You have been alerted to a travel grant opportunity that might just be the right fit for your background. There are thousands of travel grant opportunities published by funders around the world each year. Travel grant could be for conference, seminar, a research project, experience or just to gain cultural experience.
Where to start to ensure success?
Let us help you make a good start.
This guide will help you do two important things:
- Guide you in your decision whether it makes sense to apply.
- If you do apply, provide tips and tricks to increase the chance of success.
So, let’s get started!
Should I apply?
To decide whether it is worth your time and effort to apply you should answer the following questions.
Question 1: Am I eligible?
- Carefully read the eligibility requirements on the grant provider’s website.
- Do you have an educational background?
- Are you legally allowed to travel?
- Can you show a track record of success?
- Is your country included in the list of eligible countries?
- Can you apply in the language required (often English, but not always)?
If you are not eligible, do not apply!
The grant provider will not review your application, no matter how good it is. You are wasting your own and the donor’s time. It will make you look like you didn’t pay attention and reflect badly on your reputation
If there is confusion or it is not clear ask the grant provider, preferably via email.
Question 2: Is my program a good fit?
Carefully review what goal/objectives the grant provider has for the grant funding. The focus of your application submission must be on the specific topics the grant provider wants to see addressed.
Question 3: Do I have a reasonable chance of success?
Many travel grant opportunities published online are very competitive. You should consider applying if you are a good fit for the opportunity offered. To calculate your chances, you need to know what traveling grant resources you will be heading to. Most travel grant opportunities will be very competitive, with a low success rate. Many grant providers publish success rates of between 1 and 10%, but it depends highly on the type of opportunities. The success rate is influenced by the following:
- A global opportunity will have the lowest success rate – possible below 2%
- A country opportunity for a country with a specific theme will have a medium success rate – possible around 5-10%
Applicants fulfilling all the eligibility terms will also have a higher chance of receiving a grant.
You can get a sense of your chance for success by checking the website of the grant provider. How many grants have they provided each year, how much money was involved in total, do they publish the results of competitions? For example, if the grant provider has only a very small number of applicants, the number of grants provided each funding round is likely to be small. If they indicate they give away $100,00 each year and that 5 applicants were successful last year, the average grant size is likely to be around $2000. If they tell you that had 1000 applications last year but they only show 10 partners on their website – It is highly likely the success rate was 10 out of 1000 applicants = 1%.
The lower the estimated success rate, the stronger and more relevant your application must be to succeed.
Also note the more grant resources, the better the chance of accepted application. Research as many travel grant opportunities as you can and apply. This automatically betters your travel grant wining-chance.
How to Write a Winning Application
- Research for all the events. Once you have identified some interesting ones, apply before registration deadlines. Some travel grants opportunities are only open for people who have registered to specific events.
- Carefully review the rules of the donor, including:
- Submission deadline. Make sure you submit well before the deadline date
- Word counts and page limits
- Eligibility documents and certificates
- The manner of submission: online or paper
- Required signatures, if any
- Required reference letter
- Make a checklist list of documents required to be submitted. Start collecting these documents in both electronic and paper format in a file.
- If things are not clear or there is confusion ask the grant provider for clarification.
- If applying for a conference travel grant, the grant provider might require proof of invitation.
- If the grant provider uses an online submission portal, first draft a short summary of your application before submitting the online form. This will allow you to work off-line, edit and proofread, and save a copy for future use. Once developed, you can cut and paste the relevant text from your document into the online application form.
- Cover letter aka motivation letter is all about promoting yourself. Avoid being superficial, general, and passive voicing. Be direct, specific, and elaborate on all the possible benefits you would get if you attend.
- Include how this opportunity will build your future plan.
- Clearly explain how you will promote the goals of the grant provider. Repeat the grant provider objective(s) in this part.
- Check the grant provider website to view examples of previous applicants and copy some of the relevant elements described there.
- Outline how the grant will be useful. How will you do things better and differently from before?
- Remember that the grant provider wants a high impact, value for money highlight their objective.
- Make sure the travel budget presents the exact amount the grant provider is offering.
- Have a native speaker proofread and edit your application before submission.
- Thank the grant provider if successful. Follow-up with the donor and ask for feedback if not successful.
Now that you know how to write a great application, go ahead and aim for success!
Good luck!