Grant Aid Review

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Grant Aid Review

Three Year Grant Aid – Consultation

Nottingham City Council’s three year grant aid programme has recently been reviewed and consulted upon. The review aimed to ensure the programme better meets the needs of the voluntary and community sector, and that the application and assessment process is fair and transparent and easily accessible to all voluntary and community organisations.

The consultation period closed on July 4th. Over 100 voluntary and community organisations took part in a series of funding question and answer sessions across the city where draft versions of the guidance notes and application were available for discussion. The information was also available from the Single Gateway Unit, and on this website.

The comments and suggestions made by voluntary and community groups were incorporated into the revised three-year grant programme.

Click here to find out more information about the three-year grants programme.

Questions and answers about the new three-year grants

The questions asked by voluntary and community groups are listed below, along with their answers. For easy use, they have been grouped into types of question.

Who will be funded?

Will there be guidelines on who or what you will not fund?
Yes, this is clearly explained in the guidance notes that accompany the application form.
Click here to find the guidance notes

Can new organisations or new projects apply?
Yes, the funding is available to new activities or organisations and for existing organisations or for activities you already run.

Are currently funded organisations or projects automatically guaranteed funding?
No, all applicants have an equal opportunity and no organisation is guaranteed funding.

Can organisations apply for funding in partnership?
If organisations are working in partnership already and you feel the partnership can meet our funding priorities, then we would welcome a partnership application. If you don’t currently work in partnership with another organisation and you intend to put in a joint bid, make sure you’ve carefully considered who would be accountable for the funding and how you would ensure the partnership works.

What is the difference between frontline and infrastructure organisations?
Frontline organisations provide a direct service or activities for people in the local community. Infrastructure organisations provide support or a service for frontline organisations.

Priorities for funding

Can an organisation apply for funding towards more than one priority?
Yes, applicants can apply for all priorities to which their activity contributes.

Who determines the priorities for funding?
Each City Council service is responsible for setting its own priorities for funding. These are based on needs identified by the Service through consultation and issues identified by the Local Area Agreement (LAA).
Click here to find out more about the funding priorities.

How does an organisation who does not meet any of the priorities apply for this funding?
You must meet at least one of the priorities identified in the guidance in order to be eligible to apply.

Does each organisation who applies, need to promote community cohesion?
The City Council has added a question to assess how applications bring communities together. Organisations are encouraged to consider how they can bring people together through the work that they do. If it’s not appropriate to bring the people your organisation helps together with others, please explain why.

What will be funded?

Will organisations be able to apply for a contribution towards their core operating costs?
Yes, Three Year Grant Aid can be used to support core running costs.

Will there be advice on what types of things funding can be used for?
Yes, the guidance notes contain examples and advice on what types of things can be included in an organisations budget. If organisations require further advice once they have read the guidance they should contact the Single Gateway Unit by e-mail grantsenquiries@nottinghamcity.gov,uk or on 0115 915 8845.
Click here to find the guidance notes

How much can organisations apply for?

How much can an organisation apply for?
Each priority has an identified budget. Organisations can apply for funding up to the amount available in the priority to which their activities contribute. If an organisation has activities that contribute to more than one priority they can apply for the amount available in the combined budgets of each of those priorities.

Can an organisation apply for more funding than the City Council is making available for a priority?
No, the amount available for each priority is the maximum available to us. If the delivery of the activity or service is greater than this, the organisation will be expected to seek additional funding from other sources.

Will the City Council offer full cost recovery through its funding?
Yes, organisations should fully cost their applications, making sure all costs associated with the application are budgeted for. If the cost of the activity exceeds the amount available for the relevant funding priority or priorities then you need to seek funding from another organisation or reduce the scale of your project to ensure your costs.

How will the minimum funding level of £5,000 affect smaller organisations?
Smaller organisations will be able to apply to the City Council for One Off grant funding, the maximum level of which is £5,000.

The application form

Click here to find the application forms

Will there be a different application form for each City Council Service or each different priority?
No, each City Council Service is using the same forms, one for infrastructure organisations and one for frontline organisations. These are clearly identified to ensure the correct forms are used by applicants.

In Section 1, the form asks for information about an organisation’s staff. What happens if an organisation employs a lot of people?
If an organisation has a large number of staff the City Council would only expect staff to be identified that are specific to the activities or service for which funding is being sought. This is made clearer on the application form.

In Section 2, the form asks for information about an organisations funding over the last three years. What happens if an organisation has received a lot of different funding of different amounts in this time?
If an organisation has received a lot of different funding in the last three years the City Council would only expect organisations to identify funding that is directly relevant to the activity or service for which funding is being sought. This is made clearer on the application form.

In Section 2, the form asks for information about an organisation’s funding over the last three years. Why is this information needed?
This information gives the City Council information about the financial history of both an organisation and the services and activities it provides. If your organisation is new and does not have records for the last three years then please tell us that in the application form. We will look at your capacity to manage the funding through other criteria.

In Section 3, the form asks for information about what outputs will be delivered in the first year of the grant and during the lifetime of the grant. Is an organisation expected to identify specific figures at this point?
No, following the consultation we are not asking for information on outputs now: instead we are asking for information on the outcomes you will deliver (outcomes are the changes that are caused by your work. For example, a project providing art activities for young people could have the outcomes that the young people’s confidence improves or their relationships improve).
The City Council expects applicants to broadly identify on the application form what they hope to achieve. This information will be used in assessment and will also help us work with organisations we award grants to develop detailed outputs in the Service Level Agreement we will negotiate.

In Section 3, the form asks for information about partnership working. What is this referring to?
The response to this question should include any partners your organisation currently works with to deliver the type of activities you are seeking funding for and any partners it intends to work with over the next three years (the lifetime of the grant). We do not encourage organisations to develop partnerships solely to seek funding. Make sure the partnership would be well managed and that partners are clear about their responsibilities before submitting an application form.

In Section 4, the form asks for a Business Plan for all applications over £50,000. Is this £50,000 per year or over the lifetime of the grant?
Please see questions about supporting documents.

Will the application form be the same for both infrastructure and frontline organisations?
No, the application forms are slightly different to reflect the fact that these two types of organisation provide services to different people.

The assessment process

Will there be an opportunity for the voluntary and community sector to be involved in the decision making process?
Recommendations will be made each City Council Service providing the funding. The final decision will be made by the City Council’s Executive Board.

How does the City Council know that an organisation applying can manage the funding that is being applied for?
The capability of an organisation to manage City Council funding will be assessed through the application form, the organisation’s supporting documents and through discussions, if needed.

Will there be a point system in the assessment process?
Yes, assessors will use a scoring matrix to determine the strength of each individual application. You need to ensure your application form provides the information needed to meet the funding criteria we have published. We are holding workshops in July and September to help organisations develop their application forms.
Click here to find out more about the scoring process
Click here to find out dates for the funding workshops

How will the scoring matrix be set up?
The assessment criteria relates to the information we ask for in the application. Each criteria has a choice of three scores so we can assess whether your answer fully, partly or does not meet our criteria.

Supporting information and documents

Will the reserves of an applicant be taken into consideration within the assessment process?
If an applicant has submitted an application that we consider could be funded but does not appear to have sufficient reserves to reflect the circumstances of their organisation we will seek further information from the applicant to ensure the organisation is viable.

What supporting documents does an organisation need to send in with the application form?
The documents needed are clearly listed in the guidance notes that accompany the form. Failure to supply the documents at this time could lead us to reject the application. If you are unable to supply all documents needed because of issues outside your control let us know and we will try to take account of your circumstances.
Click here to find the guidance notes

Sources of help

Does the City Council have any sources of grant aid available within the three years of this programme?
The City Council has One Off grants of up to £5,000 available through the Single Gateway Unit.

Will there be easy to access guidance on the programme?
Yes, application packs include guidance notes including information on priorities, what can be funded and advice on completing an application form. Click here to find this information online.
We are holding workshops to answer any queries with applications in July and September.
Click here to find details of these workshops.

Will information be available electronically?
Yes, the application form and guidance notes are available to download from the City Council website.

Will groups be able to access face to face advice on completing the application form?
Yes, the Single Gateway Unit are undertaking a number of sessions where organisations can book an appointment to talk to a Grants Officer. If organisations cannot make these sessions they can contact the Grants team by telephone on 0115 915 8845 or email grantsenquiries@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
Click here to find details of these workshops

Can a City Council Officer be an Independent Referee?
Yes, as long as they are not involved with the assessment of applications. If you are unsure whether a staff member you want to use as a referee is involved in assessment please contact them.

Can a City Councillor be an Independent Referee?
Yes, as long as they are not a member of the Executive Board. The Executive Board will decide what grants are awarded and so can’t act as referees for grant applicants.
Click here for a list of Executive Board members

Will the Council support a ‘buddying system’ if a small organisation does not have the capacity to manage the allocated funds?
If an organisation considers it will have difficulty managing the finances of a grant, but can deliver activities that meet our priorities. We will consider its application if a sustainable infrastructure organisation is willing to manage the grant finances on its behalf.

The process after a decision has been made

Will successful applicants still have a Service Level Agreement?
Yes, this will be negotiated during January – March 2009.

What is a Service Level Agreement?
It’s the agreement between the City Council and the funded organisation which sets out what the funded organisation will deliver in return for the grant aid.

When will successful applicants receive their first grant payment?
The first grant payments will be made in April 2009 when the three year funding period begins.

How will funding be monitored?
The City Council is currently developing new monitoring procedures to fit with the new application form. These hope to reduce the administrative burden on organisations and cut bureaucracy.

Can we appeal if our application is rejected?
No, you can make a complaint using the City Council’s complaints procedures if we do not follow the grant assessment processes we have developed following consultation. You cannot appeal against a decision we make following the grant assessment processes.

Will applicants get any feedback?
Both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be entitled to feedback regarding their application. The City Council will explain why unsuccessful applications have been rejected in the letter giving the decision. The City Council hopes this will support organisations to improve future applications.