This is Bentsen Developments recommendations and not necessarily a funding agency’s only requests or requirements.

• Suggest spending time on your concept/idea and although you may not have all the pieces of puzzle together you have a fairly good idea of the direction you want to head. A benefit to be recognized is your group has been serving the client group for some time, you would be deemed experts in this demographic.
• Land as equity, although land comprise of 3-8% of the project cost the contribution is seen as the first step towards an eventual project. A Society can also approach the local municipality or a 3rd party to secure some leased land, a philanthropist’s private or service club donation. Even if you don’t have the land piece it is most likely the first step towards presentation of a project to a funding source.
• "Cash is King" is often mentioned when submitting a funding application and a society when considering a project should also see what organizations can be approached to gain donations or grants. A development consultant can assist in applications and as many agencies require the outline Performa the consultant can assist in having the best submission possible.
• Municipal Participation; this is in some projects one of your strongest partners as they control not only the permits but can assist in many areas. Municipalities and their councils can make or break the success of an application. BC Housing for many years has encouraged society’s to seek these relationships. Requests to the Municipality can range from development cost charge reductions to assistance with offsite hook of services and municipal improvements. Many municipalities may have land or a housing fund as they see the need to retain their citizens and provide that basic necessity – Housing.
• A good experienced team; The team you and your development consultant have assembled will be the leaders and experts to bring the project together. A dysfunctional team or one who are "too close" can cause anxiety as the lines of loyalty and who is working for who get blurred. A good team has integrity and gives you honest feedback even if it is not the popular thing to do. The team should work well together supporting each other and ensuring the wishes of the society are addressed.
• Patience; Last but not the least point is to have patience, many society’s will get frustrated during the first go around and proposal. Our recommendation is to hang in there, the funding agency that turned you down knows you are there and potentially the funding was expended before your project was considered. A Society’s Development Consultant should have ‘Plan B’ ready if your first application is rejected and should be figuring out why the proposal was not accepted and what needs to happen to be successful in the next round.

Note: These are just some basic points to consider, please do not get discouraged if you do not have these basics together. Part of Development Consultant’s duties will be to evaluate where you are at and get you on the right track in preparation for a project.