Funding Forward: 6-week Grant Funding Programme
24th September 2026
Funding Forward is a new practical six-week programme from Josie Armitage Associates for people working in small charities, CICs and other not-for-profit organisations who want to build their grant funding skills and confidence.
It could be for you if you:
- are new to grant funding
- have written some applications but don’t yet feel confident in your approach
- or work for a small organisation that wants to develop the skills to do more of its own funding work.
Across six weekly 90-minute Zoom sessions, you will cover:
- getting your organisation funding-ready;
- developing stronger, more fundable projects;
- finding the right funding and building a realistic pipeline;
- writing stronger funding applications;
- outcomes, monitoring and demonstrating impact;
- and developing a practical funding action plan.
This is a Done With You programme, it isn’t about writing applications for you, and it isn’t Josie talking at you for six weeks. Participants will work practically with their own organisation, projects and funding challenges, helping you develop practical skills and tools you can continue using after the programme.
The first pilot cohort runs from Tuesday 13th October to Tuesday 17th November 2026 with just 4-6 participants from different organisations.
The first participant is confirmed, with up to 5 more places still available in the pilot group.
Pilot price: £250 per person, payable upfront or in two £125 instalments.
For more information or an informal chat about whether Funding Forward is right for you, please contact Josie Armitage on josie@josiearmitageassociates.co.uk or 07954 808588.
| Session | We will: | You’ll start to develop |
| Week one: Getting funding ready | Look at where your organisation is now, your funding priorities, what funders expect and any gaps or barriers you need to address. | A practical funding readiness / action plan. |
| Week two: Developing stronger, more fundable projects | Explore how to turn your ideas into clear, fundable projects, including evidence of need, beneficiaries, activities, outputs, outcomes and project costs. | A clear outline for one of your priority projects. |
| Week three: Finding the right funding | Look at how to find appropriate opportunities, assess eligibility and funder fit, and decide which opportunities are worth pursuing — and which aren’t! | A realistic, prioritised funding pipeline. |
| Week four: Writing stronger funding applications | Explore what makes a strong application, how to answer funder questions effectively and common weaknesses to avoid. Where possible, you can use a current or recent application as a practical example. | Stronger application content and a checklist you can use for future bids. |
| Week five: Outcomes, monitoring and demonstrating impact | Look at the difference between outputs and outcomes, what information you need to collect and practical ways to demonstrate the difference your work makes. | A simple outcomes and monitoring framework. |
| Week six: Moving Funding Forward | Bring everything together, review your projects and funding pipeline, troubleshoot any challenges and identify your priorities for the months ahead. | A practical six-month funding action plan. |
What else is included?
Alongside the sessions, you will receive relevant templates, tools and resources that you can continue using after the programme.
There will be practical actions between sessions so that, by the end of the six weeks, you haven’t just learned more about funding, you’ve actually moved your organisation’s funding work forward.
You’ll also benefit from learning alongside people from other small organisations, sharing experiences, ideas and challenges in a supportive environment.
