Good practice seminars

Important to get advice from those who know.

Realise the importance of grants management within your organisation. Proper training is vital!

Funders and recipients need to be able to easily identify their grants and access key management information such as the amounts awarded, spent and claimed to date. Reports will inform the Finance Director and senior management. But this can be difficult if there isn't any central co-ordination and control and a single grants database!

Create 'central' support mechanisms eg. a grants panel, comprehensive database, project preparation guide, procedures manual and provide annual staff training for a basic skill set. This gives benefits with confidence and capacity building, clarity about responsibilities, better project delivery and ability to meet timetables.

Imperative to engage all parties (funders, recipients and auditors) early on to establish good working relationships. Aim for open and honest communication. Face-to-face contact on neutral and comfortable ground can help. Agreeing procedures etc helps organise work, 'think ahead' and train staff. Reap rewards later with a smoothly-running project.

Recipients should give early notice to funders as soon as objectives might not be met. This avoids later 'fire-fighting'. By working together, all parties can support each other and find constructive solutions to avoid problems later.

Take advice from WEFO's article 4 team before administering an EU grant scheme.

Use (or refer to) 'protocol documents'. These are valuable if your 'grants expert' moves on to another role (or employer!).

Have dedicated finance staff for large capital schemes.

Involve finance early to include all costs and set invoicing arrangements.

The home-page for Grants GPX is here.

Our website covers:

• the grants lifecycle
• a directory of terms
• case studies

Examples of offer letters, terms and conditions and claim forms can be downloaded.

There is also an example of a 'Grants protocol', advice on setting controls and co-ordination protocols, advice for funders on minimising complexity and advice on a 'grants database'.

There's advice for funders on:

'Have I consulted as appropriate?'

There's advice for bidders and recipients:

'Do I have sufficient up-to-date training and support?'

There's advice for bidders and recipients:

'Do I have sufficient up-to-date training and support?'

'Do we have enough resources to develop proposals?'

'Do we have a model application guide?'

Is a 'One stop shop' possible?

Use a central grants team.

Have a single manager responsible for grants.

The website covers the roles of a 'Funding Manager' and a 'Grants Co-ordinator'.

There's advice for bidders and recipients on:

'Do we have a Funding Manager and Team/Working Group?'

'Do we have a Grants Co-ordinator?'

When rationalising grant schemes, how can the paying body combine cultures and working practices to best advantage?

Issue 'combined offer letters' for match-funding.

There's advice for funders on:

'Can I merge this scheme, or its successor, with others?'

How do we risk-assess (or bid for anything)?

How can risks be shared?

Local authorities have anxieties about the additional risks they bear with partnerships - especially the financial risks - as well as the usual risks with project delivery. Paying bodies need to recognise this.

Be an 'Intelligent Funder' - learn lessons from the past and feedback forms to gain insights for future success.

WAO comment - Recipients can become 'Intelligent Bidders' - our website gives advice on:

'Do we keep records of bids won and lost?'

'Are lessons captured and disseminated?'

There's advice for funders on:

'How do I select winners?'

(Look at the quality of an applicant (track record, financial standing, capacity and capability, arrangements for managing and monitoring and the level of innovation).

'Can I learn from existing schemes?'

There's advice for recipients on:

'Do our proposals fit into the Funding and Corporate Strategies?'

We'll cover this issue in more detail when we add new materials to the site later this year.

How do I find the funding sources to match the projects I want to take forward? (This applies to 'match-funders' as well as bidders).

How to find recurrent funding for a successful project.

Managers having projects funded from many sources face differing requirements and audit approaches.

Frustration that funds are not always 'well-marketed' - potential recipients may be unaware of them.

Voluntary and community groups see a noticeable decline in the grants available: this will impact on them and their ability to deliver policies and services.

Building a strong relationship with paying bodies can reap benefits in future funding success and building relationships with others.

Match the objectives of funders and recipients.

Remember the HR consequences of short-term funding.

There's lots of experience around with Convergence funds, INTERREG IVc, transport schemes, Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund.

Funders could do more to encourage small organisations to work together to develop joint bids.

The Welsh Assembly Government's 'Spatial European Teams' aim to facilitate access to European funding, supporting bidders with their 'Expressions of Interest' to the Welsh European Funding Office and in business planning. They can also help to broker joint projects if small bodies have similar projects in mind.

http://wefo.wales.gov.uk/programmes/sets/?lang=en

The 'Wales Funding Portal' is very useful to the community and voluntary sector as it brings together details of many grants which they can bid for.

http://www.sustainablefundingcymru.org.uk/

Other sources covering available grants include funders' websites and newsletters, internet search engines; IT packages and the press (the 'Western Mail' can be useful).

Consider if it will be worth 'spending to save'. As an example, Denbighshire LEA now has two officers to help schools find grants for improving buildings and the quality of learning.

There's advice for bidders and recipients on:

'Have we established effective relationships with funders?'

'Can I access a knowledge base of grants?'

'Can I identify all potential funders?'

'Have I designed exit strategies?'

There's advice for funders on:

'How will I publicise?'

'What happens at the end of grant (exit strategy)?'

What additional sources of income are there for colleges eg which bodies are eligible for the Single Investment Fund and Big Lottery Fund?

Collaboration between sectors can help deliver objectives.

There's advice for bidders on:

'Can I access a knowledge base of grants?'

'Can I identify all potential funders?'

What's good practice for business plans?

Funders find that Bidders use various formats - from the formal format specified by the funder to a more 'creative' one written by someone passionate about their worthy cause but not skilled in 'form-filling'. Consequently, assessors at the funding body need good 'judgement skills' and should focus on the quality of a proposed project rather than solely upon how the business plan was compiled. There is a big consultancy market in bid writing!

The main thing is that bidders should develop a quality business plan for their organisation's needs - not just follow a mechanistic 'tick-box' approach to chase after particular grants. Plans need to set out a clear vision of the project idea and should 'look forward' rather than only covering the past.

Funders should know how to say 'No' early - as not all ideas are good ones.

Funders are asked to remember that the outcome of a bid may be very important for the applicant - even though the bid may be one of many for the paying body to consider.

There's advice for bidders on:

'Are quality checks made on bids?'

There's other information on:

'Do our proposals fit into the Funding and Corporate Strategies?'

The website covers 'appraisal' and 'approval'.

There's advice for funders on:

'How will I evaluate bids and select winners?'

'Will my selection process be quality assured?'

'How will I notify 'losers' (unsuccessful bidders)?'

What grants are available re Welsh language?

 Remember to build Welsh language considerations into your project bid.

How to get a clear and common understanding of rules.

How do I build colleagues' understanding of the importance of compliance with the offer letter and terms and conditions (and the need to seek early approval of any necessary or desired amendments)?

How to secure agreement across all areas on anything - particularly application forms, offer letters and claim forms.

Project development - remember to establish systems at the outset; project team training, regular monitoring, and - where agreed with the funder - procedures to re-profile spend and outputs.

Personal contact is valuable - make opportunities for getting people to work together.

Get staff ownership and 'buy-in'.

Establish a good relationship with colleagues and grant recipients.

The website covers 'acceptance'

There's advice for recipients on

'Do we have effective internal communication?'

'How will I monitor compliance?'

'Have I obtained written agreement for virements and changes?'

There's advice for funders on:

'How will I deal with virements, changes and slippage?'

There's advice for recipients on a 'grants database' and

'How will I monitor compliance?'

Problems with procurement and procurement rules.

See comments for partnership arrangements.

There's advice for funders on:

'Have I checked legality and regulations?'

There's advice for recipients on:

'How will I ensure proper purchasing procedures are followed?'

How do I recover overheads?

Are different systems needed for overheads?

What staff costs are ineligible?

Need acceptable apportionment methodologies.

Need acceptable method for allocation of salaries.

There's advice for recipients on:

'Are bids costed correctly?'

What's the best way for monitoring?

Monitoring needs to be appropriate, bearing in mind the size, risk and complexity of the grant and the cost, benefit and practicability of the monitoring process. Sometimes a simple process without complexity will be suitable: this can be decided on a 'case by case' basis.

Set out the monitoring process at the application stage and in the terms and conditions, so that everyone will know what is required of them. This helps the recipient's project manager collect and retain the right evidence while activities are taking place - thereby saving a big problem at the end (see question on 'evaluation' ).

The offer letter/terms and conditions (as agreed and signed by the funder and the recipient) should also specify the outputs which the project must deliver.

Reports of projects' financial positions and their progress towards targets should be given in a standard prescribed format to help the grant paying body review these easily.

Recipients should give early notice to funders as soon as objectives might not be met. This avoids later 'fire-fighting'. By working together, all parties can support each other and find constructive solutions to avoid problems later.

There's advice for funders:

'Are my terms and conditions fir for purpose?'

'Is my claim form fit for purpose?'

'How will I monitor progress?'

'How will I carry out interim evaluation?'

'How do I deal with poor performance?'

'How will I deal with virements, changes and slippage?'

There's advice for recipients:

'How will I monitor my project?'

'How will I monitor partners?'

'How will I reach completion on time?'

How to receive the correct information 'on-time'.

The Welsh Assembly Government has a new 'outcome focus'.

Receive information and evidence on time - allocate sufficient staff time to chase/visit recipients if necessary.

As a funder, your relationship with your customer is important - but don't 'go native' once projects are running.

Share information as good communication is vital.

There's advice for recipients:

'How will I monitor my project?'

'How will I monitor partners?'

The website covers 'additionality', 'performance indicators' and 'targets'.

There's advice for funders:

'Have I set milestones, PIs, targets?'

'How will I monitor progress?'

Evaluation asks whether a project delivered its targets, with money being spent on the activities originally approved.

Involve all parties and - if funding is to be repeated - learn any lessons for the future.

The Lloyds TSB Foundation has a simple guide to evaluation, suitable for small groups in receipt of their first grant.

There's advice for funders:

'How will I meet the policy objective and arrange for evaluation?'

'Are my terms and conditions fir for purpose?'

'How will I carry out interim evaluation?'

'How will I finally evaluate my scheme - and involve stakeholders?'

There's advice for recipients:

'How will I carry out project evaluation?'

Are electronic copies of documents allowable?

What are the right procedures for document retention and archiving - especially for collaborative partnership projects?

How to ensure that recipients maintain records for the time required.

Recipients are often unsure about document retention requirements, as these differ widely across grant programmes and funders. Always refer to guidance and requirements set by the relevant funder - and make sure partners (and any small businesses) are aware of this and comply.

The Welsh European Funding Office works to a British Standard, which ensures that records are 'tamper-proof' and cannot be duplicated.

Different timescales can apply. As examples, most Welsh Assembly Government and Big Lottery Fund grants set a 7 year requirement, but a 10 year period applies where 'state aids' to businesses are involved. And records for certain European-funded projects must be kept till 2024.

Bidders should remember storage when costing their bids.

Make sure that your archiving system can support you with 'Freedom of Information' requests, as it's essential to be able to identify key details - such as names - easily.

Records may need to include information on beneficiaries (eg for evaluation and for European funds).

There's advice for funders on:

'How will I meet the policy objective and arrange for evaluation?'

'Are my terms and conditions for purpose?'

'Is my scheme guidance fit for purpose?'

There's advice for recipients on:

'How will my record-keeping and accounting systems show entitlement?'

'How will assets and records be secured?'

'Are my working papers acceptable to auditors?'

How to avoid delays in payments?

There's advice for recipients on:

'How will I set claim and report co-ordination timetables?'

'How will the final claim be made and audited?'

Whose internal rules, regulations and procedures should be followed?

What systems and procedures should be set for regional collaboration projects (Memorandum of Understanding, Service Level Agreement, Approvals, procurement)?

Approach/experience in collaborative working (incl eventual audit).

How to monitor partners and make them accountable.

Collaboration with other bodies can be useful - especially for larger projects and for smaller/less-experienced groups to gain experience in applying for grants and managing them.

Important to set governance arrangements up front and ensure that all partners are comfortable with the agreed approach. This helps address common problems with partnership working, such as dealing with different mindsets, aspirations, rules and regulations.

Local authorities have anxieties about the additional risks they bear - especially the financial risks. Paying bodies need to recognise this.

There's a lot of experience with financial management of partnership Convergence projects.

There's advice for funders:

'Are my terms and conditions for for purpose?'

'Is my Scheme Guidance fit for purpose?'

'How will I monitor progress?'

'How will I deal with poor performance?'

There's advice for recipients on:

'Have we established effective working arrangements with partners?'

'Have we set controls and co-ordination protocols?'

'How will I monitor partners?'

Perception of various 'auditors'.

Recipients complain about:

• 'penny-pinching' & 'zero-tolerance',
• differing approaches or the problems of a 'one size fits all' approach.

Which approaches lead to the best value for money or overall outcome?

Internal and external auditors can be a helpful source of advice: think of them as a resource for you rather than your 'enemy'. Early advice from internal auditors can help project managers set up their systems for project management and accounting (eg use of a separate budget and cost code). However, auditors will always want to keep a proper level of independence.

Internal audit procedures for grants can be made available.

Public sector bodies can ask Wales Audit Office staff for copies of the Auditor General's 'certification instructions'.

Where auditors (of any kind) write reports, these should be provided (after appropriate clearance) on a timely basis and without unnecessary delay.

The website covers 'assurance', 'certification',  'certification instructions', 'defined procedures' and 'engagement letters'.

The grants lifecycle is also viewed from the auditor's perspective.

There's advice for funders on:

'Have I liaised with auditors/the Wales Audit Office?'

There's advice for recipients on:

'Do we have a Grants Protocol/co-ordination with auditors?'

'Do I make effective use of internal audit?'

'Are my working papers acceptable to auditors?'

There's advice for funders on:

'How will I follow-up auditor qualifications?'

'How will I recover overpayments?'

'When should grant be suspended, terminated or recovered?'

There's advice for recipients on:

'Do I take effective action to address any grant-paying body concerns/interim auditor qualifications?'