Written by Lee Whalley
We understand that AI tools can be helpful when completing funding applications, particularly for people who are less confident with writing, need support structuring their ideas, or want to make their application clearer and more accessible.
There is no problem with using AI to support your application. However, the application must still reflect your organisation, your project and your understanding of the community you work with.
When using AI, please make sure that:
- The application remains authentic. Tell us about your actual project, your local knowledge and, where relevant, the lived experience that has shaped your work.
- Everything included is accurate. AI can sometimes make assumptions, add information or suggest activities that sound good but are not actually part of your plans.
- You can deliver what you say you will deliver. Do not allow AI to create ambitious outputs, outcomes or promises that your organisation does not have the capacity, resources or experience to achieve.
- You remain accountable for the application. Anything submitted to us is treated as information provided by your organisation, regardless of whether AI helped to write it.
- Your own voice and experience are still visible. A polished application is useful, but we would much rather understand what you genuinely want to achieve than read something impressive that does not reflect the reality of the project.
Used well, AI can be a useful accessibility tool and can help people communicate good ideas more clearly. It should support your application, rather than create the project for you.
A good rule of thumb: use AI to help explain your idea, not to invent it.