Creatives urged to master the art of winning grants

Mbulelo Mpofu

A PRACTICAL grant-writing workshop aimed at equipping Zimbabwean creatives and cultural practitioners with skills to navigate funding opportunities is set to take place on September 7 at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.

Dubbed “Master the Art of Winning Grants”, the workshop is being held under the Africa-Europe Partnerships for Culture (AEPC) Southern Africa programme and funded by the European Union (EU).

The initiative comes at a time when access to sustainable funding remains a major challenge for artists, cultural organisations and creative entrepreneurs seeking to turn ideas into viable projects.

Rather than focusing exclusively on the theory of grant writing, the workshop has been designed as a practical session taking participants through the funding process, from identifying suitable opportunities to developing applications ready for submission.

The programme will be divided into morning and afternoon sessions, with the morning focusing on funding landscapes and proposal development before moving into practical application drafting.

The morning session will open with “Navigating Funding Landscapes”, where participants will learn how to identify, target and evaluate funding opportunities relevant to their creative projects. The session is expected to help practitioners avoid pursuing funding calls that do not match their projects, eligibility or organisational capacity, while encouraging them to assess opportunities strategically.

This will be followed by “Grant Writing Essentials”, which will unpack the key components of a competitive funding proposal. Participants will be guided on how to move beyond simply presenting an artistic idea and instead structure proposals that clearly communicate their relevance, feasibility, impact and value to potential funders.

The practical component will come through “Practical Drafting”, where participants will receive hands-on guidance in developing important sections of a grant application, including the project description, logframe and budget. These elements require applicants to demonstrate not only what they intend to do, but also how they will achieve their objectives, measure results and manage the requested resources.

The afternoon session will shift from instruction to direct application through a “Live Application Lab”.

Participants will be taken step-by-step through the active AEPC Grants for Creative and Artistic Practitioners call for proposals, giving them an opportunity to apply the lessons from the morning to a real funding opportunity.

A direct question-and-answer session will also allow participants to seek clarification on aspects of the application process. The key outcome of the workshop is that participants should leave with more than theoretical knowledge. They are expected to have a tangible, drafted application ready for submission.

This practical focus could prove significant for Zimbabwe’s creative sector, where limited access to finance often prevents promising artistic and cultural projects from progressing beyond the idea stage. Grants can provide support for artistic production, cultural programming, research, professional development, collaborations and initiatives aimed at strengthening creative ecosystems.

However, competition for regional and international funding remains high, making the ability to prepare clear, compelling and well-structured proposals an increasingly important professional skill. The Master the Art of Winning Grants workshop therefore seeks to bridge the gap between creative ideas and the resources required to bring them to life. – Follow on X @MbuleloMpofu