Kia ora, and welcome
Grant-ready charities change more lives.
Practical funding know-how for board members, staff, fundraisers and grant writers at charities and not-for-profits across Aotearoa — the workshops and tools I've spent 15+ years building, free to take away and use.
My Why
Making the world a better place is hard work. These resources will hopefully help you get there faster.
For years, funding advice like this only reached the organisations that could afford to book me for a workshop or a consultancy day. I still love running workshops and am grateful that local organisations, such as The Wheelhouse and Creative Taranaki continue to collaborate with me — but I don't want a training budget to be the reason your case for support never gets written properly. So the frameworks, checklists and cue cards from my workshops live here now, free, for whenever you need them.
Workshops
Funding 101, Case for Support, Peer Review Lab and Grant Writing Lab — hands-on sessions for your team or your sector network.
Free toolkit
Eighteen-plus bite-sized tools pulled straight from the workshops — funder types, case-for-support structure, peer feedback cue cards, language and framing.
Open the toolkitAbout Valerie
Fifteen-plus years writing, reviewing and teaching grant funding across Taranaki and Aotearoa — now shared as widely as I can manage.
Read the storyThe funding puzzle
One grant was never going to be the whole answer.
Funding for community organisations is a puzzle, not a single tap you can turn on. Grants, personal giving, sponsorships and unrestricted income all fit together differently — and if you know one funder, you know exactly one funder. Every trust, council and foundation works a little differently, and the toolkit is built to help you tell them apart.
Start with funding basicsFunders look for three things at once:
Head — the logic of your plan. Heart — a story a person will remember. Hands — proof you can actually deliver.
Miss one, and even a well-run project can be a hard case to fund.
Ready when you are
Bring the toolkit to your team, or book me for a session
Whether you're drafting your first application or getting a whole board fluent in "case for support," there's a place to start below.