Green funding for businesses: Finding & Securing Funding
Green funding for businesses: finding & Securing Funding
08 February 2022
The rigorousness of a loan or grant application process will depend on the scheme and what you are applying for. Some applications will be straightforward and take very little preparation, while others will take much more preparation.
Here are some tips for writing grant and loan applications that may take a little more planning and consideration.
How to prepare & what to consider
Scope your project
Grant schemes and loan providers will require you to provide data and information about the project you are seeking funding for. For ongoing funding, you will likely also need to provide periodic information and data regarding the project and its impact. It is therefore important to get clear on your vision and objectives, and to gather data and information to support your applications.
You will have the best chances of gaining funding if you apply for multiple grants and scope out multiple loan providers. During this process, it’s a good idea to collate your notes for each application into a master document, as this will save you time on future applications. Different schemes and providers will ask for varying information, but there will be some basic information that they are all likely to ask for.
Be ready to provide the following:
Cost of your project
Providing a breakdown of how you will spend the finances will be key to any funding that you apply for.
If you’re looking for a loan, you also need to think about repayment. Consider how much money you need and how quickly you need it, so that you have the best chances of getting the support you really require.
Environmental impact
Outline the environmental benefits of your project or initiative.
If possible, quantify these environmental benefits. For example, this may relate to factors like waste reduction or carbon impact, perhaps measured by percentage or weight.
Explain how you will track and quantify the success of the project in terms of its impact.
Up-to-date business plan and internal governance documents
Financial transparency is important to grant schemes and loan providers. Part of this will likely entail having an internal governance process which tracks the proceeds of the loan or grant.
Thinking about your business profitability is important, particularly when applying for loans. Considering how much money your business makes alongside your projected growth will help you to decide on a realistic amount of money to apply for.
You will also be asked to provide your business plan for many applications, so you should update this to reflect the business benefits of the proposed project, as well as how the project fits into your wider vision.
The environmental benefits of the project should also be clear in your business plan, so that your ethos is clearly part of your decision-making.
Track your applications
It’s a good idea to begin your searches by making a simple excel spreadsheet to track possible funding streams. This will be a working document where you can keep track of potential funding avenues as well as active applications.
Start with a broad search, finding all the possible grant schemes that may align with your business goals, and then begin going through them one by one, sorting them into categories to help you to plan your application process. Take your time to find the right funding streams for you.
Here are some factors to account for when organising possible applications:
Deadlines
Most grants will have a deadline – some will be annual, while others will be one-off. Some grants are ongoing.
These are important factors to note down, so that you can prioritise which grants to work on and when.
Many loans, on the other hand, do not have deadlines.
Eligibility
Make sure you read the guidance and eligibility criteria of each scheme you consider.
You will probably be eligible for some grants or loans now, and there may be some that you could be eligible for in the future – this could be due the stage of your project, revenue, or provable impact, for example. There will also be grants and loans that you are not eligible for. All of these are worth documenting with brief notes, so that you can save time in the future as you continue to look for funding streams.
Tracking possible future applications is helpful because it can help you to create a longer-term timeline and plan for later stages in your project or business. By noting down what you need in order to achieve funding that you are not currently eligible for, you can outline actionable steps and considerations in order to get to the next level of funding for your project or initiative.
Tracking active applications is helpful because the feedback you receive on unsuccessful applications can be used to refine future applications.
If you are looking for a loan, you should also be thinking about your credit score as part of eligibility. Find out your credit score, and track this against the minimum requirements outlined by the lenders you’re considering.
Restrictions and requirements
Most loans and grants will stipulate what the funds can and cannot be used for. For example, many will fund activities and materials, but not associated salaries.
There may well also be timeframes that would need to be adhered to, for example, that you will need to spend the funds within a certain amount of time.
Most loans and grants will not cover retrospective payments - i.e. costs that you have already incurred.
These are important details to take note of so that you can track whether you may need to apply for varying types of grants to cover different bases.
If you would like to learn more about securing green funding for your business, check out the rest of our blogs in this green funding series: Consider your options and Funding Avenues.
If you would have any questions, please get in touch at info@esgmark.co.uk, we would be delighted to help.