Writing the perfect tender

PM3: Writing the perfect
tender
David Warner, Director,
London Funders
Dan Fletcher, Deputy Director,
Kingston Smith LLP

www.londonfunders.org.uk
The Changing Funding Landscape –
a London Perspective
(but with wider resonance –hopefully!)
23rd February 2015

What is London Funders?
London Funders is the membership network for funders and investors in
London’s civil society. We provide a safe place for funders to think, share,
learn and act together.
Our mission – to strengthen and support funders and promote effective
funding practices, to meet the needs of Londoners
We do this by:
• Providing a space for learning and collaboration between funders
• Being a voice for funders
• Identifying and promoting effective funding models

Our members
We are unique in bringing all 33 boroughs and London Councils together
with independent trusts and foundations (large and small, local and
national), social and corporate investors, lottery funders, corporate
givers, housing associations and others.
Our members:
• Are passionate about London and Londoners
• Fund and invest through a number of channels
• Fund and invest in every aspect of London’s life

London 2015 and beyond
London is a complex city and its funding landscape is changing dramatically.
Some challenges facing our members are:
1) The shrinking and changing State
• The relationship with the state
• A devolution deal for London
• The boundary between independent funding and statutory funding
• Challenges: - navigating a messier, more locally governed world; do
locally based organisations have the capacity and scale to respond?
What does this mean for “additionality”

2) Changing demographics
• A rising and aging population nationally
• A London population of almost 9 million by 2031
• Younger population in London than elsewhere
• Continuing diversity
• Challenges for the infrastructure of London, school places, housing
and care services, and also the voluntary sector and volunteering.
• This could lead to people working and volunteering in different ways
e.g. micro volunteering or part time volunteering as a transition to
retirement

3) The Age of Austerity
• Will radically reshape and redraw our environment
• There is less money, but increasing expectations for funders and
commissioners to do more
• Changes to the labour market – insecure, greater in-work poverty (combined
with rising property market and increased renting and insecure housing in
London)
• How do funders work together? “Managing the Market”?
• May mean exploring new forms of finance and investment e.g. social
investment or micro finance initiatives
• From a “ financing economy of purchasing, contracts and social investment”
to a “resource raising economy” of finance and non-cash investment”

4) What works is what matters – not who delivers
• The focus has to be on the ultimate beneficiaries – the citizens of
London, and not (necessarily) which organisation is providing the
service
• Public sector funders are accountable to the public (and independent
funders driven by their own charitable missions) – so keen to see
impact and demonstrate outcomes

What does this mean for
London’s Voluntary sector?
Change
- This may mean change in what we do, who we work with and the
ways that we work with them
- Change is happening so we need to embrace it
Complexity
- Complexity of both the operating environment and also of the needs
we are trying to meet.

What does this mean for
London’s Voluntary sector?
Challenge
- No one organisation or funder has all the answers and resources
- We MUST find new ways of working together in partnership
Clarity
- For providers this means clarity of your mission, your purpose and
the outcomes you are seeking to achieve
- For funders – clarity about who to commission or fund, clarity about
your reporting requirements
- For everyone – clarity about the vision for people in London and the
strategy and resources needed to achieve it

Some reflections to finish…
 Leadership matters
We need to develop shared models of leadership, and place the people
of London at the centre of our thinking
 Realistic expectations are needed
We need to be realistic about managing expectations about what
funders can do, about what providers can provide and about what
Londoners can expect
 Honesty matters!
We need an honest and constructive on-going dialogue together about
what is and isn’t working

Thank you
David Warner
Director
david@londonfunders.org.uk
020 7255 4489
@LondonFunders

Bid-writing: Getting it
right
Dan Fletcher MInstF(Dip)
Deputy Director,
Kingston Smith
Fundraising and Management

Workshop programme
 Checking how ready your charity is to
write bids
 Tips and ideas on writing successful bids
 Getting your message across
 Understanding where Impact fits in

Why do we need to raise
money?
 Survival
 Expand existing activities
 Develop new activities
 Broaden the income base
 Improve sustainability
 Meet future anticipated needs

Before you can ask for money #1
 Know what you need and how much it
costs
 Be able to explain why what you need is
important and the difference it will make
 Show you understand the need and can
deliver
 Explain how the project/need fits with the
overall mission and strategy of the
organisation (local, national, international)

Before you can ask for
money #2
 Demonstrate track record through case
studies and testimonials
 Have plans for evaluating the impact of
the project or donation
 Empathise with the donor
 Have the trust of the donor
 Be prepared to discuss the project with
the donor before, during and after

Accounts – what’s the story?
 Need to understand accounts and
ensure the bid tells the same story
 Reserves – Check not in breach of
reserves policy
 Deficits – Explain
 Designated funds – Explain
 Annual report – is it SORP
compliant?
 Check if signed essential or draft

Kingston Smith Readiness
Checker for Trusts
fundraising
 Clear, demonstrable need
 Organisational strategy
 A positive image
 Strong leadership and networks
 Potential donors
 Internal organisation skills and capacity
 Financial viability

WORKSHOP SESSION
 Use the full KSFM
Readiness Checker
by yourselves for a
few minutes
reviewing your own
charity, and then to
validate your
thoughts discuss
your conclusions with
the person next to
you.

Read the criteria.
Only apply if your project fully
meets the criteria.
Allow yourself (and the trust)
sufficient time.

Features of a successful bid
 Paragraphs of no more than 6 sentences
 Sentences of no more than 17-25 words
 No jargon
 No acronyms
 Active headlines of 6-12 words, every 2
paras
 Pictures with eyes/faces/action and 2-4
sentence caption in lieu of long case
study

Tone of a successful bid
 Always positive – no threats, no disasters
 Always honest – explain risks, show
learnings
 Mention the funder as often as you
mention you and your work
 Repetition of how you meet their criteria
 Read aloud test – does it sound friendly
and upbeat but not jovial or patronising
 Beat the ‘So what?’ test

Features v benefits
Features
Facts
Technical information
Price
Jargon
OUR language
About US
Benefits
What THEY will get
Good that comes out
THEIR language
Solves THEIR problem
Foretells THEIR enjoyment

Features and Benefits
 Features describe what you or your
organisation makes, provides or does
 Benefits are tangible statements
showing what the product will do for the
donor or beneficiary
 FOCUS ON THE BENEFITS

‘What you ACHIEVE (by doing it) can motivate
even the stoniest of hearts’
‘What you DO is of no interest to
anyone…except you!’
Remember, in the non-profit world…

A simple format
 Establish Credibility
 Identify the problem
 Describe your solution
 Describe the outcomes
 Describe delivery

Establish credibility
Vision and mission Date established
Charity reg no
Key achievements Vital statistics
Who we are
and what we do

Identify the problem
How widespread is it and
how urgent
Why is it important
What are consequences of
doing nothing
Who is it important to
What is the
nature of the
problem?
Case studies

Describe your solution
Where and when will
your solution take place
Who are our partners
Who benefits, how many,
how often, case studies
Who delivers, how many,
how often
Why us?
Why now?

Describe the outcomes
Our objectives – bigger
picture
How will we measure, short
term, long term
What is the distance
travelled, over what period
How do we change
people’s lives and how to
we know
What difference
will we make

Describe delivery
Budget: show all costs,
cashflow, FCR if
appropriate
Show other sources of
income & commitment
Credibility of delivery
team, learning past &
future
Credibility of longer term
impact measurement
methodologies
A safe pair of
hands

A rough guide on length
Lower limit should fit into 2 sides A4 without
pictures
Some trusts will say how many pages is required
Section Length in words
Credibility 100-200
Problem 150-300 Plus picture
Solution 200-500 Plus picture
Outcomes 200-500 plus picture
Delivery 100-200 plus budget

Do
 Leave plenty of space on
the page
 Number all pages
 Include your charity’s
name on a header on
each page
 Caption all pictures
 Send everything together
 Send a covering letter
addressed to your
contact
 Include accounts
Don’t
 Use a smaller typeface
to cram it all in
 Repeat yourself
 Ask for extra time to
meet a deadline
 Present the application
in plastic folder or
similar
 Send materials they
haven’t asked for

When you have a response
If Yes….
SAY THANK YOU
If they so No….
Request feedback if possible and
SAY THANK YOU

WORKSHOP SESSION
 Review
instructions and
application form for
Esmée Fairbairn’s
Museums
Collections funding
stream. In groups
of 3-4 complete the
main parts of the
form in summary

Understanding
the difference
makes all the
difference
“With philanthropy, seeing is believing;
the more ‘seeing’ we can do, the better.”
Victoria Hornby, Sainsbury Family Trusts

Output – Outcome - Impact
Output
Outcom
e
Impact
Products, services and facilities that result
from an organisation’s or project’s activities
The changes, benefits, learning or other
effects that result from what the project or
organisation makes, offers or provides
Broader or longer-term effects of a project’s
or organisation’s outputs, outcomes or
activities

Demonstrating Impact
.
NPC perspectives, ‘Talking about results, September 2010

Scope of Impact
 Economic, social or
political
 Individual or collective
 Geographic – local to
international
 Time specific – short
to long term
 Stakeholders

Influencing Impact
 Start with a Theory of Change
 Organisational capacity to deliver impact
 Internal and external stakeholders
 Is trusts fundraising at your charity’s
heart?

Seven principles of SROI
 Involve stakeholders.
 Understand what changes.
 Value the things that matter.
 Only include what is material.
 Do not over-claim.
 Be transparent.
 Verify the result.

WORKSHOP SESSION
 In groups of 3-4, pick
one charity
represented and,
using the seven
principles in
particular, discuss
the barriers to
understanding the
charity’s impact, and
how they may be
overcome.

Thank you
dfletcher@ks.co.uk
@DanFletcherKSFM
@KSFMConsulting
www.ks.co.uk

Writing the perfect tender

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