Competition for Big Lottery money seems to be increasing and the level of information needed to be successful at round 1 increased. With that in mind here are a few suggestions to help improve your chances.
Consult, consult consult! Lottery like to see that you have consulted with the project beneficiaries, and ideally involving them in the planning and development of the project. Ensure you include numbers, dates of the consultation (if it is more that a couple of years old they will not like it either)
Relevance / importance – show how your work links to local, regional, national strategies
Outcomes – ensure these are relevant and are addressed by the actions you describe. I always write these first and make sure everything else ties back to them. This stops me from including irrelevant / unnecessary information and helps keep the bid simple and too the point
Need – again keep it simple and relate need to the outcomes and actions. There is no point describing a need of the beneficiaries if your work is not addressing it
Beneficiaries – don’t forget to include the difference the project will make to the beneficiaries. And how you will measure this difference
Management and monitoring – explain briefly how the work will be managed
If you would like any help with your applications, please get in touch