Support
Futurebuilders is well known for offering loans to voluntary and community organisations, but we also offer a range of support and capacity building grants as part of our investment packages. If you are still deciding if Futurebuilders is right for you we also offer pre-application support to potential investees.
Pre-Application Support:
Enquiry Line - If you need help with the Futurebuilders Application Process and have not found an answer to your questions in either our
FAQ section, or our
Eligibility Checklist, then you can contact our Enquiry Line on 0191 261 5200 or e-mail
[email protected]. This will be answered by one of our experienced Investment Assistants.
Submit a “one-pager” - While there is no guarantee that you’ll qualify for an investment you may find that it saves you time and effort to submit a one-page proposal outline to the Enquiry Line. They will get back to you with helpful advice on taking your application further.
Links - Visit our
links page for signposting to a variety of other useful websites offering information and/or services within the Third Sector.
During the application process:
We understand that the application process to any funder can often be stressful. At Futurebuilders once your application has been received, your project will be assigned a dedicated investment officer who will work with you through the shortlisting and negotiation phases. They will look at your application in detail to see if we can provide any additional support, in the form of capacity building grants to help your investment succeed in the long-term.
Development Grant – Your application may be rejected on the grounds of that your organisation is not ready to take on the responsibility of loan finance. In this case, Futurebuilders sometimes offers a
development grant to assist your organisation to realise its full potential.
Capacity Building – In some cases Futurebuilders will offer an applicant a capacity building or revenue grant as part of the investment package. The loan will always be the biggest part of any investment, but we appreciate that in the beginnings of a new project money is needed to help with set-up costs, research, staff and equipment costs. This can take the form of funding the services of a business consultant, assistance with financial planning or governance issues. It may also be used to purchase crucial IT infrastructure or marketing materials.
Investment Approval:
Once your application has been approved by the Futurebuilders Board you can expect the continued support of your dedicated investment officer as well as:
Media Support – In partnership with The Media Trust we have produced a Media Toolkit: a CD-ROM which can give advice to those responsible for media in your organisation for preparing press releases, interviews and dealing with crisis communications. We also have a skilled team who can offer advice on promoting your service.
Investee Support Days – Futurebuilders hosts these days at locations across the country so that investees can meet, share their experiences and learn from one another.
Training and Courses – Futurebuilders facilitates a variety of seminars for our investees that are aimed at developing skills and practical knowledge for negotiating contracts.
Support documentation – Futurebuilders, in partnership with the
NCVO Sustainable Funding Project have produced a vital toolkit that tells you everything you need to know about procuring public sector contracts called
Before signing on the dotted line.