Fundraising can be daunting. You've got an exciting project you want to do but how best to describe this to a potential funder? Writer, literature activist and consultant Steve Dearden guides you through the whole process, from thinking through your idea and testing it with friends and colleagues to reading the guidelines, making contact with the relevant funding officer and writing the application.

NB Although this information sheet is based on a practical workshop run by Steve on applying to the Arts Council England Grants for the Arts scheme, his advice is relevant to any project or professional development application.

Steve Dearden has seen both ends of funding applications. As Literature Officer of Yorkshire Arts he assessed them, and he has made plenty of applications as an organisation when Director of Ilkley Literature Festival, as a producer running projects such as www.writingsquad.com and www.light-transports.net and as a writer www.foundland.net. He believes in applying for what you want to do rather than what you think the funder wants you to do.

This information sheet was co-commissioned by literaturetraining and litfest from a series of writer development seminars run by litfest in autumn 2008. For more details of the litfest seminar programme see http://www.litfest.org/

literaturetraining Briefings

Expert briefings on key topics relating to your creative and professional practice written for and by writers and literature professionals.

Watch out for forthcoming briefings in 2009 on:

* The creative art of blogging (in collaboration with NALD)

* Digitisation

* Writing and regeneration (in collaboration with UrbanWords and NALD)