Finding Financial Resources

Creating a virtual gaming simulation requires financial support. Knowing your budget will help you determine who you can hire onto your team and the type of equipment, filming, editing, and platform you can implement throughout the development process. There are various ways you can find financial resources to support your virtual simulation goals, from internal to external grants.

The first step is to create a budget to determine your simulation needs which will help you to justify your budget requests. When writing the outline, ensure the funds focus on the resources required for the entire simulation development process, including dissemination. 

Virtual gaming simulations can be developed on a low to high budget. A virtual simulation on a lower budget (~ $20,00 to 25,000) can be designed by using your own personal and/or institutional filming and editing equipment, hiring some professional actors for the main characters, and using team members for other smaller roles.

The more financial support you obtain, the more resources you can purchase for various roles within the development process. For example, experts for consultation, additional students, professional actors, a film production company to film and edit, or web developers to build the virtual simulation platform. 

Some key points to reflect on when creating your budget include:

• Number of full-time and part-time team members.
• Number of students required throughout the development process.
• Honorarium fees for expert consultations (e.g., experts in field, instructional designer, script editor) and advisory members (e.g., faculty and students)
• Actors (e.g., how many and hours per day).
• Make-up artist and moulage specialist.
• Production phase: pre-, during and post- phases (e.g., meetings, location consultation, storyboarding, dry run, filming days, lighting, sound, editing).
• Game platform (e.g., building the game, and inputting videos and text onto the platform).

If this is your first time finding and applying for financial resources, you may find support from management, colleagues, and your institution’s professional development department to help get you started. Management can inform you about internal funds or share a list of organizations that offer external grants. Colleagues who have been through the process can share their experiences and helpful strategies to be successful. Your institution’s professional development department may provide you with support in grant writing.

For example, Centennial College offers employees support such as financial grants through the Centre for Faculty Development and Teaching Innovation (CFDTI) and the Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Services (ARIES) to support educator teaching and learning projects.

You can also find external funding to support your virtual gaming simulation project. Some organizations that offer external funding includes:

• Nursing-specific resources such as:
  • Canadian Association of Schools Of Nursing (CASN).
  • Registered Nurses’ Foundation of Ontario (RNFOO).
  • Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators Using Simulation (CAN-Sim)
• Simulation-specific resources such as:
  • Simulation Canada.
  • International Nursing Association of Clinical and Simulation Learning (INACLS).
• eCampus or other open educational organizations.  
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.
• Other healthcare interprofessional organizations.
• Partnership with hospital and external community partners.