Welcome!
Agenda for the Day
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10 – 10.15
Introduction
10.15 – 10.45
Categories, General Criteria and Processes for Applying for a Grant
10.45 – 11.10
Online Applications
11.10 - 11.20
Toilet Break
11.20 -11.35
Evaluation Process
11.35 -12.00
Q&A
Background to the Community
Foundation for Ireland
Introduction to The Community Foundation for Ireland
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Established in 2000
Registered charity
Part of a global movement of community foundations
Awards grants from its endowment fund and on behalf of our donors
Social Equality focus
Approximately €20 million distributed to date
€3.85 million in 2014
Sister organisation Business in the Community Ireland
“Connecting people who care with causes that matter”
Grants to date
• The Community Foundation for Ireland has
been supporting Migrant organisations since
2000 through its Grassroots Grants Scheme
and the Caring Communities Grants Scheme.
• The Grassroots Grants for ‘Ethnic Minorities’
were small one-off projects e.g. events.
Difficult to support more strategic work,
measure outcomes
Caring Communities – Ethnic
Minorities (Migrants)
Since 2013• Round 1 – 8 grants totalling €40,000
• Round 3 – 14 grants totalling €100,000
• Round 5- Opening June 15th 2015
Focused grants, sharing outcomes
• Since 2013 our grants have become more
focused
• We are looking to make some small, important
changes to the sector overall, improving the
situation of the migrant communities as a whole.
• A key priority is to look for projects which can be
trialed (models) and if successful, can be shared
widely with other organisations in other areas as
successful interventions for the migrant
community
Collaboration and Learning
• Where we receive applications for similar work,
we may ask you to collaborate with other
grantees as you carry out the project (Example to
follow)
• With these new strategic grants there is an
expectation of deeper evaluation processes and
increased networking among groups (successful
grantees are expected to attend two Learning
Network Events).
Ethnic Minorities (inc. Migrants)
Criteria – key points
• Grants of up to €10,000 are available for projects working
towards the political engagement of Migrants, Travellers
and members of the Roma community in Ireland, ahead
of the next Irish General election.
• Timeline: That your project takes place in the timeframe
outlined
• Not for profit community and voluntary organisations
only
• Not for ongoing or core work
• Applicants must show that service users/beneficiaries
are involved or have been consulted in project planning
where appropriate
Ethnic Minorities (inc. Migrants)
Criteria – key points
• community based and national work promoting
activities that will increase the engagement of
members of the Migrant, Traveller and Roma
communities in the political sphere.
• aim is to equip members of these communities
with the leadership skills and confidence to
better understand the impact politics can have on
their daily lives and situations.
Successful applications and what has
worked well
Activities
Successful applications were focused primarily on:
• Policy/ campaigns/ awareness raising/ capacity
building
• Giving voice to migrants
• Building capacity to take on roles in the
community
• Evidence
Example of successful application 1
• Organisation: 3 Community Radio Stations (Dundalk, West Dublin and
Dublin 15)
• Amount awarded: €18,000 in total
• Project: We received three applications from community radio stations
seeking to involve migrants in programming and to train them to produce
radio themselves.
• We saw the need for them to collaborate so we asked them to work on a
join project and tell us what works as a way of engaging migrant
communities
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Results of this project:
Most of training elements concluded.
Migrant Media conference next Monday!
Learnings to be disseminated to all community radio stations
Example of successful application 2
• Organisation: NASC
• Amount Awarded: €7,500
• Project: To realise access to justice and rights for migrants and their
families. To increase migrants awareness of their rights and
promote self advocacy (including in DP Centres)
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Results of this project (to date):
150 migrants assisted through 200 interventions
3 information sessions in Cork Direct Provision centres
Mainstream information services can better address migrant issues
Residency and family reunification secured for a number of families
The Women’s Fund
• The Community Foundation for Ireland
launched The Women’s Fund in 2010.
• This is a Fund which has its own endowment
• Building the Fund through donations
• Prides itself on being
– Long term – now smaller projects but in the future
larger projects
– Innovative – women helping women
– Solution focused – 2 criteria
Background to Women’s Fund
• Provide smaller funding than Older Persons’
Fund and Caring Communities
• Grants of up to €5,000
• Average grant is €2,000 - €2,500
• Often contributions, rather than full amounts
– Different to OPF and Caring Communities
Categories Women’s Fund
Category 1: Preventing Violence against Women
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The development of community based approaches
Early childhood interventions
Working with men and boys on changing gender norms
School based interventions
Influencing policy
Category 2: Empowering Women to take leadership roles
• Developing the capacity of locally based women’s groups to set a clear
agenda and influence decision-making processes, including building women’s
understanding of an equal society
• Building solidarity and support amongst young women from different
backgrounds and communities
• Promotion of the inclusion of young women as leaders in communities and at
political level
Criteria – key points in assessment
• Need for your project – in your
community/organisation/national level. Is it
already on offer? (replication) How do you
know it exists, how did you identify it?
• Outcomes – what will be different? In your
community? In women’s lives?
• Partnership? Who, why and how?
Criteria – key points
• Timeline: That your project takes place in the
timeframe outlined
• Budget – realistic, clear and detailed
• Not-for-profit community and voluntary
organisations only
• Not for ongoing or core work
• No organisational income limit
• Will only consider one application per
organisation
Example of successful application 1
• Organisation: West Dublin Access Radio
• Amount awarded: €2,800 in total
• Project: 17 young women completed a course in Media
Expression within the station, with women’s radio
programme production being a key requirement.
• Results of this project:
17 trained women
Women’s voices and experiences are shared, women’s
experiences shared
Sister station (Near 90 FM) saw the results and did a similar
project
Example of successful application 2
• Organisation: Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre Sligo,
Leitrim & West Cavan (RCASSAC)
• Amount Awarded: €500
• Project: To actively participate in the TORL (Turn off the Red Light)
Campaign and help achieve its objectives
• Key elements for success
– Joined with the Domestic Violence Advocacy Service (partnership)
– Had plan of activity afterwards – programme to contact local TDs
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Results of this project :
70 people from wider community attended events from Sligo and Leitrim
Information disseminated to the community
People got involved in activity afterwards and a campaign focused on
contacting local politicians
Example of successful application 3
• Organisation: SPUNOUT
• Amount Awarded: €1000
• Project: To deliver a Women’s Leadership Academy for 20 young women
between the ages of 18 and 25 who wish to become future leaders in Irish
society.
Key elements for success
– Innovative and focused, the objective was clear
– Had plan of activity afterwards - change focused– women used the Academy to
develop action plans
Results of this project:
• 17 young women attended and were resourced with skills and plans to
implement their leadership skills in their communities
Mental Health and Stigma Caring
Communities Round 6
• CFI are always looking to find one type of project
that provides not only opportunity for learning
but also an opportunity that it can be replicated
elsewhere.
• This is also why as mentioned on a previous slide
we do not fund core and ongoing costs.
• A successful result of this strategy resulted in the
thinking behind our next category of Caring
Communities: Mental Health and Stigma
Mental Health and Stigma Caring
Communities Round 6
A successful application from Caring Communities Round 1 was BeWell Bray
Through their involvement with the Bray Area Partnership Youth Mental
Health sub group they implemented a programme of activities and events
that significantly raised the profile of youth mental health as a topic and
facilitated a wide reaching programme of support delivered by Headstrong in
local schools and communities.
They organised a ‘Be Well Week’ and held a seminar where Simon Harris TD,
Tony Bates Headstrong) and their (BeWell) leader Grace McManus gave
inputs to key stakeholders from the voluntary and statutory sectors. They
combined this with the formal talks in schools and with parents by
Headstrong.
A key challenge that they set themselves was to try and capture the
attention of the whole town, in particular during Be Well Week.
Mental Health and Stigma key points
in assessment
• This year we are asking applicants in the Mental Health
and Stigma Category of Caring Communities to replicate
this model in their town.
• We have €70,000 available for this category and aim to
award 10 grants.
• We will provide a guide to running a Mental health
Awareness week based on reflections by Be Well from
their running of their Be Well week, this will include key
considerations for organising and running a successful
Mental Health Awareness week in a local community
context.
• Applicants when applying will be asked to read the
template carefully and demonstrate the following :
Criteria Mental Health and Stigma
Caring Communities Round 6
• Why is this needed in your community?
• Why you are the best placed to provide this for
your community?
• Demonstrate your organisation's capacity for the
undertaking
• Why do you like the ‘Be Well’ Model?
• How will you apply the ‘Be Well’ Model in your
local context?
• How is this addressing Mental Health provision in
your area?
Criteria Mental Health and Stigma
Caring Communities Round 6
• How does this fit with other work in Mental Health in
your area?
• Are there opportunities for collaboration?
• What impact do you expect to have?
• You will be the Be Well Ambassador for your town and
will be expected to network with other Be Well towns
and their Ambassadors to share, learn and deepen the
impact of your work both locally and nationally.
• You will be asked to provide a clear and realistic budget
for the proposal
• You will be asked to provide a timeline for the work.
Criteria for all applications to any
category – key points
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Strategic Fit
The proposed project of work must fit into the current grant making priorities as
outlined above
The proposed project must serve an identified need
The proposed project must include clear, detailed, realistic costs and timescales
Population served
The proposed project works with the above mentioned target group
Reach
The proposed project is not internal to the organisation but has a wider
community reach
The proposed project has the potential for wider impact within the sector
Best practice
Create a model of working that will provide learning opportunities for other
groups
Measurable Results
Applicants must be prepared to track programme results throughout the duration
of the project
Applicants must be prepared to evaluate and learn from their work
General Criteria
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Serves an identified need
clear, detailed, realistic costs and timescales
works with the target community
Commitment to working in partnership with other
organisations
• not internal to the organisation but has a wider
community reach
• potential for wider impact within the sector
• Create a model of working that will provide learning
opportunities for other groups
General Criteria
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Applicant organisations should have an annual income of not more than
€1,000,000. Documentary evidence may be requested (there may be
some exceptions, e.g Older Persons’ Fund)
Multiple applications by one organisation may not be made in the same
category
Applicant organisations must have Audited Accounts available for our
inspection if requested
Applicants should have an organisational bank account or access to one.
The Applicant organisation is the organisation to which payment will be
made – unless we are advised otherwise – bank statement required for
Electronic Transfers.
We encourage applicant organisations to consider adopting The
Governance Code for charities – see www.governancecode.ie
A commitment to equal opportunities must be demonstrated
We will consider all requests fairly and will do our best to take any
particular need into account
Application Process – How to Apply
• Round 6 (Ethnic Minorities; Mental
Health and Stigma) is open for
applications until 4:30pm on July 24th
2015.
• Apply online only:
www.communityfoundation.ie
• Women’s Fund Round 7 to open later in
2015
Learning
• Learning important to us
• Evaluation plan (to be discussed in a later
presentation today)
• Networking
• Interim Reports
• Final Reports
• Learning Network events (2)
• Site Visits
• Shared outcomes, better for all!
Application Process
(Very) common mistakes
1. Did not read the criteria
2. Cannot clearly explain project activity
3. Timing is not aligned with grant
4. Costs don’t add up
Others
• Blank answers to questions
• Category not ticked
• Difficult to read/understand due to grammatical errors
• Request amount outside funding
• Missed deadline
• CHECK YOUR APPLICATION!!
Application/decision process
• Applications submitted online and copy sent to you with
reference number
• Applications also acknowledged by email
• Check 1 – Meets criteria by grants department
• Check 2 – Post closing date - Internal Review by grants
team
• Approval - Grants Expert Panel meet to assess applications
• Grant contribution to successful projects
• Ratification – CFI Board
• Grants issued
• All applicants informed of outcome
Characteristics of a Winning Proposal
• David Bowman, owner of Precise Edit and an experienced
proposal writer, shares the characteristics of proposals that get
noticed and funded:
• 1. Clear and significant needs
• 2. Clear connection to grantor intentions
• 3. Clear connection to strategic plan and mission
• 4. Firm leadership support
• 5. Strong plan to address needs
• 6. Evidence of organization capacity
• 7. Justifiable evaluation plan
• 8. Sufficient and necessary budget
http://www.slideshare.net/preciseedit/basics-of-grant-writingpublic
Caring Communities
Q&A
Caring Communities
The Community Foundation for Ireland
Grants and Donor Care Team:
info@foundation.ie
www.communityfoundation.ie
Tel: 01 8747354
Twitter: @CommunityFound
Facebook: communityfoundationireland