Most of our grants are for more than one year because we like to fund ongoing needs.
FAQs
We only registered as a charity a few months ago, are we eligible to apply?
You can apply if your charity has been operating as a formally constituted charity for at least three years. We count the three years from the time the charity adopted a formal constitution and appointed a committee.
We have been operating for the last six years but we have only just applied for charity registration. Can we apply now and send you our charity number when we receive it?
No. You can only apply when the charity registration process is complete.
We do not have our own charity number but our local CVS is willing to accept grants on our behalf. Can we apply using their number?
No. You must have your own charity number.
We don’t have a charity number because we are a church community project. Does that mean we can’t apply?
If your church denomination has excepted charity status and your project is part of the work of a local church then you can apply. However, the total annual expenditure of the local church must be less than £40,000 and the annual report/accounts should include finances relating to your work. We do not fund activity that is primarily about worship although faith organisations may apply for funding towards a service that is open to the whole community and has wider social benefit.
We don’t have our own charity number because we are part of a national charity and we use their number but we don’t get any funding from the national charity. Are we eligible for funding?
No. We do not give grants to branches of national charities unless the branch is separately registered with the Charity Commission and has its own charity number.
We are registered in England but we raise funds for work overseas. Are we eligible?
No. We only fund work that benefits people living in England and Wales.
Our charity spends more than £40,000 a year in total but we are looking for funding for a project that only costs £15,000 a year. Can we apply just for that project?
No. The charity’s total expenditure exceeds our threshold.
Our charity’s expenditure is bigger than £40,000 but that is mostly for salaries. We only need money for the other running costs. Can we apply?
No. The charity’s total expenditure exceeds our threshold.
All of our work is currently delivered by volunteers but we now need to employ a paid member of staff to undertake some of the administration duties. It is to continue the same work we are already doing so can we apply for the salary?
No. This is a new development and not a current core cost of your charity. As such, we couldn’t offer a grant.
We’ve lost the funding that met the salary costs of our paid worker. He has been working on a voluntary basis for the past few months but we’d like to pay him a salary again. Can we apply?
No. This is a common request but we can’t offer a grant to reinstate paid posts for work that is currently undertaken by volunteers.
We need to undertake some major renovation work to our premises. We can usually raise the money for running costs ourselves but we can’t afford these repairs. Would you pay for our running costs for a year so we can divert our usual income to the repair work?
No. We do not offer grants for building work. Diverting your normal income to renovation costs and asking us to fund your running costs is an indirect way of asking us to fund your repairs.
Will we stand a better chance of a grant if we only ask for one year?
No. We offer grants to help sustain running/core costs and salaries so most of our grants are for more than one year.
We had a grant last year. Can we apply again now?
Our funding ends 12 months from the date of the last payment on a grant. You can re-apply again no sooner than 3 months before your current grant expires, if you still meet our eligibility criteria.
