Grants from the Community Foundation

Grants From The Community Foundation

 

The Community Foundation administers many different grants schemes from various funders.  We offer grants from our own funds, from funds set up by local donors and philanthropists, local businesses and individuals, and from national and regional charities and trusts.

These schemes are usually open all year, but tend to run in rounds, and so please make sure you check the individual cut off dates on each scheme.  The list of grants provided by clicking the ‘Grants’ tab above will provide a list of currently available grants.  If a scheme is not listed it means that it is not currently accepting applications.  Details of opening and closing dates will be published on this website, in our ‘Grants Alerts’ and newsletter, sent by e-mail to relevant contacts, and on our social media feeds.

Some schemes will use the same criteria for each round, whereas others may change from round to round depending on priorities.  It is important to carefully read the aims and criteria of a scheme before submitting your application.

Applying for Grants

Each grants page will give the details of the scheme.  This may include the origin of the scheme, the priorities of it and the round dates.  You should always try to use the online application form, but if this is not possible you can access the application pack via a link , which contains the relevant application forms for the scheme and a copy of the criteria.  These documents will be available in both Microsoft Word and PDF format.  If none of these formats are suitable please call us and we will endeavour to help with another format.

You can apply to as many schemes as you like, as many times as you like, within reason.  However, due to the demand for our grants, an organisation may only have 2 open grants at any one time, and only one from any one scheme.  If you have two open grants and you wish to apply for another, you must first close down one of the existing grants by submitting the end of project forms.  (An open grant is one where you have made an application, it has been successful, you have been awarded a grant, received the funding and started the project, but have not yet completed the end of project forms).

Completing Your Application Form

When completing your application form it is important to be clear and concise.  Review the criteria and answer the required questions in a way that shows that you can meet the criteria and the aims of the scheme.  Please remember that the panel making the decisions will most likely be unaware of your organisation or your project, and therefore you need to explain all necessary points, even if you think they are clear.  It’s a good idea to get a friend or colleague to review your application – someone who doesn’t know too much about your group or project, and ask them if it is clear.  Never assume that the panel will be able to ‘decode’ information from what you have said.

Supporting Documents

Each scheme will request certain supporting documents.  This helps to verify you and your organisation and they often differ depending on the scheme to which you are applying.  A list of the necessary supporting documents will be on each scheme’s webpage, and it is important to ensure that these are sent with your application.  If they are not all present and complete by the time of the panel your application will not be allowed to proceed.  We will notify you if any of these are missing or do not contain the correct detail, and if its needed we will work with you to help ensure you have everything you need.  We can place your application on ‘hold’ for up to three months while we wait for supporting documents to be sent, but if at this time they have still not arrived, we will have to cancel your application and you will need to start a fresh application.  This is because the nature of organisations and projects can change relatively quickly, and we need to ensure that we are using the most up to date information.

What Supporting Documents Do You Need?

Every scheme is different and so the necessary documents will vary.  However, grants from The Community Foundation can be broken down into three general categories.  These are Grants for Individuals, Community Grants, (up to £9999) and Large Grants (£10,000+).  These are not exhaustive and other categories may be used, but these are the three most common. The documents for each scheme vary, but as a general guide we will be looking for the following documents;