8 tips to secure support for your innovative idea
Writing an application for funding might feel intimidating. But doing it well can be the key to turning innovative ideas into reality.
By Angela Mendez, Associate Innovation Officer
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You’ve got a great idea to solve a longstanding problem! Quick, how do you tell your friend about it?
This doesn’t sound like a difficult task, right? Yet, writing a grant proposal — not an entirely dissimilar situation — can feel quite overwhelming. This is especially true when the funding opportunity is highly competitive.
Take, for instance, UNHCR’s Refugee-led Innovation Fund. This initiative is dedicated to championing the creativity of all displaced and stateless people. Every year, the Fund receives applications from thousands of forward-thinking grassroots organizations. Those whose ideas are selected are provided with holistic support — including meaningful financial resources — to implement innovative projects.
How can you make your idea stand out amid this volume of applications?
Well, projects that have previously caught our attention and secured funding include — among many others — tackling mental health issues through environmental action, enhancing advocacy skills to change the narrative on statelessness, and establishing a creative and digital hub to foster innovation and promote the socioeconomic integration of displaced people.
These projects cover a huge range of topics but all of them were communicated effectively in the first place, ensuring their ultimate endorsement.
First, what do we mean by innovation?
Innovation is a process whereby new ideas and approaches are tested to develop solutions to existing needs. For us, innovation is also — importantly — intended to drive positive and long-lasting change.
It can take place in different settings and across different sectors — including education, health, agriculture and much more. Sometimes, innovation involves digital tools and technologies — but it doesn’t have to! Innovation can be applying an existing idea or approach in a new context, or developing an entirely new approach to an old challenge.
Despite all these different forms, innovation has some core characteristics. Experimentation, for instance, is one key element of innovation. Another is learning and growth 🌱. Innovation isn’t just about developing a successful solution, it’s also about gathering information from set-backs along the way.
When you explore new ways to resolve a challenge affecting your community, you are innovating!
How to communicate your idea effectively
If you’re planning to apply to the Refugee-led Innovation Fund — or other innovation funding opportunities from UNHCR or elsewhere — here are 8 tips to think about when preparing your application:
1 Write clearly and concisely: Use clear, straightforward language, communicating the most important ideas. Avoid jargon and acronyms that may not be familiar to all readers. Long answers are not necessarily better ones.
2 Include the voice of your community: Make sure to mention how members of the community you work with and for have participated in the design of your project idea. Consider including points such as how feedback from community members has shaped the idea, and what kind of active role community members will play in all phases of implementation.
3 Frame your challenge precisely: Explain the specific challenge you want to address. Mention the impact it has and how it is directly affecting the everyday life of community members. Although you should be sure to include key details — including the perspective of community members — you can still keep your explanation simple. For example, a good challenge statement might look like:
Many solar powered systems have been installed across camps in Cox’s Bazar to provide essential needs, but limited repair and maintenance support and lack of local capacity means many do not function adequately, creating e-waste. There is high demand from the community both for more reliable energy and for an effective system to better manage this e-waste.
4 Highlight the innovative aspects of your idea: If you’re applying for an innovation-specific funding opportunity, you must clearly demonstrate that your idea actually is innovative. What makes your solution interesting and original? How does it differ from similar solutions? If you’ve tried this approach before, why is it worth trying again? What will you do differently this time? For example, a solution statement for the challenge described above could be:
We plan to develop a network of young energy ambassadors who will be trained to lead energy infrastructure repair and maintenance as well as drive forward community-based learning to promote behavior change on sustainable energy use. This approach is comprehensive and forward-thinking, as it integrates youth empowerment, practical training, and community engagement. It will be the first time this approach is tested in Cox’s Bazar. Additionally, we will explore compensating ambassadors through cash-based interventions — another innovative aspect that offers a sustainable funding model that can ensure longevity and scalability.
5 Mention why the idea is valuable for your community: Clearly indicate — using both qualitative and quantitative measures — what impact this solution will have on your community. How will it change their lives for better? What are the expected results? Make sure to mention how many people are expected to benefit, directly and indirectly, from your solution. If you can provide even more detail — for instance, about the age, gender, and diversity characteristics of the people whose lives you’ll affect — all the better! For instance, the projected impact of our example project could be:
Awareness will be raised across the camp to encourage environmentally friendly choices, and local capacity will be built to maintain solar energy systems, improving energy efficiency and longevity of energy infrastructure. More than 5,000 community members will directly benefit from improved energy access, a cleaner environment, and enhanced capacity — with a roughly equal gender split and with attention paid to the inclusion of people with disabilities.
6 Describe the activities you plan to execute: Once you’ve described the big idea of your project — the challenge, solution, and outcomes — we really want to understand the nuts and bolts. Which activities will you conduct to achieve your main goal? These activities might include, for example, training and skills development sessions, community awareness raising, acquisition of goods, and any number of other activities that, put together, will help you reach your desired impact.
7 Don’t forget to include a budget: Snore! 🥱 Oh wait, budgets are actually super important! When estimating the costs associated with your project’s implementation, you could consider aspects such as direct project expenses, administrative and personnel costs, and other needs related to the project. It’s important to make sure that the project expenses are realistic — and that the scope and cost of your project fits the funding opportunity you’re applying to.
8 Discuss collaboration plans and how your project will sustain itself beyond the funding period: Innovation might seem like a flash in the pan — and it can be, without proper forethought. So, if your solution turns out to be successful, it’s important to think about how you will ensure it has staying power. In your application, you could include plans for securing future funding, or ongoing community support. You could mention how you will collaborate with other community organizations, NGOs, partners or donors to ensure the project lasts beyond the initial funding. 🤝
Remember! Innovation is not always or only about technology; it’s about experimenting and testing new approaches to existing challenges to drive positive, long-lasting change in your community. To get support for your innovative idea, you first have to be able to communicate why it’s needed, new, and impactful — in the short and long term.
Whether you’re applying to the Refugee-led Innovation Fund or for any other humanitarian innovation funding opportunity, we hope the above tips help to refine your idea.
Happy writing! 💭
The deadline for applications to the Refugee-led Innovation Fund is 31 May ⏰ Organizations led by displaced or stateless people can apply in any language of their preference.
Read more & apply at https://www.unhcr.org/innovation/refugee-led-innovation-fund/
