Insights & Ideas
Our library of strategies and resources to elevate your business strategy and funding tactics.
Quick Guide to Value-Add Investment Grants (VAIG)
Everything you need to know about the VAIG Fund Many of our clients in the agriculture, food and beverage space have exciting projects on the drawing board and are keen for funding to support them. The Value Add Investment Grant is a great opportunity for any business...
Can I get grant funding as a new business?
Chasing funds for your exciting new business venture? There are plenty of options out there - unfortunately grant funding is rarely one of them. But wait - shouldnât the government be supporting startups? Absolutely! There is support available - just not through the...
Case Study: Strategy Client (with confetti)
Why confetti? Well, it's a lot better than getting glitter everywhere, that's for sure. But also, we're sharing a client case study today about the super-savvy team at Confetti and Co. Established for over 12 years, Sarah and Holly are a rarity in the wedding...
Are you stuck or struggling in your business?
Over the years, we've had the privilege of working with a wide range of different businesses. Some have been operating for a year or two, others for several decades, and then everything in between. But they all have something in common: they realised they were...
4 key questions to ask to avoid a comms disaster
It's easy to be focused on delivering - whether you're in government or the not-for-profit space. But it's important to communicate about the difference you're making if you want to stay relevant to the people who mean most to your organisation...
Should you be stalking your competitors?
Hands up if you are a stalker? Not in a 'getting arrested' way. In a healthy awareness of what's happening in your industry way. We're not suggesting you should be copying your competition - far from it in fact! If you don't know what the competition is...
What stage is your business at?
And how do you move forward? Been in business for a while? Wondering where your business sits in terms of development? Perhaps you are feeling stuck and want to break through to a new stage but aren't sure how? There are many models of business development. We've...
Revisiting your Vision and Mission
Do you know what your business' vision and mission are? Can you effortlessly share what you're all about? Or are they something that you came up with in a strategic planning session years ago that you occasionally dust off to re-write into a grant application? Your...
Grant Rejection – The Silver Lining
Whether you write your grant application yourself, or you pay a professional to do it for you, itâs quite possible your application will be rejected. In fact, itâs inevitable that if you are regularly applying for grant, you'll receive a rejection. In many cases,...
Writing a Bankable Business Case
If youâre a business, at some point, you may need to write a business case. This is particularly true if youâre seeking financial support.  Definition Unlike a business plan, which is an operational roadmap for your business, a business case is used to secure funding...
Grant Writing: Does your pitch get to the point?
Does grant writing seem like a daunting and time-consuming task? The reality is, most businesses and organisations today are time-poor. At the end of the day, they just want to get the questions answered adequately so they can meet their grant deadline. Writing may...
What is a Grant?
If you work for a not-for-profit or community organisation, your role may involve dealing with grants, or grant writing. At the very least, your organisation is probably impacted by grants (or a lack of!). And if you're in business, you might hear a lot of talk of...
SWOT vs TOWS Analysis
When we're working on a business concept with clients, looking at the project from all angles is vital to ensure we create a solution that is robust and workable. Recently we've had a few clients come to us super prepared (we love that!) and they had all...
What do you need to be grant ready?
Things have been pretty crazy for the last six months or so. For us, the last couple of months have been particularly busy with clients needing help with grant applications. There are a lot of funding opportunities starting to emerge as governments try to mitigate the...
Grants for businesses
Under normal circumstances, grant funding for small businesses is pretty rare. Most government funds are diverted into services like the Small Business Development Corporation, firstly because the government knows the best 'bang for buck' is in support services for...
Planning for Community Engagement
When you are consulting with your community and other stakeholders, things can go really right or really wrong. Planning how you go about the consultation is key. If youâre planning a consultation, here are a few critical things to consider: Who are you inviting to be...
Gamification to Increase Engagement
When planning for a community engagement process, there are numerous methods you can use to increase levels of community engagement. One broad area, that you've likely experienced yourself without even realising, is gamification. What's that you say? Is that even a...
Government funding: being prepared and proactive
When it comes to government funding, don't believe the old saying, 'Good things come to those who wait'. Because right now, being prepared and proactive will give you the best chance of securing funding for your project. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been...
Inputs, Outputs and Project Outcomes
Back in the day, when I was assessing grant applications rather than writing them for our clients, I often saw applications that devoted too much time to things the assessors didn't care that much about. Grants typically pay for inputs. That might be wages,...
Engaging with Strategic Stakeholders
When organisations think about stakeholder engagement, sometimes the focus is all about the local level. This is definitely important because community engagement is key to project success. But another level of engagement to consider is how you are connecting with...