Grant Programme

What is our approach?

• the Foundation is focused on building long term relationships with charities and not-for-profit organisations which share our philosophy and approach leading to collaborating on project development and grant support. These relationships need time and commitment on both sides to work effectively.
• Partner Charities are the bedrock of our work but this is not a closed group. We are always looking for new charities that could over time become Partner Charities so if you think you are a good fit with us, please make contact. 
• we all need to work together to improve efficiency with less going on administration and more on meeting the need
• one-off grants to charities with no realistic prospect of developing into long term relationships are not attractive to us
• we want to work with those charities, probably locally based,  wanting smaller grants particularly to address poverty.
• given the level of our annual grant budget and our aim to focus on meaningful programmes, only a few applications are considered each year.
• the annual grant budget is 4% of the endowment fund with a minimum of £40,000. There is within this budget a Small Grants Fund (SGF) to cover grants up to £1000. This target is reviewed periodically and the actual Grant Budget is set annually.
• we are confident that the Annual Grant Budget will be maintained at a minimum  of £40,000 for the foreseeable future. Although the grant budget is approved annually, we adopt a flexible approach towards approvals so the budgets are reviewed over a rolling five year period to allow for the inevitable under and over spends that occur on an annual basis.
• grant budgets and approvals will  be influenced by the progress of our Partner Charity programme, new relationships and the quality of applications coming forward.
• our annual grant budget is generally allocated quickly but funds are sometimes brought forward from future years’ budgets to cover new quality applications which are time critical.

What are our priority areas?

• Helping People in Need – relief of those in need, by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
• Tackling Poverty – prevention or relief of poverty including homelessness
• Saving Lives & Improving Health – advancement of health or the saving of lives

Who do we make grants to?

• Foundation’s Partner Charities
• UK based Exempt or Registered charities whose operational focus is the UK
• Quality charities that can demonstrate they are well-run with great leadership, clear objectives and a great track record
• Local good causes applying for Small Grants that may not be registered charities but can demonstrate  their operation and financial control is comparable with UK Registered Charities.
• Primarily small or medium sized charities and local good causes with focused aims and a great record of success
• Charities must have proven track record on delivering benefits to the people embraced by their primary cause
• Charities that can demonstrate they:
  • Are Financially robust
  • Do not have high cash balances
  • Do not have highly paid staff
  • spend the major share of income on their charitable causes not overheads or adding to high levels of reserves
• Charities that receive significant proportion of their funding from the private sector through raising donations from the public, commercial world, grant making organisations and similar avenues.

What do we make grants for and want to see?

• discrete projects or activities including the purchase of equipment
• tangible purchases rather than events although the criteria is broadened for Small Grant applications
• great value demonstrated  e.g negotiate discounts to achieve best price when purchasing equipment of proven quality. Thorough review of the suppliers’ service both pre and post sales.
• innovation of approach to achieve better outcomes. One example we have found successful is when applications are presented on a “matched funding “ basis whereby we commit to a grant subject to it being matched, in part or whole, by funding from elsewhere. This approach is proving effective in generating new funds by incentivising the charity applying to secure donations from others.
• a broad range of grant applications that meet our criteria are welcomed. New, imaginative and great value for money projects are what we are looking to support.
• looking at our Grant Record will help you understand what we support

What do we not support?

• meet or contribute towards charity overheads or general running costs
• individuals directly e.g bursaries for PhD students
• establish or add to a charity’s fund or reserves
• animal charities
• charities concerned with the efficiency of the police, fire and rescue services or ambulance services
• charities focused on citizenship or community development
• religious charities to further or foster religious belief
• human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation or the promotion of religious harmony or equality and diversity focused charities
• projects that would normally have been covered by statutory bodies including central and local government
• restrospective funding of completed/ largely completed projects

Unlikely to support charities with main grants that have a national or international footprint.

How do you make an application for a grant?