27 Jan Marketing support now you have a funded project
Getting the email that confirms your funding is one of those moments you don’t forget.
How do you feel?
There’s relief.
Excitement.
A sense of validation.
Calls, emails and text to people who have been cheering you on.
More excitement.
Then perhaps, a gentle sense of overwhelm and panic!
Now it’s up to you to make it happen, the way you described it.
A bit of pressure then!
Suddenly the project is real. You’ve got a timeline and those great ideas are no longer ideas, they’re commitments. You’re accountable not just to yourself, but to funders, partners, participants, and the communities you’re aiming to reach.
And somewhere in all of that, marketing moves from “we’ll sort that later” to “we need to get this right”.
If you’ve been awarded funding and are now wondering how to approach marketing, calmly, thoughtfully, and without overwhelm, this guide is for you.
How to Deliver a Funded Project Successfully
When you’re applying for funding, marketing can feel abstract. You describe audiences, engagement plans, and reach in neat paragraphs and bullet points. You promise visibility, participation, and impact.
Once funding is awarded, you want your project be successful and to reach the audiences you described.
Marketing becomes urgent because:
- You need people to know the project exists
- You need participants, audiences, or partners to show up
- You may have public accountability or reporting requirements
- You want to use this as a springboard for more funding or to seed future projects
For many organisations and individuals, this is also the moment they realise:
“We don’t actually have the time, headspace, or skills to do all of this well on our own.”
A sense of elation can quickly turn into just trying to get through it.
Marketing planning and delivery for successfully funded projects
Marketing funded projects isn’t the same as marketing a product or a service.
There’s often more at stake.
Funded work tends to involve:
- Multiple stakeholders
- Clear outcomes and deliverables
- Communities you care deeply about
- Sensitivity around representation and language
- An agreed timeline you can’t easily move
On top of that, marketing is often being carried by someone who already has a full role:
- A project manager
- A producer
- A founder
- A creative lead
- A small internal team – or individual – wearing all the hats!
It’s no surprise that marketing starts to feel heavy, messy, or slightly overwhelming.
Do your marketing plan right and reduce headaches later.
Before we cover about what works, it’s worth naming what often doesn’t, not as criticism, but as reassurance that you’re not alone.
Leaving marketing too late
Marketing gets squeezed in around delivery, rather than designed alongside it. By the time you go public, there’s a rush, and opportunities are missed.
Asking “someone internal” to just do it
Marketing becomes an extra task added onto an already stretched role, without the time or strategic support it needs. Marketing is a skill.
Doing lots of activity without a clear plan
Social posts, emails, flyers, events, all happening, but without a strong narrative holding them together. This is a wonderful opportunity to reach a whole world of new people, don’t waste the chance by not having a clear plan.
Forgetting the audience under pressure
The focus shifts to outputs and reporting, and the people you’re trying to reach get lost in the noise.
These mistakes are understandable. They’re also avoidable with the right support at the right moment.
Why marketing is part of project delivery (not an add-on)
One of the biggest mindset shifts that helps after funding is awarded is this:
Marketing isn’t something you do around the project.
It’s part of how the project exists in the world.
Good marketing:
- Helps the right people find the project
- Shapes how the work is understood and valued
- Supports participation, access, and inclusion
- Makes evaluation and reporting easier later on
- Sets the business up for the next project.
When marketing is treated as delivery, not decoration, it becomes calmer, clearer, and far more effective.
Why freelance or fractional marketing might be the way forward!
This is where freelance marketing support often comes into its own.
Funded projects usually don’t need:
- A full-time marketing hire
- A long-term agency contract
- High-pressure, sales-driven tactics
What they do need is:
- Strategic thinking to help you shape your plan
- Practical delivery when it all seems a bit overwhelming
- Someone who can step in, steady things, and get things moving
- Skills to know how best to focus resources and not waste time and money.
Freelance or fractional marketing support offers exactly that. It’s:
- Flexible – scaled to your project and timeline
- Time-bound – aligned with funding periods
- Experienced – someone who’s done this before
- Grounded – focused on what actually needs doing
Most importantly, it removes pressure from the internal team so people can focus on delivering the project (which is often already pressured).
What does a marketing freelancers do?
One of the reasons marketing feels overwhelming is that it’s often unclear what help would even look like.
In practice, freelance marketing support for funded projects can include:
- Clarifying audiences and key messages
- Translating funding language into language that will work for your audience
- Creating a simple, realistic marketing plan
- Planning project launches or key moments
- Writing clear, accessible copy
- Supporting websites, landing pages, or information packs
- Creating content frameworks (so you’re not starting from scratch each time)
- Coordinating designers, web developers, or printers (or creating it!)
- Keeping marketing activity on track alongside delivery
- Supporting evaluation and reporting with clear evidence of reach
- Supporting the individuals involved in delivering the project, it can often feel overwhelming.
- Become a sounding board to help provide clarity for the project team (or individual).
Not everything has to happen at once. The value often comes from knowing what matters most.
When is the right time to bring in a marketer
Ideally, marketing support comes in as soon as funding is confirmed. This allows:
- Marketing to be built into project planning
- Clear priorities to be set early
- Launch moments to be properly prepared
- Pressure to be reduced before it builds
That said, many projects bring support in:
- Just before a public launch
- Mid-project, when things feel messy
- When reporting is looming and clarity is needed
There’s no “too late”. The best time is when you notice things feeling heavier than they need to be.
What to look for in a marketer (freelance or fractional)
If you’re considering bringing in freelance marketing support, here are a few things to look for. Someone who:
- Understands funded projects and accountability
- Is comfortable working with complexity
- Can move between strategy and hands-on delivery
- Communicates calmly and clearly
- Respects the values and purpose of the work
- Helps things feel simpler, not more complicated
- Someone you can trust and you enjoying working with
The right person should make you feel less overwhelmed, not more.
How marketing support can make reporting and evaluation easier for your funding monitoring
This part is often overlooked.
Good marketing support doesn’t just help you reach people, it helps you evidence what happened.
With the right approach, marketing can:
- Track engagement and reach naturally
- Capture stories and feedback as you go
- Provide clear examples for reports
- Reduce the scramble at the end of a project
When marketing is integrated from the start, evaluation becomes a by-product, not a burden.
Help with marketing after a successful funding bid
If you’ve been awarded funding and marketing feels like a looming task, here’s a simpler way to think about it.
Start by asking:
- Who really needs to know about this project?
- What do we want them to understand or feel?
- When does it matter most that they hear from us?
- What’s realistic with the time and capacity we have?
From there, everything else becomes clearer.
You don’t need to do everything. You just need to do the right things, at the right moments, with the right support.
If you’ve got funding and want support
If you’ve recently been awarded funding and are looking for calm, practical marketing support, you’re not alone.
Many organisations and individuals reach this point and realise they don’t need more ideas, they need clarity, structure, and someone who can help things happen.
That’s where freelance marketing support can make a real difference.
If you’d like to talk through what marketing support could look like for your project, you’re welcome to get in touch. Sometimes a single conversation is enough to make things feel lighter.
About Canny Marshall
Canny Marshall is a freelance marketing consultant specialising in supporting funded projects, creative organisations and purpose-driven businesses. With experience across strategy, content, campaigns and delivery, she helps teams move from funding award to real-world impact through clear, thoughtful marketing.
Canny Marshall is based in Devon,
Canny works locally and nationally with clients who value clarity, care and connection. For local , hands on work find me in Teignmouth, Devon.
If you’d like to talk about your project get in touch. I’d love to hear more!
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