What you can spend the money on

How much you can ask for

Funding starts at £20,001.

We fund all kinds of projects, from smaller grants, like £50,000 to help an organisation develop, to larger ones, like £500,000 for partnerships working across several regions. We also fund projects that fall between those amounts.

Most of the funding we give is for less than £500,000. If you want to ask for more, speak to our team in your area first. [Link]

You can ask for funding to run your project for up to 5 years.

What we can fund

You can apply for funding to:

• deliver activities in your community

• develop your organisation

• help run your organisation

• pay for land and building work

We can fund both existing work and new projects or ideas.

Delivering activities in your community

We can fund direct costs to run your project, such as:

• costs for project staff or volunteers

• equipment or materials

• room hire

• project evaluation

Develop your organisation

We can fund work that helps you build your organisation or test new ways of working. This could include:

• business planning

• staff training and development

• testing new approaches

• improving governance or leadership

• buying or upgrading tech or IT

• developing and sharing your impact and learning

• working with others, such as forming partnerships or collaborations

• becoming more environmentally sustainable

We can also fund work that reduces your organisation’s environmental impact. You do not need to be an environment-focused organisation to do this.

Help run your organisation

We can fund day-to-day running costs. These are sometimes called ‘core costs’ or ‘fixed costs’.

This could include:

• core salaries

• rent

• utility bills

• equipment

For more guidance about how we can help towards your expenses, read about full cost recovery.

Land and building work

These are sometimes called ‘capital costs’.

You can apply for funding to:

• build, buy or improve a building

• make a building more environmentally sustainable

• create or improve an outside space, like a community garden

We can also fund communities to change the services or systems that affect their lives

We can fund projects that aim to change how services or systems work. This is sometimes called ‘systems change’.

By systems change, we mean long-term, wide-reaching improvements in how organisations or sectors work together.

This could involve:

• shifting power or decision-making

• influencing how resources are used

• changing how services are designed and delivered

Political activity and campaigning

We can fund some political or campaigning activity, but only if:

• it is not party political (you must not support or oppose a political party)

• it supports your organisation’s goals and benefits the wider public

We cannot fund projects where political activity is the main purpose. But we can fund projects that are mostly about campaigning.

Buying or leasing a vehicle

If you apply for funding to buy or lease a vehicle, we’ll ask you to:

• explore the most environmentally responsible option

• consider other transport solutions

• explain how your choice meets your needs and reduces environmental impact

We’ll only ask for this information if your application reaches the second stage.

What we cannot fund

There are some things we’re not able to fund.

We cannot fund:

• activities that make profits for private gain

• religious activities (we can fund religious organisations if the project benefits the wider community and does not include religious content)

• activities that replace government funding

• activities that unreasonably benefit individuals, rather than the wider community

• projects where political activity is the main purpose

• activity that supports or opposes a political party

• things you’ve already paid for (retrospective costs)

• loan repayments

• topping up your organisation’s reserves