Competing against the rest

Sheffield Theatres generates 84% of its income through a mixed funding model of box office, catering, events, hires and fundraising. Our fundraising activity is focussed on supporting work on stage and in the community, and developing our access provision both on stage and throughout the buildings.

Working closely with partners Stagetext, we wanted to extend our captioning services to make them more tailored and responsive to the audience’s needs. We were focussed on expanding our digital technology and decided to purchase tablets in order to offer captioning in the palm of the hand. An important part of this work included sharing our own learning and best practice of tablet captioning with other arts organisations, to enable them to extend and develop their access provision.

We make sure that we demonstrate our credentials and track record, and where possible, articulate an exit strategy for a project once the funding comes to an end

Work to secure funding to purchase the new equipment began with researching local and national trusts and foundations. We specifically looked for organisations whose grant-giving principals were most in line with our project aims and objectives and identified the Boshier-Hinton Foundation as the best fit. It makes grants towards the provision of facilities and advocacy for children and adults with special educational or other needs. Our application was successful and we purchased the equipment and delivered our first tablet-captioned performance in November. We share progress updates and feedback from service-users with the Boshier-Hinton Foundation so that it can see the outcomes that its investment has helped to enable. Our funding agreement was based on a one-off grant so we will support the ongoing costs of delivering the provision. There may be scope to approach the foundation for a subsequent grant in the future, but this would only be in the instance that there is another project that fits well with its funding guidelines.

It is well known that the funding marketplace is becoming increasingly competitive, with a large number of cultural and other charitable organisations vying for the same funds. Trusts are receiving many more applications than they are able to fund and therefore it’s imperative to make an application stand out from the rest. Here are some principals that we always work to:

• It is paramount that the process begins with the project itself and specifically a clear and shared understanding of the aims and expected outcomes. Falling into the trap of trying to adapt or mould a project to fit the guidelines of a funding body can draw us away from our core mission and vision. When putting an application together, the priority is making a strong case with a clear rationale, demonstrating the need and why we are well placed to carry out the work. Any funder will be looking to understand what the outcomes of the work will be and these should also support and link back to our values and mission.
• Bearing in mind that an application will be one of many that are taken through the shortlisting process, it is worth investing the time to make it as compelling, clear and concise as possible. It’s a good tactic to ask someone beyond immediate colleagues to read it to ensure that it is not esoteric in any way. Most trusts have large boards of trustees and you cannot assume knowledge of acronyms, etc. Application writing calls on us to strike a balance between providing the information asked for in the guidance and ensuring that the personality, style and values of the organisation translate from the page.
• When researching which funding bodies to approach, we look at what else they have supported in the last few years. This gives a good understanding of the types of work they prefer to fund, the amount that they typically grant and whether they commonly make one-off or multiple-year awards.
• As we may be approaching numerous trusts concurrently, we tailor our individual approaches as sending out a standard application will almost certainly reduce our chances of being successful. It’s so important that each application we make speaks directly to that funder and its interests as funders immediately recognise a bid that is a generic document. To make our approach as persuasive as possible we aim to align our work as closely as feasible to the funding body to chime with their interests and values. The application can be further enhanced by identifying any existing links we already have – we look at their trustees and use any relationships that our stakeholders might have with them to create external advocacy for our work. A letter of support once an application has been submitted might be the helping hand to make our application stand apart from the others.
• It’s crucial to remember that the grants given by funding bodies are investments. Those funders are essentially investing in an organisation and nobody is tempted by a bad investment. We make sure that we demonstrate our credentials and track record, and where possible, articulate an exit strategy for a project once the funding comes to an end. Many funders want to see what the anticipated legacy of their support will be and it’s our job to inspire this confidence through the application.

Deborah Larwood is Fundraising Manager of Sheffield Theatres.
www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk