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What’s the most important part of a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant request?
Simple – the first 100 words of the application form. This is where the funder asks you to briefly summarise your project.
It’s the one of the only things the panel reviewing your request for support will see. Yet it is so often the last thing a project development team thinks about in the last dash to the funding deadline finish line. Perhaps because people want the project to be fully formed before writing it, or perhaps because summing up what might have been a years-long journey to get to this point or a major investment for your organisation cares passionately about is inherently difficult.
But there is a beauty and power in these couple of paragraphs.
This is essentially your ‘elevator pitch’ for your project. That’s a brief persuasive ‘speech’ that you can use to spark interest in what your project wants to achieve – but it lasts no longer than a short ride in a lift.
The smart cookies don’t leave the most important 100 words to last, they start the whole process by working on the summary, and then loop back and fine tune them at the end. This helps to focus the whole project development process on what’s most important to your organisation and on the difference (outcomes) you want to see, before you get caught up in the ‘weeds’ of the detail of how to make your project happen – budgets, staffing, time plans, risk registers, match-funding.
For more help with National Lottery Heritage Fund applications and your first 100 words check-out our application review service or for more hands-on help application mentoring or critical friend support.
Kate Measures, Director
