When is the best time to apply for grants or sponsorships?

By Warren Patterson3 min read · Posted Dec 13, 2024

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Grants and Sponsorships

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Funding, regardless of its source, can be very helpful to businesses when it comes to financial security and growth opportunities. Grants and sponsorships are two types of funding that a business can receive. They share the significant advantage of not requiring repayment, which increases both their desirability and level of competition. Here, you’ll learn about the best time to apply for both of these kinds of funding.

Grants

It’s very important to take into account the timing of grant funding as the application process can be very lengthy. Generally, the total timescale for the process is six months. Therefore, if you want to make use of grant funding for your business it’s imperative that you account for the complete timing of the application process and when you’ll receive the grant.

The process entails research, finalization of the application, and the decision-making involved in the acceptance of the grant. Remember also that the time it takes for the grant process to be completed will have a bearing on how successful your project will be. If you apply in advance, you’ll be in a much better position to receive the grant at the very time you need to take advantage of positive external factors for your business. Also, it can provide a gateway towards building relationships at the time you need to ensure your projects grow as you wish.

Timing is a crucial factor in determining whether you will get awarded the right grant that will benefit your business. Allow yourself enough time to apply for your grant so that you can reap all of the advantages it brings at the very time that you want your project to succeed and your business to grow.

Sponsorships

There’s a time in particular when your business should plan to receive sponsorship for the time remaining in the year or the one it’s leading up to. That’s between September and the closing of November (or even mid-December at the latest). To place the exact dates on the timing, sponsorships should be received sometime from 15th September to 15th December. The reason why you don’t want to exceed 15th December for your sponsorship is because the second half of this month is generally busy. Employers and employees may be traveling during this time or using leave for Christmas and often don’t return until sometime after the New Year..

The goal isn’t to create a full-scale sponsorship program with discovery sessions while choosing your sponsorship and fulfilling your reports all within a three-month timeframe. That’s unrealistic. This time frame has the purpose of being used to budget and prospect for the following year. The next year’s success will be reliant on what’s built here and now. The ideal timing for applying and receiving sponsorships reflects the typical budget cycles and the need to plan in advance.

Conclusion

As you now know, there are different forms of fundraising and different places from where they come. Two of them are grants and sponsorships. In addition, there are certain times when each of these types of funding should be implemented into your business and taken advantage of. With grants, you should start the application process as early as possible while considering which grant will be best for your business. When it comes to sponsorships, typically 15th September to 15th December is the optimal time to benefit from them. Any later you’ll run the risk of the sponsors taking time off due to the upcoming holidays or to embark on holidays.

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Warren Patterson

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