Funding Community Events & Festivals
Raising funds
Funds for your event can be sourced in a variety of ways. It is important for your event management committee to develop a plan identifying what will be done by whom and at what cost:
- What funds do you need for what activities? (‘It costs money to raise money’ so allocate the necessary resources)
- Where are the potential sources of funding?
- How do these potential sources of funding match the activities? (you may identify different sources for different parts of your activities)
- Who has the responsibility for securing the funds, monitoring expenditure and acquittal?
Managing funds
A key message to remember is that not only do you have to secure the funding, but in the case of grants and corporate sponsorship there is an ongoing management process. You need to maintain relevant records so that you can fully acquit a grant, showing that the funds were spent as intended, and providing evidence to your sponsor that the stated benefits have been achieved.
CPA Australia (the professional body for financial, accounting and business professions) has published a straightforward guide for not-for-profit organisations on how to manage grants and satisfy the accountability requirements:
CPA Australia (2007) Grants in Australia: Management and Accountability Made Easy for Not-for-Profit Organisations (2007) available free on line from www.cpaaustralia.com.au – click on Industry Sector – Public Sector – Resources. Phone 1800 773 059
Other Useful Resources
Tonge, R (2003) How to Organise Special Events and Festivals in Queensland published by Tourism Queensland ($42.96)
Designed to assist the local organiser of special community events, this publication provides advice on all aspects of event management, from the “idea” stage to post event evaluation. www.gullpublishing.com/training_manuals telephone (07) 5446 1318 gull@ozemail.com.au
How to, where to (H2W2: 2004) Toolkit, Australia Council for the Arts – available on line www.australiacouncil.gov.au > publications > youth arts, and in hard copy Toll free 1800 226 912
This guide also provides advice on the processes and considerations of visualising and planning an entire project idea from start to finish and includes some useful case studies.
Organising an Event Fact Sheet (2005) Arts Council England
Available online www.artscouncil.org.uk - enter name of fact sheet in site search facility.
www.ourcommunity.com.au
This website provides a one-stop-portal for practical capacity building resources, support and links for the not-for-profit sector.