Funding Advice Service
Community First for Portsmouth runs a Funding Advice Service which provides information and support for voluntary and community organisations (VCOs).
The service offers you the following help:
- Search for potential funders
- Developing a funding strategy
- Support in writing grant applications and funding bids
- Advice and feedback on draft funding bids
- Access to FunderFinder (see separate page) and grant making directories
- Regular copies of Funding News
Any Voluntary and Community Organisation (VCO) operating within Portsmouth can use the service although priority is given to small or emerging groups and those new to funding.
Searching for funders
To search for potential funders yourself, you can:
- Visit a wide range of sources on the web (see below), many of which provide additional information to help in assessing funding needs (see list below)
- Search Open4Community (see list below)
- Use FunderFinder, a more comprehensive database of grant making trusts. This is available at our offices (see separate page).
- Consult the Directory of Grant Making Trusts and other funding publications – available at our offices.
- Receive Funding News, our regular update about important funding opportunities, information and news ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information).
Funding Tips
Before you start a funding search, ask yourself the following questions:
- Have you fully assessed your funding needs?
- Can you prove the need for the service or project you are seeking funding for?
- Have you properly costed out your requirements (including the full administrative costs of providing a service or project)?
- Are you clear about the difference between revenue and capital costs?
- Are all your documents in order (governing document/constitution, committee papers, budget, accounts, policies, banking arrangements)?
- Have you looked at your project/service through the eyes of a funder?
- Have you a system in place to monitor and evaluate your activities – so that funders can see what you’ve achieved with their investment?
Funding bodies will not support you just because a project is a “good cause”!
Training Opportunities
Community First for Portsmouth runs and hosts a series of training courses and seminars on fundraising and related topics throughout the year. We also advise on relevant courses run by other providers (see Training pages). Topics include:
- Successful fundraising
- Bid-writing
- Sustainable funding
- Contracts, tendering and procurement
- Lottery funding
- Full cost recovery
