Your track record
Funders will often take account of the track record of a group or organisation before agreeing to give it money or resources. It is just like us asking a builder what experience they have before agreeing to contract them, or asking a community artist about their experience before agreeing to use them on a project.
There are a number of bits of information that funders might want to know:
What projects or activities are your group or organisation undertaking at the moment?
What activities are you planning to undertake in the near future (particularly those that are definite)?
What similar projects have you undertaken in the past and has there been any evaluation of them? DId you deliver what you said you would? If not what were the reasons behind this?
Who do you work with on your projects and activities (often checking to see that your group or organisation operates within a context)?
Don't worry too much if you haven't applied to the funder before - some programmes are set up to encourage new applicants so you shouldn't be disadvantaged just because you've not had the funding before. You may however, need to provide the funder with a number of policies and documents before they will enter a contract with you. From a funders point of view, the greater the amount that you're applying for, the more they will need to be satisfied that you have the skills and experience to deliver what you say you can. Many voluntary and community groups gradually build up their experience of applying for and delivering externally funded projects, by starting with small applications such as Awards for All, and building up from there. Though this is not a hard and fast rule it is a sensible approach and can break groups in gently to the responsibility of managing externally funded projects.
