Project funding and costs - guidance and FAQs

Project Funding & Costs

Guidance & FAQs

Applying for funding

If you are applying for Project Support funding, the application panel will need to see a full breakdown of your costs to enable them to make a decision.

Before you apply

Ensure you apply for costs we can fund - see below - and that your budget covers the following questions:

• What costs and expenses are you applying for funding to cover?
• How have you arrived at these figures? Please provide details including the source(s) of the information
• Why are these costs/expenses important for your project? This is especially important if you apply for something we would not usually fund or for an unusual item. Contact us if you have questions.
• Have you applied for funding for this project elsewhere? Please include details, including specifying what part of your project IATL funding will support.
• If you have a shortfall in your budget, how will you meet it?

FAQs

What kinds of projects or costs does IATL *not* fund?

Project Support funding does not normally cover:

the purchase or use of equipment
staff costs for full-time staff
a project that involves delivering a course of learning
fees to publish material in a journal or on a platform
a project that is the same or very similar to one we have already funded. Please contact us before applying if you wish to develop a project that has already received support.

Students, please note that funded activity/outcomes:

cannot be used as part of any student assessment
must be completed within 3 months after graduation at the latest.

Please ensure you review Project Support guidance on what types of projects we support, including funding limits for student-led and for staff or staff/student co-led projects. If you are unsure whether we can fund an item or activity, please ask us before you apply.

What rate should students working as co-creators be paid at via Unitemps?

The standard rate we support for student work is FA4 spinal point 16.

For staff-led projects, ensure you budget for the Unitemps bill rate. This is higher than the hourly pay rate that co-creators will receive since it includes holiday pay plus the Unitemps fee. Please click here to see the Unitemps ratesLink opens in a new window (October 2023).Unitemps rates normally increase every year in August.

Also consider whether over the course of your project, students will be paid at the pre-AWR or post-AWR rate. Broadly, the post-AWR rate is paid after 12 weeks of work. See UnitempsLink opens in a new window for more information.

For student research projects, use the hourly rate (pay rate + holiday pay). Student projects are funded through a bursary, so you would not be employed through Unitemps and there is no Unitemps fee. See What does a good budget look like? for an example.

For student performance projects, the amount of time required to stage a production means it is not usually feasible to pay Unitemps rates given the funding limit. We nonetheless support project members receiving a payment to acknowledge their work - see What does a good budget look like? for an example.

How much detail shall I include in the budget?

Please be specific, and don't generalise. We will need to see a breakdown of expenses and not only a broad headline total. If you include an estimate, please give details of how you have arrived at that figure.

An example of a budget without sufficient detail:

'I am applying for £300 from IATL. Basically, I need this amount to cover my travel and other project costs. I will need to travel out of town a few times to interview participants. I might also need some money to pay someone to help me with photography, as I have no experience of this'.

What does a good budget look like?

Our review panel needs to understand why you need the money you're applying for, and how you have arrived at the figures you've included in your budget. Below are examples of budgets for different types of project that illustrate the sort of information the panel needs to make an informed decision.

for Unitemps rates referred to below, see What rate should students working as co-creators be paid at via Unitemps?

Research project budget

Cost 1, Participant Compensation: for their involvement in the project, each participant will be offered a £20 voucher. Including 20 participants and compensating them £20 each results in a cost of £400.
Cost 2, Materials Production: Each booklet given to participants consists of 16 pages. According to a quote from Warwick Print on 1 October 2023, printing one page costs 5p. So 80 booklets of 16 pages at 5p per page results in a cost of £64.
Cost 3, Student co-creator / student researcher costs: student work will be for 6 hours per week for 8 weeks, for a total of 48 hours.
- student project: the total hourly rate at FA4 spinal point 16 is £14.84, consisting of hourly rate of £13.24 + £1.60 holiday pay, Unitemps information as of October 2023. So the total cost for my work on my research project would be 48 x £14.84 = £712.32
- staff-led project employing students as co-creators through Unitemps: the Unitemps bill rate at FA4 spinal point 16 is £18.30/hour as of October 2023. So the total Unitemps cost is 48 x £18.30 = £878.40
Total budget:
- student project: £1,176.32
- staff-led project, £1,342.40

Performance project budget

£175 – Props and set design, including limited amount of set construction materials and sourcing of plants and kitchen items (prices based on quotes 12-15/9; other props such as tables and chairs are available free); art supplies including paint and brushes (costs for art supplies priced online on 15/9)
£50 – Costumes: 5 purple shirts (priced at £10 each on Amazon, 15/9)
£70 – Tech: hiring lighting and sound systems from TechCrew society (quote on 30/9 )
£60 - Hair and Makeup: purchasing products from Boots (online prices for foundation, eyeliner, lipstick and hairspray, 15/9) and paying student makeup artist (quote on 25/9)
£30 – Marketing materials: posters and flyers, quotes from Warwick Student Printing (30/9)
Production team member payments: 5 x £60 each = £300
Cast member payments - 5 x £60 each = £300
Total budget: £985

My project includes raising money. How should I include that in my budget?

If your project's activity will be raising funds (such as selling tickets for a performance) please model some income possibilities in your budget. See example below:

'We plan to sell tickets at different prices (£3.50 for members of our partner societies, £4.00 for non-members), of which 10% will be kept by Warwick Arts Centre, for their box office/booking service. Considering the capacity of the venue, the best income possibility in case of selling out, would be £495, with hypothetically 100 members and 50 non-members'.

Any examples provided here are to demonstrate the type of information to include, rather than indicating that we are able to support specific requests.