The year before an election is known as an electioneering year and if you’re in WA, 2024 is one of them. It will be a year of people presenting their projects to Ministers and politicians to try to secure funding through an election commitment.
So how do you increase your chances of getting funding through an election commitment?
1. Ask
You won’t get what you don’t ask for. Advocate for your project by going directly to Ministers, politicians or government departments. Use the media to create and build awareness and excitement around your project.
2. Choose Wisely
Not all projects are likely to receive funding through an election commitment so think carefully about your project. Who will benefit from it? Where is it located? What votes can politicians garner by promising to fund it? When you speak to politicians, frame your project in a way that makes it perfectly clear to them how they will win votes with it. Will your project only benefit a small community with very few voters? How can you pitch it as a worthwhile election commitment? Maybe it’s about supporting the underdog; or about sport, Australia’s national identity. Find something voters would get behind. If you cannot find a strong selling point, then choose a different project.
3. Provide a Business Case
During electioneering years (and other years too) politicians have a lot of people telling them about their amazing project ideas, and most of them are really great ideas. But they are just that; ideas and concepts, nothing concrete. For a project to be allocated funding in a State Government budget, it needs to go through a thorough due-diligence process. Government officers need to assess whether the project is needed, feasible, viable and value for money. To do that, they need a project business case.
You’re one of many who present projects and ideas to a politician around election time. If you present a fully formed business case that provides them with the perfect reason voters would love it, and all the detail and information they need to complete the necessary due diligence, then you are way ahead of the pack. You’re handing them everything they need and making it so much easier for them to say yes. They can be confident that you will deliver the project professionally and they’re committing to something that will happen and make them look good.
Complete these three actions and you will significantly increase your chances of securing an election commitment to fund your project.
Whitney Consulting book out fast for our business case development services in the lead up to each election so contact us ASAP if you need help with your business case. And remember – business cases take months to prepare, not days or weeks. We cannot stress enough how vital it is you book your business case in TODAY.
