3 tips from successful grant recipients

November 29, 2021

The inside of a radio station studioApplying for a grant can seem like a daunting task so we asked three of our grant recipients for their best advice. 

1. Have a really good business plan 

Adam Stokeld station manager at  HighlandFM on Gandangara Country/Bowral, NSW. 

  • Don’t lock yourself in your business plan because the economic landscape and the retail landscape is changing day to day. 
  • Have information written up and ready to go.  The team at Highland FM have up to 12 months of pre-prepared content ready to go at a moments notice for award submissions and grant applications. 
  • Back up your grant and award submission information with newspaper articlesletters of referral, and examples of CSAs and promotional contentIt’s all well and good saying we’ve done all of these things, but it’s important to have evidence to back it up. 

2. Know your audience

Caroline Rowe from the C44 Kaurna Country/Adelaide television show CookingJust4Me, who was successful on her very first grant application. 

  • Know the audience that you want to make the show for and leverage your own experiences to help develop your concept 
  • Be confident in your work and your idea, especially if your grant is funded it just instils that confidence that your idea is a good one 

3. Go For It 

Sonia Kisielecki, the secretary and co-treasurer at GulfFM in Narannga Country/Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. 

  • As the old adage says nothing ventured, nothing gained, so you just have to have a crack.
  • The CBF team are very helpful and are there to answer any grant questions you might have. Even if you feel stressed about the application or the acquittal report you can get through it. 
  • Members of the CBF Grants Support Team like Dean Linguey are there to help you out with simple easy-to-understand instructions. 
  • Pushing the ‘submit button’ can be nerve-wracking but do it anyway and ask for all the help you need from the CBF team.  

Our next grant round is opening  in January 2022.  


About our grants 

We run two Content and Development & Operations grant rounds each year.   

Quick Response Grants are also available outside our grant rounds for community media organisations that are experiencing emergencies. 

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