Spot the deliberate mistake? How did it make you feel? An infographic published by Charity Digital News summarises the results of a survey about the five things that most annoy your social media supporters. Poor spelling or grammar came out top (or should that be bottom?), being rated the most annoying by 42.5% of respondents.

Here at SYFAB we know that sometimes in our rush to get the latest funding news items out to you, the odd typo can slip through…

But this is a useful reminder of how important it is to check your spelling and grammar when sending off those funding applications. If a typo in something as short-lived as a tweet can annoy people, think of the effect of spelling errors or poorly constructed sentences in your application form or letter.

An application which is well written will be easier to read and understand, and will get the main benefits of your project across clearly to the funder.

Here’s SYFAB’s top 5 of things you can do to help your application make a good first impression:

• Use the grammar and spellcheck tools on your computer – they’re not infallible, but they’re a good first step
• Get someone else to read it through – you probably know at least one person who can spot a misplaced apostrophe or spelling error at a hundred paces – use those skills!
• Read SYFAB’s guide to making a good application – download by going to our KnowHow page and select Applications from the dropdown menu (you’ll need to be logged in)
• Get SYFAB to help – we offer a consultancy service and can check over your application and give advice on where it needs more work
• Book onto a SYFAB training course – our full day Making a good application to charitable trusts and foundations is full of practical advice and guidance on how to improve the quality of your applications. See our Events page for all our upcoming courses.