Resourcing
Looking forward to the implementation of your actions, it is important to already examine and assess your local conditions and the means available in your city as well as to define a resourcing strategy. How to organise for the delivery of action plans, so as to maximise benefits, minimise lead times and mitigate risks?
This section which is bound to be completed with more tools in the future already offers tools related to using public funds and financing in a smart way by:
- designing a funding strategy
- being strategic with public procurements
Find what you are looking for
Tool
1/1 - Making an Inventory of existing Funding & Resourcing structures
The INVENTORY OF EXISTING FUNDING & RESOURCING STRUCTURES aims to gain an understanding of the existing services and decision-making processes in relation to project finance and funding and to analyse the potential connectivity between them. Before you start 'reinventing the wheel', you indeed...
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1/2 - Assessing skills and capacities
The ASSESSMENT OF SKILLS AND CAPACITIES aims to establish wether the staff of your organisation has the skills and motivations necessary to do the relevant tasks involved in coordinating the search for funding and accessing resources. This task focuses on mapping the existing skills and capacities...
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1/3 - Tracking changes in the policy environment
KEEPING TRACK WITH CHANGES IN THE POLICY ENVIRONMENT will help you to understand changes in the wider policy environment to capture any associated developments in funding priorities. It focuses on keeping track and analysing the overall policy context of the Action Plan: understanding the great...
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1/4 - Tracking information on Funding sources
KEEPING TRACK WITH INFORMATION ON FUNDING SOURCES will help you to gain awareness of existing information providers at EU, national and local level and gain a better understanding of where relevant information on funding programmes can be accessed. In terms of EU funding , there are many platforms...
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1/5 - Using Alternative Funding Sources
Using Alternative Funding Sources will help you to explore other approaches to funding than public sector grant funding. This task focuses on exploring a number of alternative options to fund projects when public sector funding is scarce. If your project has strong social, environmental and...
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1/6 - Using External Support
Using External Support , you need to understand some of the key considerations of commissioning third parties . This task focuses on the consideration of commissioning and working with external service providers when, for example, human resources are stretched, when your organisation has a lack of...
Before you dive in the different tools, we advise you to watch this 15-minutes video highlighting the main components of a Funding Strategy.
Tool
2/1 - Coordinating the Funding Search
COORDINATING FUNDING ACTIVITIES you will have to think through the set-up and organisation of your resourcing activities. The aim of the task is to gain a good level of understanding about the main skills and roles involved in the coordination of resourcing and funding activities for project...
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2/2 - Defining the Strategy Timeline
DEFINING THE STRATEGY TIMELINE helps to gain a clear understanding about the sequence of your overall plan and its projects to inform the scanning process of potential funding opportunities. The task represents an interface between the design of your overall plan and the timing of the search for...
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2/3 - Defining the financial scope
DEFINING THE FINANCIAL SCOPE aims to estimate the financial volume and potential funding sources of your plan and its projects . Before a Funding Coordination Officer/Team can start the search for funding, they need to have a good understanding of the overall plan and its projects . This will...
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2/4 - Drawing a Funders Map
DRAWING A FUNDERS MAP means the systematic listing of funding sources that could potentially be used for the implementation of the projects of your plan. A Funders Map provides you with a basis for scanning and searching for funding calls, information events. A Funders Map should be drafted widely...
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2/5 - Keeping track of essential procedures
KEEPING TRACK OF ESSENTIAL PROCEDURES is an essential tasks to help identify new funding opportunities and call deadlines in good time for action. Relevant procedures need to be installed to ensure t he monitoring and frequent checking of funders' websites and the regular up-dating of the Funders...
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2/6 - Communicating and Building Relationships
Specific skills for COMMUNICATING AND BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS are needed to ensure that the aspirations of a project, the funding needs and the added value of its projects are communicated to best effect. This is particularly relevant in a funding context, when one or several projects need to...
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2/7 - Funding Mix and Option Appraisal
THE FUNDING MIX MATRIX & OPTION APPRAISAL is a tool to assess a mix of suitable funding sources that could be used to fund a project. An option appraisal will help in deciding which of the available funding mixes might be the best option to pursue. Often there are a number of options how to...
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2/8 - Reviewing and Adaptating
REVIEWING & ADAPTING the Funding Strategy helps to maintain high levels of coherence and relevance in view of a constantly evolving environment. Change always happens. It is inevitable that the original project design and its funding strategy will need to be adjusted to accommodate evolving...
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3/1 - Designing the Intervention Logic
The INTERVENTION LOGIC (or Logic Model) of a project explains and visualises the overall concept of a project and explains how change happens by starting from the identified needs for project action to the anticipated impacts that would reduce the needs. To design a Logic Model helps you in...
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3/2 - Defining project aims and objectives
DEFINING PROJECTS AIMS & OBJECTIVES will provide a useful focus to deisgn relevant project activity. The use of the SMART principles is thereby helpful. In this way, the aims and objectives should relate directly to the identified needs or problems the project is supposed to address. These...
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3/3 - Specifying the strategic context
SPECIFYING THE STRATEGIC CONTEXT and identifying the relationship of your project to the existing policy and strategy objectives is key for paving the way to a successful approval and, if required, funding application. Your project might relate to strategies and policies at the local, national and...
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3/4 - Specifying Project Activities
SPECIFYING PROJECT ACTIVITIES is about specifying the range and type of activities the project will encompass. Project activities should relate very closely to the aims and objectives of the project and should have a direct impact on the needs and problems identified. Just like the aims and...
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3/5 - Defining performance indicators
DEFINING PERFORMANCE INDICATORS is about specifying hallmarks in order to monitor and measure the achievements of your project. To do so, you can refer to the Guide on Performance in Policy-making . You can also use this table to help you defining results and output indicators . Who is the tool for...
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3/6 - Designing a Project Management Structure
DESIGNING A PROJECT MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE you should choose the type of governance which is the most suitable for your project. E very project needs to have some sort of management and governance structure to succeed and to ensure that the project objectives are being achieved efficiently. '...
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3/7 - Undertaking Risk Analysis
UNDERTAKING RISK ANALYSIS of your project in a thorough and comprehensive way is a very useful project planning exercise in many respects. It requires you to carefully think through the delivery of your project, thereby ensuring that you have considered the full operational range of project...
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3/8 - Undertaking Option Appraisal
UNDERTAKING OPTION APPRAISAL will help you to decide on the best possible option for implementation. The task of appraising the various options for project implementation is crucial in many respects. By comparing and assessing different options of how a project could be implemented, the Option...
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4/1 - Starting the Project Budgeting
STARTING THE PROJECT BUDGETING, you need to have a clear understanding of the project itself. Typical questions for this task include: What type of project is it? How many activities will be delivered? How long will the project last? Who will be involved in managing and implementing the project?...
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4/2 - Estimating Staff salary costs
ESTIMATING STAFF SALARY COSTS you need to establish the inputs required by human resources for managing and implementing the project. The task focuses on estimating the time and costs of all staff needed for managing and implementing the project. This should include all staff directly employed by...
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4/3 - Estimating Office and Admin Costs
ESTIMATING OFFICE & ADMIN COSTS you need to identify the appropriate proportion of the organisation's indirect costs (office and admin costs) that support the implementation of your project. Indirect cost include costs for tasks relating to a range of activities, including the administration of...
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4/4 - Estimating Project Equipment Costs
ESTIMATING PROJECT EQUIPMENT COSTS you need to identify the costs for equipment and expenditure items that will be incurred by your project such as meeting room hire, catering services, communication costs, expenditure for special equipment, workshop or training material, costs for childcare...
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4/5 - Estimating Travel and Accommodation Costs
ESTIMATING TRAVEL & ACCOMMODATION COSTS you need to think through each stage of project delivery and management and to consider whether there will be any travel involved. Many projects require a budget allocation for travel, hotel accommodation and related subsistence costs. This includes...
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4/6 - Estimating Costs for External Services
ESTIMATING COSTS FOR EXTERNAL SERVICES you need to think through which tasks of the project are to be delivered by external service providers and to estimate how much this might cost. It assists the process of identifying which project activities need be outsourced to external providers and to...
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4/7 - Presenting the overall project budget
PRESENTING THE OVERALL PROJECT BUDGET implies bringing all individual budget lines of a project costing exercise together and to present them in one project budget sheet. A clear project budget matrix is a necessary reference point for project planning as well as for managing and tracking project...
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4/8 - Appraising the budget
When APPRAISING THE BUDGET you need to ensure that the project budget is complete, realistic, accurate and cost effective. This assessment can be of significant help in identifying any shortfalls or weaknesses of the budget so that these can be addressed accordingly. The review should be performed...
Before you dive in the following tools, we recommend you to watch this 15-minutes video on the development of successful funding bid.
Tool
5/1 - Checking the Call Documentation
CHECKING THE CALL DOCUMENTATION serves t o gain an in-depth understanding of the process involved in preparing a funding application. While doing so you should take careful note and recognition of the essential criteria, parameters and factors that determine a project's eligibility. A project needs...
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5/2 - Coordinating the Application Writing Process
COORDINATING THE APPLICATION WRITING PROCESS involves: Allocating the writing tasks of the application to people with the right skills and experience; Ensuring that the writer or team of writers is fully briefed, well coordinated and kept informed about developments; If there are partner...
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5/3 - Assessing In-house Skills
ASSESSING THE IN-HOUSE SKILLS of your organisation helps you to identify who has the relevant skills for being involved in the writing of the funding application. This task focuses on identifying whether the organisation and its staff has the relevant skills and experience for writing funding...
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5/4 - Matching Funder's Requirements
MATCHING FUNDERS' REQUIREMENTS is needed to think through the necessary adjustements of a project to ensure the requirements are met fully by the applicant. If there are gaps, you need to consider whether the project should be adapted to match these requirements better and what might be involved in...
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5/5 - Writing a High Quality Funding Bid
WRITING A HIGH QUALITY FUNDING BID requires a thorough understanding of the project and the funding requirements. Sufficient time, attention to detail and contextual understanding are essential to accomplish this task well. This is a dedicated task. While all funders have different application...
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5/6 - Considering External Support
CONSIDERING EXTERNAL SUPPORT you need to understand some of the key considerations of commissioning and working with third parties in the context of writing a funding application. This task focuses on the consideration of commissioning and working with external service providers during the writing...
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5/7 - Pre-submission Appraisal
THE PRE-SUBMISSION APPRAISAL aims to ensure that the quality of the funding application is as high as possible to maximise its chances of success. Therefore, it is invaluable to have the draft final project application reviewed in detail before the document is being submitted. This is much more...
Course
Why is Procurement Important? 1/7
Welcome on board! This is the first part of a seven-module course, which will introduce to you the main content and structure behind the URBACT online course on strategic procurement.
Course
The EU Policy Framework 2/7
Following the seven-module course, this second module explores the European Policy Frame around Procurement.
Course
Spend Analysis 3/7
Let’s learn about this first step of the procurement cycle! How much do you spend on procurement? Where does your procurement spend go?
Course
Identifying Outcomes 4/7
Find out how to decide which economic, social and environmental challenges you want to address, how to identify outcomes and create your own social value procurement framework.
Course
Commissioning 5/7
What role do commissioners play in designing goods and services? How are different outcomes relevant for different types of goods, services and works?
Course
Tendering and Decision-Making 6/7
How do cities, municipalities and other anchor insitutions develop tender documents? What kind of requirements do potential suppliers need to know? What are the social and environmental weightings on decision making?
Course
Contract Monitoring 7/7
Are you ready to complete the cycle of procurement? This is a crucial step to ensure that the commitments outlined in the tender documents are adequately carried out.
Guide
Smart Public Procurement
The Guide on Smart Public Procurement explores the key challenges to implementation of public procurement frameworks and how these challenges can be, and are being, overcome by cities across Europe.
