Who can apply

The partners we’re working with

We plan to work with a mix of up to 5 partner organisations with experience of engaging communities in decisions over grants. Most partners will give out funding for us. And all partners will work with us to learn from different approaches to involving communities. We’ll work with them as a group to learn about what works. And what the barriers and opportunities are for engaging communities more in decision making.

Requirements for partners

Partner organisations must:

• show that involving communities is one of their main purposes or activities, for example, if community participation is a large part of their daily work, or their strategy. Or is something their organisation invests in.
• be able to show how involving communities increases community empowerment
• have experience of involving communities in making decisions about grants or what to support in their communities, for example if they've run a grant fund where the community made the decisions. Or helped design one for someone else.
• involve people or communities experiencing poverty, disadvantage or discrimination
• have experience of giving out grants to communities, for example, if they've done this before. Or have supported other organisations do it.
• be committed to equity, for example in how they've worked on other projects. And in their organisation’s policies and culture.

By ‘equity’ we mean recognising that not every community starts with the same resources. And that to make things fairer, we should support those that need it most.

Experience we want partners to have

We want a mix of partners with different experience. So we’ll aim to work with different sizes of organisations. And organisations that have worked at different scales.

Including those who are used to working:

• locally, in-depth, with smaller numbers of people
• regionally or nationally, with large groups of people
• with communities based on people’s shared identity, interests or experience rather than where they live

We hope this will support us to learn from a mix of approaches. We want to involve people in a way that works for them. And that allows people to take part regardless of how much time or effort they can spare.

What organisations could apply to be a partner

Expressions of interest were open to these types of organisation:

• constituted voluntary or community organisation
• registered, exempt or excepted charity
• charitable incorporated organisation (CIO)
• not-for-profit company limited by guarantee - they must be a registered charity or have a not-for-profit 'asset lock' clause in their articles of association
• community interest company (CIC)
• community benefit society
• co-operative society - they must have a not-for-profit 'asset lock' clause in their society rules and also be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority

Partners need at least 2 board or committee members who are not related

Related can mean:

• related by marriage
• in a civil partnership with each other
• in a long-term relationship with each other
• related through a long-term partner
• living together at the same address
• related by blood

All companies who apply must have at least 2 directors who are not related in any of these ways. This also applies to companies that are also registered as charities.

Who could not apply

• individuals
• sole traders
• organisations based outside the UK
• companies that can pay profits to directors, shareholders or members (including Companies Limited by Shares)