What happens once my application is received by Valencia Communities Fund?
When your application arrives, the Grants Officer will email you to acknowledge receipt of your application and to ask any questions arising from processing it. Once any questions have been answered, the Grants Officer will score your application against a number of criteria in order to assess whether your project fits in with the aims of Valencia Communities Fund and the Landfill Communities Fund. If your application does not exceed the minimum score or your project is otherwise ineligible for funding from Valencia Communities Fund, then the Grants Officer will email you to let you know.
Any application that is not complete or that has any issues after the closing date will not be considered at the following meeting. You are strongly advised to submit your Stage 2 application far in advance of the closing date to ensure that any issues with your application can be resolved before the closing date.
What is my application scored against?
The criteria that the Grants Officers use varies slightly between the different types of project Valencia Communities Fund is able to fund. Examples of each can be found on the links below:
Biodiversity - Due to the unique nature of biodiversity projects, Valencia Communities Fund does not score biodiversity projects against key criteria.
Each funding round will have a benchmark score required and applications that do not achieve this benchmark score will be declined at this stage, approx. ten working days after the deadline date.
Applications that meet the benchmark score will progress for consideration by either the Funding Group or the Board of Trustees. At this stage, applications receive an on-site visit by our Project Liaison Officers. This visit takes place a few days prior to the Group or Board meeting. The Project Liaison Officers are there to gather further information, complete a compliance check and then to provide their own recommendation to the Funding Group or Board of Trustees.
How does the Funding Group decide which applications get funded?
The Valencia Communities Fund Funding Group is comprised of the General Manager, Operations Manager, Project Liaison Officer, Grants Officer and Finance Officer. The group will allocate funding to the projects that they feel will provide greatest benefit to their local communities based partly on the criteria score and their own local knowledge. Once the group has met, you will be informed of the group's decision within five working days of the meeting. All decisions are overseen by the Valencia Communities Fund Board.
What happens if my application is successful?
Successful applicants will receive an email to inform them of funding decisions within five working days of the meeting. The applicant will be sent a funding Offer Letter together with a Successful Applicant’s Pack. This will detail any conditions we may attach to the award. It is important to read these documents thoroughly. Applicants must accept the terms of funding online within one month of being awarded funding.
The Offer Letter will contain a Project Payment Request form, and a Contributing Third Party Payment form.
