Grant Funding for Organisations Course - Starts Wednesday 10th February 2027

GRANT FUNDING FOR ORGANISATIONS & SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS

Find the right funders, build a strong case and write applications that get funded, in two half day sessions.

For community groups, social enterprises, charities and CICs in any sector, anywhere in the UK.

Led by Alex Finberg, professional grant writer and founder of Woodcrafters CIC, who has raised over £580,000 in grant funding for individuals and organisations since 2021.

COURSE DETAILS:

Session one: Wednesday 10th February 2027 - 10am - 12:30pm

Session two: Wednesday 24th February 2027 - 10am - 12:30pm

UK time (2½ hours each, with a break)

LIVE online and recorded

From £145, priced by your organisation's income

ABOUT THE COURSE

Many small organisations know there is grant money out there and still find it hard to reach. Perhaps you’ve had some small successes, but are finding it hard to access funding on a regular basis, or you’re new to the world of grant funding and need to learn the right funder language and understand how to position your application appropriately…

This course provides you with the fundamental knowledge and resources to create a grant funding blueprint you can use repeatedly across multiple applications, and you will leave empowered to professionalise your approach and start winning grant funds

Across two sessions, a fortnight apart, you will check that your organisation is ready to apply, find the funders that genuinely match your work, build a clear case for what you need and why, and write an application that answers what the funder is really looking for. Between the sessions you put it into practice on your own project, so that you arrive at session two with real work to improve.

It is practical from start to finish. Each part teaches one idea, shows it working in real examples, and then gives you time to apply it to your own organisation.

We cover LIVE case studies and can review your current (and past) applications with expert feedback - an invaluable process to go through, getting expert professional input is so key to raising your chances of success.

Can't make it live? The full recordings are shared with everyone who books.

WHAT WE COVER

SESSION ONE: READY TO APPLY, AND WHO TO APPLY TO

1. Where you are now

A quick funding-readiness check of your organisation: your structure, governing document, bank account, accounts and policies, and what different funders expect to see, so you know what to fix first and what you can already say yes to.

2. What you need funding for

Turning a long wish list into clear, fundable projects and core costs, deciding which comes first, and the difference between what you want to do and what a funder wants to pay for.

3. Finding the right funder

How the funding landscape fits together across all four UK nations, from the National Lottery and charitable trusts to community foundations, councils and corporate funders. How to search, how to read eligibility and priorities properly, and how to build a shortlist of funders who are a real match rather than a long list of maybes.

BETWEEN SESSIONS

Over the fortnight you build your funder shortlist and draft the core of your case for support, using the workbook. Allow about two hours.

SESSION TWO: MAKING THE CASE AND WRITING THE BID

4. Your case for support

The need, the evidence, the difference you will make and why you are the right people to do it, written once in a form you can reuse for every application. Outcomes and outputs explained without jargon.

5. The budget

Costing a project properly, including your share of core costs, volunteer time and in-kind support, match funding, and what to do when a funder will not pay for something you need.

6. Writing the application

Reading the question behind the question, structuring each answer, using your community's own voice, and the mistakes that sink otherwise good bids. We look at real examples side by side.

7. After you press submit

What happens if you are turned down and how to ask for feedback, what happens if you are funded, reporting and staying on good terms with funders, and planning a year of applications so that funding stops arriving in a panic.

WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH

• A funding-readiness check and a short list of what to fix

• Your funding priorities, with your first fundable project defined

• A shortlist of matched funders, with deadlines in your calendar

• A reusable case for support for your organisation

• A project budget that covers your real costs

• Draft answers for one live application

• A Funding Blueprint: your plan for the next twelve months of applications

WHAT YOU GET

• Two live sessions, with time for questions

• The full recordings, to watch again or catch up

• The workbook (PDF), where you build your plan as you go

• The training manual (PDF), an easy-read guide to every key idea, to keep and come back to

• The funder directories and funding calendar, to start your search in the right places

• The Project Budget spreadsheet, with worked examples

• One month's access to the self-paced Grant Funding Academy on Teachery

WHO IT'S FOR

• Community groups, voluntary groups, charities, CICs, social enterprises and other not-for-profit organisations, in any sector: community, environment, health and wellbeing, food, heritage, sport, youth, the arts and more

• Social entrepreneurs starting out, with or without an organisation set up yet

• Staff, trustees, directors, volunteers and founders who are responsible for bringing in funding

• Organisations applying for their first grant, and those who have applied before without success

• Small organisations without a fundraiser, where funding is one job among many

You do not need any bid-writing experience, you do not need to be a registered charity, and you do not need to be a confident writer.

ABOUT ALEX FINBERG

Alex is an award-winning wood carver, published author, Arts Council England DYCP awardee and professional grant writer, with in depth experience supporting social enterprises and community organisations to secure funding. He is the founder of Woodcrafters CIC and a Fellow of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, and has raised over £580,000 in grant funding for individuals and organisations since 2021.

Alex teaches grant funding the way he teaches carving: one clear step at a time, with real examples and no jargon.

PRACTICAL DETAILS

• Format: Online via Google Meet, link sent on booking

• Recordings: Full recordings shared with everyone who books

• Resources: Workbook, training manual, directories and spreadsheet shared after session one, plus one month's access to the online grant academy hosted via our online teaching platform

• Who can join: Organisations and social entrepreneurs anywhere in the UK

PRICES

The price is based on your organisation's total annual income, so that the smallest groups pay the least.

• Annual income under £50,000, or not yet trading: £145

• Annual income £50,000 – £250,000: £225

• Annual income over £250,000: £345

Early bird: a limited number of places are available at 15% off.

Group bookings: book three or more places from the same organisation and save 15% on each place. We recommend bringing a trustee as well as whoever writes your bids.

PART OF THE GRANT FUNDING ACADEMY

Grant Funding for Organisations & Social Entrepreneurs is one of the Grant Funding Academy courses, built on our £0 → Funded method:

1. Grant Funding for Creatives, for individual artists and makers

2. Grant Funding for Organisations & Social Entrepreneurs, for groups, social enterprises and charities

3. Fund-specific workshops, such as Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP)

4. The self-paced Grant Funding Academy, to learn in your own time

TRAINING FOR YOUR NETWORK

Do you support community groups, social enterprises or members who need funding? We run this course for partner organisations, networks, councils and funders, either as a private cohort or with places for your members. Email info@woodcrafters.uk to talk about what would suit you.

QUESTIONS

We're not a registered charity. Can we still get grants?

Yes. Many funders support CICs, constituted community groups and other not-for-profit organisations. We show you which structures each type of funder accepts, and what to do if yours is not eligible yet.

I'm a social entrepreneur and haven't set up an organisation yet. Is this for me?

Yes. Some funders support individual social entrepreneurs, and we show you where to look. The course also helps you understand which structure will open the most funding to you when you do set up.

We're not in the arts. Is this for us?

Yes. The course covers funders and examples from across the community and voluntary sector, and the method is the same whatever your organisation does.

We're in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Will it still apply?

Yes. The course is for the whole UK, and we cover how funders such as the National Lottery run different programmes in each nation.

We've applied before and been turned down. Will this help?

Yes. Session two looks closely at why good projects are rejected, and you can bring a past application to work on.

Will you write our application for us?

No. You leave with your own case for support, budget and draft answers, written in your organisation's voice.

Can you guarantee we'll be funded?

No one can. Funders have far more requests than money. What the course does is give each application you send a much better chance.

Can more than one person from our organisation come?

Yes, and we recommend it. Book three or more places and save 15% on each.

What if we can't attend live?

Book anyway. You will receive the recordings and all the resources, and you can work through the plan in your own time.

Is there any homework?

Allow about two hours between the sessions to build your funder shortlist and draft your case for support.

Any other questions? Email info@woodcrafters.uk