The most effective way for small organisations to raise money seems to be through  Charitable Trusts and Foundations. Shaking tins or putting on events is great for publicity, but unless you have heaps of able and well organised volunteers you’ll find it hard to raise much money that way.

HINT 1.    The Directory of Social Change at 24 Stephenson Way LONDON NW1 2DP publish detailed information- you'll find the books in  your local library. If  you are buying it yourself and you have limited funds, don’t buy the CD ROM version - some people have found they’ve still needed the book as well.

HINT 2.      Your local council will have several outlets for small grants.  Councils vary enormously in the help they offer. Often it seems to hinge on whether the person you talk to likes you and what you are doing.

 HINT 3.         If you are considering becoming a charity, this will open up lots more funding opportunities, but generally this isn’t worth doing unless you are in it for the long term. You could try teaming up with an existing charity though.

 HINT 4.         Be alert to new fundraising possibilities from unusual sources- lots of High Street names have their own charitable trusts, so check those ‘Customer Service’ leaflets while you’re queuing! If you’re on the internet, do some casual surfing and keep your eyes peeled.

HINT 5.         Look out for new funds and get in quick. The first wave of applications they receive is often small and you may find they will be more generous at the beginning

HINT 6.         Ask other similar organisations who they are funded by (some may not tell you!). Look at the leaflets that others in your filed produce - many  funders request that their logo is displayed in the publicity material of beneficiary organisations.

HINT 7.         Make contacts where you can and sell your project on the phone (some trusts make this hard). Make sure you have thought the whole thing through first though. If you’re vague you won’t do yourself any favours.

HINT 8.            Paradoxically, funders are more likely to fund a project that is already up and running, so don’t wait until you have enough funds, start something, however small, with what you have.

HINT 9.         Bring together service users and/or providers for meetings as soon as you can. If you are a small or new organisation, find someone bigger to work with. Funders are always reassured to see lots of people uniting around an idea or project. It gives them more confidence in you.

HINT 10.               If you are already closely associated with health or social services you may find this will go down well with arts funders, but avoid using the word ‘therapy’ or that’ll scare them away. If you are coming from the direction of the arts, this will have quite a bit of  credibility with health and social care funders, but you need to convince them that you can speak their jargon and have a good grasp of the issues as they see them.