What Information Do You Need to Know Before You Apply for Grants from Trusts and other funders?
Grants and Trust funding for charities in the UK have never been more competitive than now. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on all aspects of business, but some charities have been hit particularly hard. This has led to a steep increase in searches for available funds to contribute towards projects and basic running costs. As more charities are applying for grants and funding, it’s vital that your application stands out against your competitors.
In this blog we’ll give you some top tips on the information you will need before you apply to help your application be successful.
Why should my charity apply for grants?
Unlike loans, grants don’t need to be repaid. Essentially, you’ll be receiving ‘free money’ from the funder. If and when your charity is awarded funding, this will increase belief in your charity’s mission and objectives. By selecting your charity for funding, the funder has shown that your idea(s) are worth investing in.
Once you’ve secured one grant for your charity, your credibility is boosted, and it makes it easier to find more funding going forward. This is because other funders will know that you’re a good candidate for their grants.
Things to be aware of before you apply
Firstly, to be eligible to apply for grants for charities in the UK, there are certain things you need to be aware of.
Most private Trusts and Foundations and many organisations that give grants will ask you to either be registered with the Charity Commission and have a charity number or to be Charitable incorporated Organisation. If you are not yet a registered charity you can read up about the available options for charitable structures at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/charity-types-how-to-choose-a-structure.
What grants are available for charities in the UK?
What funding you can apply for will depend (as mentioned above) on your organisation structure and it is vital that when looking for apply for grants you check if your organisation is eligible, so that you do not waste valuable time.
There are various kinds of funding available, and these can include:
Government funding :Some UK charities are funded by central or local government. Charities may receive this funding directly or through a funding body, such as the Arts Council.In some cases, charities may bid for contracts to provide services to the public, such as refuges for victims of domestic violence; sheltered housing or other care services for the elderly; activities, support, or advice within for disadvantaged communities.To be able to bid for this type of funding, your charity must: only carry out activities that fall within your organisation’s purpose; remain independent of government; make decisions in line with your duties as trustees; can afford to deliver the services as stated in the contract.
Trusts & Foundations: If you are a smaller charity or just starting out, you are more likely to be looking for funding from private organisations. This category will include Trust and Foundations.
According to charity fundraising consultancy LarkOwl (https://larkowl.uk/ ) there are over 8000 grant giving Trusts and Foundations in the UK with £8bn worth of funding available.
The terms Trust and Foundation are often used interchangeably. The difference between them is that a Trust is a specific legal entity, whereas a Foundation can be a Trust, a Company limited by guarantee, etc.
Each Trust or Foundation will have been created with a specific remit for their area of giving. Some may have broad interests and invite applications from across the country or oversea whereas others might be as specific as ‘supporting ballroom dancing in the West of England. Whilst the larger trusts will sometimes provide funds towards a project on an annual basis for 3 years, a large proportion of trusts and foundations have small amounts to distribute and will only provide one-off grants of limited size. The smaller trusts are often tiny operations with little or no administrative support and focus only on local projects.
Other charitable organisations set up with the express reason to distribute funding
This final grouping would include organisations such as, the National Lottery Community, whose money comes from players of the various lottery games. They in turn then offers grants and funding to charities through various schemes including National Lottery Awards for All. You can read about the various funds you can apply to related to the National Lottery at https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/
Finally, to re-iterate, as mentioned above, the funding you may be eligible for from any of the above types of grant-makers will depend on your organisation and the project you want to deliver. It is vital you do your research to ensure you are eligible to apply.
In some case, larger charities offer grants and funding to other charities. For example, Crisis is a charity well known for helping the homeless and annually run a major Christmas campaign. They also run a small grants scheme to help small organisations within the same field. You can read more about this at https://www.crisis.org.uk/ending-homelessness/resources-for-practitioners/grant-programmes/
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