George Knight, DSC Trainer
Funds Online is the gateway to unlocking the funding you need to keep driving social change. Here are five tips for using the site…
Save searches and funders to set up email updates
My favourite Funds Online feature gets Funds Online working for us, almost like having another fundraiser in your team.
Every time you save searches or funders, you also sign up for email updates when there are any changes. For example, if you have a saved search with five results and one of the DSC team ends up adding a new grant-giver that fits that criteria, you will get an email update. Saving you from having to check the website.
Print to PDF to get juicy data out of Funds Online
The best way to get data out of Funds Online is to click ‘Print Fund’ when in a record and select ‘Save to PDF’.
This gives you all the juicy data so you can share it with colleagues for feedback. Please remember that the DSC team make regular changes to funder information, so it is always best to check back in with Funds Online before starting any applications.
Search for similar organisations to see if they are listed as sample beneficiaries
One of the sneakiest tips I have for you is to use the dynamic ‘Key word search’ to search for similar organisations.
This will bring up any records that have mentioned the organisation you are searching for. We hope you find some new funders that have listed similar organisations in their sample beneficiaries, giving you an option for new funders!
Upload documents to saved funder
One tip that can be helpful for charities that do not have either a secure drive or digital storage is to use Funds Online to store your most essential funding documents.
To upload documents, open a funders details in the dashboard and click ‘Add documents’. This allows you to upload relevant files like applications, costing, or feedback to store them on Funds Online. DSC does not get to see anything that you upload.
Free to search for non-subscribers
Our final tip is for non-subscribers. If you are trying to establish if Funds Online is for you, you can complete a search for free and see the number of results available to you. Of course, you need to subscribe to see the details behind that number. But it is a good insight into which subscription type is for you.