Class Details
Grant Writing Course: Writing Successful Grant Applications
Course summary
Writing grant applications is an essential competency for many individuals, businesses and community organisations in Australia today.
This course will help you and your organisation to become ‘grant ready’, giving you the tools you need to confidently plan, prepare, write and submit a compelling grant application or funding proposal.
The first part of the course will focus on strategic preparation. We will put theory into practice, exploring the essential building blocks of grant writing and applying them to your project. This stage will provide invaluable guidance on identifying funding opportunities, and planning and preparing your submission.
Excellence in execution drives the second part of the course. We will delve into the aims and objectives of funding bodies, to ensure your project is in alignment and can be considered a viable investment. You will learn how to respond to evaluation criteria effectively and present your application in a professional way.
The course is ideal for beginner grant writers and more seasoned professionals looking to improve their grant writing skills. It will suit sole traders and entrepreneurs seeking to grow their business, small organisations looking to scale, and non-profits who want to ensure sustainable operations.
Aims
This course aims to:
- equip you/your organisation with the knowledge, skills and tools to get ‘grant ready’
- help you/your organisation understand what drives funding body decisions
- provide you/your organisation with a robust strategy to plan, prepare and write a compelling grant application
- empower you to feel confident writing high-quality grant applications and place you in the best position for success.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- describe and understand the essential elements of the grant writing process
- discuss philanthropic and funding principles in the public and private sectors
- understand the aims, objectives and priorities of different funding bodies
- discern the different tiers of government grants including local, state and federal
- understand how different types of grants apply to individuals, organisations or projects.
- understand the competitive nature of grants
- understand how to apply for government, philanthropic, trust and foundation grants
- explain how and where to search for grants and find suitable funding opportunities.
Content
This course will empower participants using the following framework:
Strategic preparation + excellence in execution = a compelling grant proposal
The course has two vital components:
Session 1: Strategic preparation
At the outset, it’s important to remember that grants are not a financial handout. Rather, they are an investment opportunity for both grant recipient and funding body. Therefore, it’s essential to demonstrate value for money, return on investment (ROI), or other beneficial outcomes – for you/your organisation, your community, and the funding body. We will cover the following topics:
- introduction to the grant writing process
- get ‘grant ready’ by ensuring you have the right organisational structures and processes in place
- develop an ‘investment mindset’, and identify which projects offer an ROI or other specific beneficial outcomes
- identify where to find grant opportunities, and how to assess you/your organisation’s eligibility
- plan a timeline with achievable milestones
- address and respond to evaluation criteria with appropriate supporting information.
Session 2: Excellence in execution
Here, we focus on the finer details of writing a compelling funding proposal. We consider strategies to concisely address the evaluation criteria, and ensure you have everything you need to submit a successful grant application. We’ll cover:
- aims and objectives of funding bodies, the priorities of program funding grants, and what they mean for you/your organisation
- avoiding jargon, using keywords and incorporating ‘buzz words’ to boost your application’s success
- how to write compelling responses to the evaluation criteria
- how to develop and complete an application check list
- how to ensure your application is submitted on time.
Who this course is for
This is a practical, hands-on course which will appeal to individuals preparing to write their first grant or more experienced grant writers looking to enhance their skillset. The course is designed for a wide range of participants including sole traders, entrepreneurs, university researchers, novice grant writers, fundraising and development managers and CEOs, working in non-profit, education, charity and community sectors. The content will encompass a range of sectors including arts, education, health, science and technology, sports and social services.
Prerequisites
None
Delivery style
This grant writing course is an interactive workshop which includes presenter training, in-class exercises, class discussion and Q&A session.
Delivery mode
- Face-to-face, presenter-taught training using your own device
- Online training via the platform Zoom
Materials
All course materials are provided electronically (via Dropbox).
What you need to do before the course
Face-to-face classes
To get the most out of the course, please bring your own laptop so you can take part in the in‑class activities.
Sessions
Location
Face-to-face (Venue TBA, Sydney)
Other information
If your upcoming class is Face-to-face (Venue TBA, Sydney), the class is located at the Camperdown/Darlington campus but the exact classroom and building has not been assigned.
The exact location on campus is confirmed approximately five business days from a class start date and you will then receive a course preparation email with this information.
Meet the facilitators
Flavia Marcello
Flavia is a writer and teacher with decades of experience leading and developing peer promotions, career development and grant-writing programs. She has a strong track record in winning grants from the Australian Research Council, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, as well as a Fellowship from the British School at Rome.
Alongside a colleague, she pioneered the use of design thinking approaches to grant-writing and ran a highly successful series of workshops at Swinburne University of Technology and the Women in Science Precinct Parkville.
Flavia has a PhD from the University of Sydney and has taught in both undergraduate and postgraduate architecture courses, with a focus on global and social themes. She has written two books and more than 30 articles and book chapters, and is a world expert on the art, architecture and design of the Italian Fascist and post-war periods.
She is a Director of Synergy3 Consulting. Some of her past clients include the Design Institute of Australia, Heide Museum of Modern Art, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Florey Institute, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and the ASTRO 3D ARC Centre of Excellence.
Now an Affiliate Professor in the Italian Studies Department at the University of Sydney, she facilitates a historical fiction group at Writing NSW and is a trained and accredited mentor in the Academic Navigation process developed by Ethos Consulting.
