I am a grant holder

Before your grant can go live and you can start incurring costs, we will need:

• The Starting Certificate with an actual start date and the signed Grant Agreement. The Starting Certificate is the form you complete to confirm your project’s start date.
• Along with the actual start date, we will also ask for milestones on the Starting Certificate. Your milestones should be based on the project plan presented in your application, and are key markers that indicate progress of your project.
• Sometimes our expert group that approved your application will ask for pre-start conditions. Any pre-start conditions will be outlined in your grant offer email and in your Grant Agreement.
• Your signed Grant Agreement will need to be returned to us. This must be signed by a representative of the Trust with appropriate authority. Your Finance Team will be able to guide you.
• You must set up a cost centre with your Trust finance contact, and inform or consult (as appropriate) other relevant teams at the Trust, for example, the Medical Equipment or Health Content teams.
• If relevant to your project, you will also need to gain ethics approval.
• As part of your grant application process, you provided us with a project start date. To ensure the most efficient use of our funding, we ask that funded projects commence within six months of your confirmed start date.

There must be a minimum of eight weeks from the date you submit your Starting Certificate to the date you start your project. This is to allow time for the Grant Agreement to be drafted and signed by both parties.

Unless agreed in advance with your Grant Manager (only applicable in certain circumstances) our grant funding is paid in arrears, which means the Trust needs to cover any expenditure upfront.

All expenditure needs to be charged to the cost centre specifically set up for your grant.

It is important to identify the relevant finance contact within the Trust before starting your project.

The key finance tasks involved in managing your grant are:

• Setting up of a cost centre before you start your project – all expenditure (including equipment, staff costs, any consultancy costs) must go through this dedicated cost centre. This is critical; if expenditure does not go through a dedicated cost centre, it is difficult for your Finance Team to generate the required reports, and we may not be able to reimburse the Trust.
• Completing interim and final grant finance reports (we provide templates and will send reminders).
• Raising invoices when contacted by our Funding Operations Team, who will issue an Invite to Invoice email.
• Tracking expenditure throughout the duration of your grant; the Charity does not have visibility of this.

Remember – the Finance Lead for your project will need to set up a specific cost centre before you start so that any expenditure against the project can be easily tracked.

The Finance Lead will also need to complete the Finance Report at each reporting point.

You will find a reporting and payment schedule for your grant in your Grant Agreement. As the grant holder, you are responsible for the submission of both the Narrative Report and the Finance Report for your grant. You will receive automated links from us in separate emails for both your Narrative Report and Finance Report at least two weeks in advance of your date.

The Narrative Report is important as it allows us to determine what has been accomplished so far, what has been delayed or changed, and what learnings have occurred. It ensures the project is aligned with the project plan as set out in the application and we can see what difference the project is making. It is also an opportunity to share good news and any exciting developments from your project in real time.

It is your responsibility to forward the finance link to the Finance Manager to complete and ensure it is returned to us within the agreed timeline.

We will also ask for updates on key milestones for your project.

If a report is not received within two months of the reporting deadline, we may close your grant and reallocate the money towards other funding opportunities.

We understand that sometimes timeframes and projects change, with good reason. If you need to change your project plan, conditions, or timeframes, please email your Grant Manager to request this. You will be sent a simple Variation Form to fill out.

Depending on the changes required, you may need input from your finance colleagues. Your Grant Manager will then review it and make a decision.

To enable this, we require all grant holders to:

Share exciting case studies and ‘breaking news’ on an ad hoc basis – we like to hear about the progress of funded projects. If something happens and you want to share it with us outside of the reporting process, we will be delighted to hear about it.

Make appropriate use of logos and branding using our toolkit – we provide a selection of logos and branding with guidance. This includes mentioning the Charity funding whenever you are sharing the project publicly or Trust-wide.

When your grant is approved, we will share additional, grant specific information regarding any restricted income requirements. This is in case restricted income is secured (or might be secured) during the lifetime of your grant.

In some circumstances our fundraising team may need to raise funds specifically for your project – or the donations we have already received may be restricted to fund your grant.

In this case, there may be additional ways you can help. This will be proportionate to the size of your grant and your Grant Manager will discuss expectations with you. The list below is not compulsory, but this type of activity enables us to raise even more money to fund projects across the Trust.

Project information

• 1-2-1 meetings to discuss project details: including at the start, yearly and ad-hoc times as needed.
• Occasionally providing clarity or detail on your grant reports.
• Reading and offering feedback on the donor-facing reports we produce to check they are accurate. If any information in your reports is confidential (e.g. research findings pre-publication) do flag this.

Donor engagement

• Attending and speaking at external fundraising events.
• Hospital tours for small groups of donors.
• Accompanying fundraisers to 1-2-1 high-value donor meetings to present your project.
• Support with the creation of gifts, video messages or other short-form content to thank and acknowledge the support of donors.

Fundraising team engagement

• Presenting your project at internal fundraising meetings.
• In a select few cases, involvement in conversations about how to recognise significant philanthropic gifts (e.g. via naming, via a plaque or other means of public display) and facilitating the installation of agreed recognition

Supporting communications and media

• Engagement with press, e.g. providing quotes and reviewing a press release for accuracy. A swift turnaround is often needed. Some projects will also have a proactive media plan.
• Involvement in video/ photo content creation.
• Sharing relevant stories about the impact of your work on staff/patients, and supporting the team to facilitate the creation and sign off for story related content. This may include putting us in contact with a patient and/or their family (as appropriate, to be discussed with you).
• Your Grant Manager will keep you informed and help coordinate any interactions with our fundraising and communications colleagues.
• You may also want to make the Trust’s communications team aware of your project. They can help you manage any reputational risks and share your project both internally and externally.

Impact stories

As well as the data we capture in our grant reporting, it’s important for us to capture stories that bring to life the difference this grant is making. What difference has this funding made for the patients you reach; what difference has this funding made for your team? This information means we can talk about the great work you’re doing and helps us to fundraise to support more impactful work.

As part of your reporting, you will need to provide us with an outline of an impact story during the lifetime of your grant. Linked guidance is provided during the application process, but if you need further help or information, please contact your Grant Manager. You may also be contacted by members of our communications or fundraising team to explore your stories further.