Funding - bringing in external support
Due to the transient nature of a Transition University community and the many time commitments its members tend to have, most Transition Universities end up applying for funding to engage employees who deliver projects.
Funding is a trade‐off ‐ it enables you to do more but you have less freedom to decide what
you can do, as you have to stick to the plans suggested in your funding application for the grant duration. Internal funding from the university means less autonomy from the institution but can provide a formal route to influence within it. If not employing staff, the Transition University can be more responsive to the projects and interests that its community want to pursue.
Engagement becomes more natural and empowering as volunteers can define the process
rather than it being a set programme delivered by a staff team. However, it is dependent on
keen volunteers with time and energy to invest, and within a University this will very much depend on the time of year.
Remember that funding doesn’t have to be external money coming in. One of the most important sources of funding can be provided in kind by the university itself, in forms of e.g. supplying your group with a physical space such as an office or a hang‐out area, or letting you use university infrastructure for employing staff or managing resources. Having these in place can also make external funding easier to find, as these can be quantified and listed as
"match funding".
The following opportunities and challenges are useful to recognise if considering getting funding to employ staff:
• It gives a sense of continuity throughout the year when other volunteer organisers of projects disappear for holidays or get bogged down in exam writing/marking
• It allows a greater volume of work to be done, there can be a wider range of projects, projects tend to be faster, impact can be observed early on, and it is easy to start
new projects
• Engagement becomes easier as employed staff members have time to invest
• A lot of time is spent on auditing and measuring the impact on projects with indicators that are not always suitable or helpful
• Reporting back to funders creates a lot of extra work but is also a good opportunity for reflection and evaluation
• It questions who should be leading Transition in the university. Is it a university directed project or is it guided by an independent organisation made up of a range of stakeholders?
• Pulling in external funding has value in and of itself because it creates “right livelihood” opportunities in a world where these are still few and far between. Creating a job role where someone can invest themselves fully in Transition-type activities can make a big difference to that person’s life
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