Decoded: The Secret To
Successful Funding Applications
Learn how to earn thousands in funding for one day’s work.
Do you wish you had an extra £5,000 to bring your next creative project to life?
Every year, funders give away millions in grants to artists to help them develop their work and careers.
With the right knowledge, you can be one of them.
As a judge, I’ve rejected hundreds of applications, and I see artists make the same mistakes over and over again.
Why?
Because the whole process feels confusing and mysterious.
This course explains everything I wish artists knew about: what funders are really looking for, how to make your project too exciting to turn down, what should and shouldn’t go into your marketing plan, solid budgeting, and how to write convincingly (even if you think you’re terrible at it).
You can complete all 21 video lessons in under an hour.
You’ll also get a 38-page workbook packed with done-for-you templates, examples, and checklists to ensure you get it right.
Enrol today to learn the secret to successful funding applications.
- Amelia Ideh, Funding Judge
Course: Decoded: The Secret To Successful Funding Applications
Instructor: Amelia Ideh
Format: Video Instruction, Workbook, Bonuses, Community.
Status: Open for enrolment
Super-Earlybird
pricing
applies until
August 1, 2026
Join the course now.
Semester Starts October 7, 2026
Want to know more? Keep going ↓
What Artists Are Saying About This Course
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Jane Smith
Artistic Director of Her Company
Berlin
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Rudyard Kipling
Writer
London
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Nike Ggagada
Musician and Events Promoter
Accra
About Your Tutor
Amelia Ideh is the founder of Buoyant, and has judged funding applications for organisations like the PRS Foundation (Momentum, Women Make Music, The Open Fund, Talent Development Network) and Help Musicians UK.
She has also helped raise millions of pounds collectively for arts organisations like The Roundhouse and Fevered Sleep, her own projects, and a number of independent artists.
Amelia has been a passionate supporter of artists’ career development through education for 20+ years, working with companies like Bandcamp, London Contemporary Dance School, Serious, and many more.
Who Is This Course For?
If any of these statements are true for you, we’re confident that this course will help.
I’m an emerging artist
I want to learn this crucial career skill early, so I can benefit from grants supporting emerging artists with funding, space, and expertise.
I want to be independent
DIY fundraising saves me £500+ on a consultant to write my applications, and funding lets me produce my ideas with fewer artistic compromises.
I’m an established artist
I’ve reached the limit of what I can do creatively without funding. I need to learn how to secure funding to get to the next stage.
I’m thinking of giving up
The cost of living and making work is getting too high. Unless I learn how to secure financial support regularly, I’ll have to change careers.
I’ve been rejected before
I want to get better at fundraising so that applying feels like a great use of my time, instead of a (depressing) gamble.
I’m a manager/ producer/ agent
I want to learn how to fundraise in order to support the artists I work with, so that they have more time, resources, and chance of success.
TIP
Funders are like business investors. They want to know that their money is going to help you get to the next level, not to stay where you are.
Luckily, they don’t want their money back.
Find more tips and insights like this in our course workbook.
Enrol now.
What Will I Learn?
By the end of this course, you’ll know how to:
Decode application questions
And “funder speak”, so that you can respond with a great answer (no matter how confusing the question).
Present clear, exciting project ideas
That will stand out, and funders won’t want to turn down.
Strengthen your writing
By learning the techniques that make you sound clear and convincing.
Understand the selection process
So you can give judges the kind of information that will make them fight for your application.
Create a realistic marketing plan
With tried and trusted activities that funders will be happy to pay for.
Avoid the biggest application killer
A common mistake that sinks even the strongest applications.
Write convincingly about yourself
Using a simple formula that will help funders understand who you are and want to invest in you.
Write a solid, well-researched budget
That adds up and demonstrates your competence. Even if you hate maths.
Speed up your application writing
So you can apply more often and more easily, and increase your chances.
What’s Included In The Course?
Instant, lifetime access to 21 short video lessons (you can watch them all in under an hour).
A 38-page workbook (digital + printable pdf) bursting with done-for-you templates, examples, & tips (see FAQs for more).
Free access to Shipping Club, our live online accountability co-working sessions (*if you sign up before the term starts).
Super-Earlybird
pricing
applies until
August 1, 2026
Join the course now.
Semester Starts October 7, 2026
14-Day Money-Back Guarantee
We don’t want you to pay for a course if it’s not right for you. Here’s how our refund policy works:
First, watch the lessons and complete the asterisked workbook exercises. They’re designed to help you get the most from the course.
If you’ve done that and haven’t found the course helpful, we’ll happily refund you within 14 days of purchase.
TIP
Delivering your project will usually cost more than you’ve budgeted for, yet the funder will often give you less than you ask for. Ask for the maximum amount or a little more than you need.
Find more tips and insights like this in our course workbook.
Enrol now.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The workbook is designed to help you practise the skills you’ll learn in the videos and give you a range of tools to help you take action quickly. These include:
Templates, for example:
“Tell Us About Yourself” (In 7 Simple Steps)
Three Convincing Answers To “Why Now?”
Impact Hacking Research Template
Done-For-You Budget Template
Exercises, for example:
How To Think Like A Funder
The Funder-Speak Translator
Copy Editing Quiz
Tools, for example:
À La Carte Marketing Menu
The 9-Step Application Writing Process
Build Your Fundraising Toolkit
Funding Application Submission Checklist
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We can’t guarantee you successful fundraising outcomes, but we will teach you the proven fundraising techniques that work for us and many others.
The smallest funding grants usually start at £500, and many are in the region of £5000–£15,000. So, this course should pay for itself many times over throughout your career.
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Yes! This course will teach you how to write a strong application and how to research and balance a budget. We’ve also created tools to do as much of the work for you as possible.
The workbook includes answer templates (plus example answers) you can use as inspiration for the most important questions.
You’ll also get a budget calculator that adds up the numbers for you, so you can be sure your budget is balanced.
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We’re sorry you got rejected. That’s tough, and the more it happens, the worse it feels.
Whether you do this course or not, we encourage you to ask for feedback to try and find out why your application was rejected.
Most of the time, it’s for a few simple reasons: your answers were unclear or vague, your application wasn’t compelling or urgent enough in a competitive round, or the plan/budget didn’t make sense.
One of the exercises in the workbook, “How To Think Like A Funder”, will help you understand why funders accept or reject applications. The rest of the course will teach you how to write the kind of answers funders find difficult to reject.
By the end of the course, you’ll feel ready to try again, knowing your chances of success will be much higher.
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We won’t sugarcoat it, funding is competitive. Here’s the 3-step approach we recommend:
Learn how to fundraise.
Most artists are never taught how, so this will give you a significant advantage.Research and apply for the grants you’re eligible for regularly rather than sporadically.
This will improve your fundraising skills, increase your chances of being funded, and put less pressure on each application.Ask funders for feedback if you get rejected.
You might have just missed out in a strong round. With a few small tweaks, you could be at the front of the line next round.
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Yes! Don’t wait for a funding project idea to suddenly appear in your mind - it’s highly unlikely to happen.
Find out what kind of activities the funding grants you’re eligible for can support. Let that inspire you, then using the skills you’ve learned in this course, join the dots between your project idea and their funding criteria.
Once you’ve done it a few times, it will start to become second nature.
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Our tutor, Amelia Ideh, has worked as a fundraiser, judge, and marketing consultant in the UK and Europe across many different art forms, including music, dance, theatre, and visual arts.
The principles in this course are universal, since funders of all art forms around the world are looking for applications written with clarity, specificity, compelling project ideas, logical planning, and solid budgets.
It’s a good idea, however, to check whether there is any arts funding available in your country.
There are some international grants open to applicants all over the world, but there are fewer of them, and availability can vary according to your art form.
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Experienced fundraisers and medium or large arts organisations. This course doesn’t cover larger grants or core funding.
Anyone who wants to learn crowdfunding, individual donor fundraising, or how to run fundraising events.
Anyone who is not eligible for, or applying for, arts funding. The advice, tools, and examples may not work in other industries.
Anyone looking for legal, charity compliance, or tax advice. This course covers application writing, not setting up a company.
Anyone looking for an application writer, coach, or 1:1 application feedback. We cannot currently offer those services.
Why We Made This Course
It’s incredibly difficult to make great quality, ambitious work without financial support.
It’s generally not taught in higher education, but fundraising is one of the most useful career skills an artist can learn.
Knowing how to make an extra £5,000-15,000 a year is often the difference between thriving and quitting.
That’s why we’ve made this course.
You don’t have to be great at admin, writing, or budgeting. You just need to learn how to make it easy for funders to say yes.
There are deadlines closing soon for grants worth thousands, and you’re eligible to apply.
So, if you’re ready to learn the secret to successful funding applications, enrol now.
Super-Earlybird
pricing
applies until
August 1, 2026
Enrol Now ↓
Semester Starts October 7, 2026
Individuals
✓ Includes lifetime access to all course materials
✓ Covered by our 14-day money back guarantee
Groups, Universities, & Organisations
Need access for a cohort, class, team, or organisation?
✓ Discounted group rates available
✓ Individual account logins for every participant
EU VAT-registered businesses must contact us before purchase with a valid VAT number
Still have questions? Contact us.