documents, samples of your work, or other documents such as a risk assessment. Supporting documents are just as important as the project narrative so it’s a good idea to dedicate a good amount of time to prepare them.
In Lesson 3, we will guide you through creating several Supporting Documents.
Before you begin, download your Working Document
To get started watch the Do Grant Application Attachments Matter? video below.
Tip: Before starting any funding application, write a list of all the supporting documents you need to submit. More precisely, can you develop the documents independently or will you need someone else’s input? How much time will it take to complete each document? Can you complete all documents by the submission deadline?
Module 1: Samples of your Work
An important supporting document you may be required to submit is Samples of your Work either as an individual artist or an organisation. This is the perfect opportunity for you to showcase your achievements.
To get started read Applying for Grants: Choosing Work Samples
Tip: Remember, attaching a Samples of your Work to a funding application is still part of an application process and should be tailored to each submission. As Arts Council England says: “Your attachments/link should add value to your application. Think about how to demonstrate the quality of your work and show that you’re ready to take a step up in your practice.”
When preparing Sample of your Work, think about:
What you are applying for; ensure you are submitting samples of your work that are relevant to the project.
High-quality documentation; do you have professional images or videos of a project you’ve completed? If not, has anyone else (eg. gallery, university, friends)? Having high quality documentation is essential.
Good general presentation; it sounds obvious but keep it clean! Choose a simple, readable font, be consistent with titles, spacing, etc. All of this adds to your profile as an individual or organisation.
Press; Depending on the opportunity you are applying for, it may be worth adding quotes, reviews, and links to articles written about your work.
Your Turn
With a grant of choice in mind, have a go at compiling Samples of Your Work. To get started, consider the following guidance:
Q1. Write a short brief about you or your organisation.
Q2. List 2 - 3 projects you would like to include along with a short brief for each.
Q3. Create a folder with 2 – 3 hi resolution images for each project.
Q4. List 1 video link for each project (if any).
Q5. List 1 - 2 press, media coverage links you received for each project (if applicable).
Once you have completed the above, you can begin to organise the information into a powerpoint presentation or similar.
(answer on your downloaded Working Document)
Module 2: Financial Attachments
In Course 002, Lesson 2: The Big Questions, we explored how to answer questions about your income and expenses in the financial narrative section of a funding application. Many funding bodies will also require you to submit additional funding attachments as part of your application.
These attachments will most likely be your Income and Expenses and could also include a Cash Flow Projection. In this module, we will look at how to prepare these documents for submission.
Start by watching 4 Tips for Project Budgets in Grants below.
Part 1: Income and Expenses
In Course 001, Lesson 4: Create a Budget, you successfully created your project Income and Expenses documents. These documents will greatly support you when applying for new funding opportunities. As a first step, open your completed Income and Expenses documents for reference.
Example
Let’s say you run a small arts initiative that has an annual programme of events including exhibitions, workshops, and talks. You would like to apply for funding to cover the expenses for a part of the programme - 1 exhibition and 3 workshops. The funding body you are applying to would like you to attach a copy of your project budget with your application.
Lingo
Project Budget: A project budget is the total projected income and expenses needed to complete a project over a defined period of time.
Tip: If you are an organisation (or initiative) applying for a funding opportunity, you are usually required to submit an organisation budget as well with your application. An organisation budget is similar to a project budget except that it takes into account the total projected income and expenses over the course of one financial year.
Must dos for Project Budgets:
Ensure your income and expenses match - when submitting a funding application, your total income and total expenses must be the same. For example, if your total project income is £2500 then your total project expenses must equal £2500 as well. This demonstrates that you have covered all the expected expenses of the project through the income you will generate.
Ensure your project expenses are explained in detail. For example, Photographer Fees: 1 photographer @ £168 per day x 2 days = £336. It is crucial that each expense is clearly explained, you don’t want a funding body to have any doubt about your project’s expenses.
Tip: When creating a project or organisation budget, ensure that your salaries and general overhead expenses account for no more than 25 - 30% of the total figure. This will demonstrate to a funding body that your budget is ‘healthy’ and in line with industry standards.
Your Turn
Referencing the Project Budget (Income and Expenses documents) you completed in Course 001, take a look at a funding opportunity you are interested in applying to and see if you have to make any changes or updates to your Project Budget. If you have not created a Project Budget yet, use the following templates to do so:
Income – Template
Expenses – Template
Refer to Course 001, Lesson 4: Create a Budget for further details.
Part 2: Cash Flow Projection
Another financial attachment you may be asked to submit with your funding application is a Cash Flow Projection for your project. This may seem like a daunting task but don’t worry we’ll walk you through it!
In Part 2 of this module, we will look at how to create a Cash Flow Projection document. Even if a funding body does not require you to submit a Cash Flow Projection, it is a very valuable exercise to develop this document so that you can refer to it from time to time to see how well you are managing your finances.
Lingo
Cash Flow Projection: A Cash Flow Projection is the process of estimating the flow of cash in and out of a business over a specific period of time.
In other words, a Cash Flow Projection will consider the money that goes into and out of your account for the duration of your project. It will incorporate all of the income and expenses mentioned above and, if managed correctly, at the end of the project your Cash Flow Projection document will reflect a final balance of £0.
Example
Let’s have a look at a sample Cash Flow Projection document below.
Cash Flow Projection - Sample
Think about:
How income is itemised and included
How expenses are itemised and included
Is the final balance £0?
Tip: The funding opportunity you are applying to should be included in your Cash Flow Projection. Read the funding body’s guidelines carefully. If you successfully secure funding, will they give you the full amount at the start? Or, will they pay you in instalments throughout the grant period? This must be reflected in your Cash Flow Projection.
Your Turn
Have a go at creating a Cash Flow Projection document for your project . The following template may look overwhelming at first, but remember, you have all the data you need in your Project Budget, you simply need to input each figure in the correct month and the template will do the calculations for you.
Cash Flow Projection - Template
Module 3: Risk Assessment
There is one further Supporting Document you may be required to submit with a grant: a Risk Assessment. Creating this document might take some time but it will be helpful for you to manage your project in the long run.
Lingo
Risk Assessment: a process of evaluating the potential risks that may be involved in a projected activity.
A Risk Assessment is a way of accounting for and pre-planning any number of risks that may arise while implementing your project that could impact your ability to continue or succeed. These risks could be financial – for example you don’t get all the funding you hoped for, they could be around health – if someone on your team becomes ill, or even strategic – a partnership falls through. Whatever they are, they need to be accounted for.
Your Risk Assessment should outline:
What the risk is: what type of issues may occur during your project?
The potential impact: High, Medium, or Low? (if this issue actually comes up, how big of an impact will it have on your project)
The risk owner: who is in charge of overseeing the issue? Is it you or someone else?
Actions in place to prevent the risk: how have you planned to prevent the issue happening?
Actions taken if risk occurs: if the risk does happen, what will you do?
Overall risk: based on the potential impact plus the actions in place, what is the overall risk? High, Medium, or Low?