Challenge Fund Top 10 Tips

Nobody said it would be easy, but team Digital had to rise to their own challenge as we set about Call 1 of the Challenge Fund.

• developing award criteria
• designing and building an online application form
• producing guidance notes
• promoting the fund
• responding to enquiries from numerous potential applicants
• assessing 71 applications
• presenting recommendations to the Leadership Group
• identifying potential Charter signatory contributions
• notifying everyone of their application outcome before Christmas,

All in 14 weeks fair puffed us out. It wasn’t perfect, but it certainly did the job and enabled us to award over £100k to 25 organisations in Scotland to undertake valuable digital participation activity across the country. It also helped us to achieve one of our aims for this process in terms of learning, so we can make the experience better next time!  Fair to say we learned a lot during this time, largely due to honest feedback from applicants on their experiences (good and bad). So what’s the biggest change this time around? A much more robust (although less aesthetically pleasing) online application and all of the information you need to apply in the one place https://scvo.scot/funding/digital-participation-charter-fund We also thought we'd pass some of our learning onto you if you're thinking of applying in call 2. So we've pulled together our 10 top tips for groups considering an application to call 2, based on previous applicants’ feedback and realising there are different levels of experience.

1. If there’s something you want to try out that’s only going to cost a few hundred pounds, go for it!  You don’t need to propose a full on digital project.
2. You don’t need a proven track record in digital whizzery, you just need to know what people need and how to make sure it reaches them.
3. Think basic digital skills. If you’ve got a proposal to produce some of Scotland’s finest digital gurus – great! BUT make sure there’s a focus on developing basic digital skills.
4. Keep thinking basic digital skills when considering your proposed outcomes. If increasing basic digital skills contributes to other desired outcomes (e.g. increased ability to apply for jobs online) then all the better, but don’t forget to emphasise the basics.
5. If in any doubt about what basic digital skills are, then check out http://www.go-on.co.uk/basic-digital-skills/
6. Existing projects - if you’re already doing something absolutely brilliant that’s achieving a great result and getting hoards of people online, we can’t fund current activity or provide gap funding.
7. Existing projects – if you’re trying new approaches or targeting a different group of people then please apply.
8. If you’re new to online forms please don’t be put off. You can input information in stages and returning and editing as often as you like can make it a much less stressful experience.
9. Be clear on what you plan to spend the funding on and provide details where possible.
10. Keep in mind that non-financial support can be provided by Digital Participation Charter signatories, so tell us what resources and expertise you would like to tap into. More to follow on Charter contributions soon.

Hope that helps and good luck with those applications!