Tech Talk for 14 March

Welcome to our next “Tech Talk” weekly article.

Applying for funding is a very common task undertaken by staff, trustees or volunteers at a charity or voluntary sector organisation. What you apply for and how is a subject for funding support, but it has been very obvious as we observe and support groups over the years, that there is a large technological barrier which can make the funding application processes more difficult than it needs to be.

Having recently run one of our occasional “Effective Online Funding Applications” workshops, I thought that for this week’s “Tech Talk” I’d outline the issues and themes in the session.

Introduction

Almost all applications for grant funding are online these days. One approach is where you download application forms, complete them and then upload them back to a website or email them back to the funder. But for a very large number of funders the entire process is done online via a website and a range of form fillings and uploads.

But there are many technical hurdles in that process which make the process hard for the very smallest groups (and not much easier for larger organisations).

What are the issues?

To complete a funding application electronically you will possibly or probably need to do any or all of the following:

register for accounts which means having an email address
be able to word process your answers and word count them to fit the application
be able to edit a .pdf document which contains form fields
upload a range of documents related to your organisation – some might be in different formats, need to be scanned or combined
edit documents collaboratively if several people are working on an application
increasingly commonly you may need to create video or audio submissions, edit them and upload them

As well as these technical techniques which require the right software, tools, experience and support, there are other issues about an online application process that need to be considered. Important ones are:

getting word counts and formatting right
ensuring delivery of your final application
tracking changes or recording your submissions

Every application can be different, but each one can involve technical issues to overcome. Are you ready for that?

Some examples

Many technical problems come to our attention at VANEL. Just some that WE have experienced ourselves in the past year include:

The need to edit videos & upload them to a YouTube or Vimeo channel to attached to a submission. Editing approaches and software needed.
Word counts that are not what they seem. Word counting your answer in Microsoft Word is not a guarantee that the wordcount on the form you are completing is the same.
Online, multi-page application forms that do not allow you to proceed to the next page of questions without completing a page first and not being able to save your progress. So how to know the questions in advance and prepare your answers without losing them?
Editing a .pdf to our satisfaction only to discover that the funder receives an essentially blank form due to technical incompatibilities between our software version and theirs!
And a recent online application requiring multiple documents to be uploaded but a process that only seemed to allow 1 document to upload before failing. We found a workaround by uploading one document, saving the application, then starting again where we left off over and over until each form was added.

How would you approach these sort of issues or problems?

So what to do?

Almost all of this is about preparation (and practice). It’s about not leaving the funding application right until the last minute and then discovering that you’re ready with your words and content but that the technical issues have caused you stress, delays or a potential failure of the application process.

So start by looking at the potential issues. Get the right software to hand. Try things out. Experiment. Seek support.

How can we help?

If this is an issue that you think you need support with, then please get in touch and sign up for one of my “Effective Online Funding Applications” workshops. In these I cover a 14 point plan to give a bit of structure to learning about this:

01 take stock
02 plan your approach
03 assemble your toolkit
04 get permission
05 compile your information
06 get ready to prove yourself
07 prepare your emergency plan
08 practice…
09 read and try
10 write it
11 test putting it all together
12 get it assembled
13 submit it
14 breathe, relax and learn

The workshop introduces useful software tools and techniques and provides all kinds of tips and advice.

The 1.5 hour workshop is run on demand and costs just £5 per person (for VANEL members) or £15 for non-members. If you’re interested, get in touch for a discussion and to get on the waiting list.

Or simply take this article as a wake up call that you need to start thinking about this topic seriously. It will take the stress away when next time you sit down to make a funding application close to the deadline….

Contact Karl Elliott via 01472 361043 or karl@vanel.org.uk.