Grant writing for climate startups
Grants are a key way of securing funding for startups at a stage of crucial commercial and technical development. Investors often don’t want to invest in unproven technologies, there may be too much risk involved before your product or concept has reached a certain level of technical or market readiness. That’s why grants can be so useful for undertaking essential research and development of your innovation.
Unfortunately, grant writing is an art and not something that comes easily to everyone. There is often lots to think about when putting together a strong application and it can be challenging to answer all the questions in the way that the assessors want to see.
But don’t despair! We have put together some top tips on writing successful grant applications.
Make sure you fit the scope - Every grant call will have a particular competition theme or scope that the funder has set. You will need to match the scope in order to be eligible. Don’t try to shoehorn your company into a grant call that is not right for you, the assessors will pick up on this and you probably won’t be successful.
Answer the question - with Innovate UK applications (the most common application we work with) each application question will have a set of 5 or more bullet points that assessors want to see addressed in your answer. It may be tempting to write a general response and hope for the best. Don’t do it. The more specifically you answer each bullet point, the higher your score will be. Leave no room for doubt in the assessors’ mind that you’ve answered the question and don’t be vague.
Give yourself enough time - Grants are complicated. There are lots of questions and appendices to put together and it is a waste of time if you don’t do it properly. You may also need to get partners involved. We recommend at least 4-6 weeks depending on the size of the application, if you’re new to writing grants.
Don’t overcomplicate your writing - Don’t try to wow assessors with very technical language and long paragraphs. Plain English, punchy, short and concise sentences and paragraphs are more interesting to read and are much more likely to engage your assessor. Think about it, if you wouldn’t want to read something long and boring, neither would they. It may be tempting to try to blind your assessor with jargon, but really assessors want to see something written clearly, to the point, and in a way that’s easy to understand.
Don’t repeat yourself, and don’t make it up - Word counts can be daunting and there may be a tendency to just add the same content across a few questions. Don’t do this. Content needs to answer the question and word counts utilised so that you include the best information possible to sell yourself and your innovation. It may be tempting to make things up in a bid to further your chances of winning. Anything that seems unrealistic or untrue will likely be picked up by assessors and could be a reason why you are rejected. Better to be as honest as possible, whilst candidly keeping out information that may go against you.
Sustainable Ventures offers an expert grant writing service. Having written hundreds of applications, we’ve learnt what assessors are looking for and leverage this knowledge to ensure the best results for startups that we work with.