Resources Mobilisation Workshop: Funding Strategy for Cultural and Social Organisations

This is an era for small cultural and social organisations to thrive. From personal projects to start-up social enterprises, how do founders and managers optimise your organisation’s eligibility for programme funding in Hong Kong?   

Covering budget consideration, events planning and social impact measurements, this hands-on workshop series delves into various funding opportunities (SIE Fund through intermediaries, HKEX Foundation, etc). We will look at the current funding landscape and ethical considerations in applications as well as having hands-on experience with application processes, pitching, and budgeting, alongside case studies like Rolling Books. Storytelling techniques for projects will be explored with a focus on social impact, culminating in presentations and collaborative feedback. 

Participants will be guided on writing a mock-up funding application and doing a 3-5 minutes pitch in the final class for instructor feedback and co-learning. Practice may not make you perfect, but this course will equip you with the strategies and mindset to maximise your chances of securing programme funding. Suitable for freelancers and managers of small cultural and social organisations, but the principles of funding application also apply to medium-sized arts groups/NGO practitioners.  

This is an upgraded version of the course previously offered in September 2024 with an additional session focused on storytelling skills.
Part of the course assessment will require participants to submit written proposals and to pitch presentations.  

Course Content: 

Lesson 1: Funding application, ethically 

• Current cultural and social funding landscape 

• Vocabulary of funding buzzwords 

• The ethics of funding applications 

• How to get exposed to funding opportunities 

• Programme funding strategy for organisation growth 

• First Hand Case Study: Rolling Books funding journeys 

• Mock-up application & final class presentation explained  

Lesson 2: Hands-on experience of the application 

• How to read funding application guidelines 

• Application forms close-up study 

• Pitching 101 to 999 

• Budgetary mindset 

• First-Hand Case Study: Walk With Me, and other projects consulted by Rolling Books 

Lesson 3: Storytelling for your project 

• Public Speaking mindset 

• Pitching variations  

• Prototypes and Showcases demonstrations 

• Social Impact Measurements and SROI 

• First-Hand Case Study: Poverty. Full-time An art exhibition on working poverty 

Lesson 4: Summary and presentations 

• Co-creation process and cross-sector collaborations 

• Participants’ presentations  

• Feedback and moving on 

• Summary and Learning revisited  

Tutor
James Chong   

Graduate of the first Profession Certificate in Arts Management course at the Hong Kong Art School in 2002, James is a seasoned arts administrator and social entrepreneur specialising in cross-sector collaboration. From writing theatre reviews and managing bookstores and restaurants to being a safety supervisor in the construction industry and organising public education activities at an international NGO, James went on to establish a social enterprise that promotes reading. He secured multiple sources of funding and participated in numerous social innovation projects that incorporated art and culture.  

He has also published a multi-sensory audio description picture book “The Gift Beyond”, which won the Best Publication Award in the “Children and Youth Category” of the Hong Kong Publishing Biennial Award 2023. After graduating with a Master degree in Anthropology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2020, James taught “Social Work and Social Entrepreneurship” class at Hong Kong College of Technology and is currently teaching Digital Creativity and Cultural Management courses in Master of Cultural Studies at Lingnan University.