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Ideas to be developed may be many and promising but not all have the financial backing to get fully executed and implemented. With thousands of funders & sponsors out there willing to fund projects each with different terms and conditions and ways of handling applications and making grants it is only about establishing the right connection. The good thing about the whole process is that majority of the grant schemes follow similar stages.

So how do you apply for grant funding ? It makes sense to view the whole process as continuous cycle instead of a one-time event as many of the funders make grants based on their interest in the running of that project and often buy longer term interest in it. Many funders place terms of requiring continuous monitoring information on the project and associate the payment installments to regular supply of reports. So finding a grant isn’t the end of it and neither is delivering the final project.

The beginning of applying for a project funding, like any other process should be made with preparation and understanding. The funders can be convinced only once you fully understand your own funding requirements and estimating what you will be able to deliver. One should always have a solid fundraising strategy and financing options that are well researched. Doing research about the funder you intend to reach is a also a part of research as it helps to devise a good negotiating strategy.

After the research comes the stage of applying for a grant , a well researched application has advantage while there are thousands others. Many funders provide information regarding their procedure , ongoing projects and projects that have been already funded while some also provide continuous reports on progress of previous projects. Many sponsors require some kind of security in case of project failure or impose a set of conditions based on the compliance of which only grants should be made. One thing that should be kept in mind while applying for grant is even with all the preparation and research there is always a chance it might get secured by any other applicant. Finding out the discrepancies in the application and working on them is an important part of this stage.

In case you are successful in securing funding the sponsors expect you to comply to any terms or conditions associated with grant release. In addition to abiding by all the conditions it is always helpful to sound grateful while accepting the fund not only to the main sponsor but to all those who helped along the way improving both networking and working environment. After the project is implemented and delivered come the stage of reporting the sponsors about its performance and whatever issues it may be facing. Some projects require running expenses or cash flow required for early phases of running and having good communication with sponsors can greatly help resolve related issues.