Hopeful Towns: BID-BUILDER

2. Decide early on who is involved

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A key part of any successful bid is about internal communication. So the first step at an authority, as soon as you hear about the funding opportunity, is to speak with other departments and work out which parts of the council want to be involved. The risk, if you do not do this, is that your council ends up putting in two bids – with neither knowing about the other – and comes away with nothing.

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It is vital to look beyond the council, too. Who are the other agencies or organisations to work with? And who are the key partners you will want to get involved? If you are a district council then it will be important that you are engaged with the upper tier authority in your area, to avoid doubling up.

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Community, faith and third sector organisations are often the most important partners, however. A mistake which authorities sometimes make is to bring these organisations in too late. They are central to any proposal and will need to be ‘in the room’ from the beginning.

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A final question is who is going to ‘hold the ring’ in terms of coordinating and writing the proposal? Some larger councils have a designated person responsible for this role. But it can often work best if the member of staff who will ultimately lead the work is the one who assembles the proposal, and if it is pegged to their department or team.