...of the issues and process of preparing funding bids.

This eMagazine Supplement will focus on the key questions that will help learning providers...

• ...appraise their ideas,
• ...understand better what they are hoping to achieve and then
• ...think about how they demonstrate to a potential funder that they match their criteria.

This report is based on many discussions at conferences, workshops, forums etc., and with partner organisations; between a broad range of participants that included colleagues, trainers, practitioners, funders, advisers, managers, inspectors and many others. It has been designed to help support learning providers to prepare proposals that have the best opportunity to be successful not only in achieving funding but also the intended aims.

The starting point...

...is to recognise that as learning providers, funding is required for projects that meet the objectives and vision of the organisation.
Funding is a tool to enable Learning Providers to achieve things that might otherwise be impossible.

• As with any other tool, funding needs to be applied properly if it is to be of benefit.
  
  • Learning providers should have an ILT/eLearning Strategy (elements of which should be revisited/reviewed, at appropriate times during the year, using tools such as the eLearning Positioning Statement Tool [eLPS]*) in which they have thought carefully about what and why, they want to do, and realistically can do, to progress towards eMaturity; this should be in place before starting to look at funding.
  • From the Strategy, Action Plans should exist; these are very much working documents with clear milestones/review dates/outcomes.
  • Action plans will be the result of...
    • Prioritization: a shorter list usually, of what can be achieved within current funding restrictions.

With all this in place, when funding is made available, Learning Providers should be prepared.

* Note:

• the eLPS Tool for Work Based Learning Providers is available from http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/acl/eMagArchive/RSCeMag2008/eLPS_Tool/index.html. (An earlier eMagazine Supplement from RSC Northwest; both an interactive and a Microsoft Word document based version is available)
  
• the eLPS Tool for Offender Learning Providers is available from http://www.offenderlearning.net/files/OlsElpsFullV22.doc.
  
• For Learning providers in other sectors we would currently recommend that the Work Based Learning Providers version above, would be more appropriate as it addresses 7, not 5, elements.