Funding Festival
November 13
Funding Festival 13th November 2024 (times tbc)
Following on from a successful event last year, this year’s funding festival will look at raising money for work at the heart of your community. It will be particularly relevant for community spaces at village halls.
Topics will include:
- How to use your community space to bring economic benefit to the local community
- Raising money together – community fundraising, crowd-funding and how to do it reliably over time
- Big one-off building projects – how to make it happen
- Going green – getting money for green initiatives and improvements
Plus, how to make your bids stand out, meet the funders and a chance to network and swap ideas. We will also be giving away fact sheets and other useful material to help you to tackle the challenges for your organisation.
Please note that this event will cost £5 per booking of which £3 will go into the “pot” which can be won by making a strong pitch*, (this is regardless of how many people are coming from your organisation, so please do coordinate and book your names on together).
Every organisation coming on the day can bring a one-side of A4 pitch for how they would spend, say, £100. Participants will vote for the best one and that one will get the whole pot.
*Making an effective pitch: As part of the funding festival, we are inviting everyone who comes on the day to pitch for a pot of money. Whoever is voted the winner, gets the whole amount raised. It can be hard to know what to say to attract funding; how exactly to sell yourselves, so here are four practical suggestions:
- Talk about the difference you make not what you do; for instance we help lonely older people to get out and make friends rather than we run lunch clubs. Tell your story in a way that we can relate to – maybe use your service-users’ own voices to show what you do.
- Talk about what makes you unique as an organisation, as a project or as an idea. Why is your idea the one we need to support rather than the community centre down the road? You know what’s special about your organisation, now shout it out!
- Be specific; what will you do with this money and how will this money help you to make a difference?
- A picture tells the best stories; happy children, laughing older people, snoozy rescued kittens – well worth making space for.
It is always worth getting your pitch critiqued by others – both those who know about what you do and then try practicing the pitch to a friend who doesn’t.
Is it clear, does it tug at the heart strings – and the purse strings…? Have a go and you’ll be in with a chance!
Book your spaces here
When choosing your tickets – Please use the plus buttons to add extra members of your organisation to the booking, this will ensure you only pay the £5 fee once per organisation and also help us plan for numbers attending and therefore accomodate accordingly.
Please note – £3 of the £5 ticket cost goes directly into the pot of money won on the day by thouse pitching, so do get involved and pop your own pitch together for a chance to win!