Dormant Accounts NI | The National Lottery Community Fund

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Dormant Accounts Fund NI supports the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in Northern Ireland to be more resilient and prepared for the future by funding activity that increases capacity and sustainability. The Fund supports VCSE organisations to adapt to future challenges and be more financially resilient.

Phase one opened to applications in January 2021. During November 2022, we announced that this phase will be closing to applications from individual organisations at 5pm on 3 March 2023. Our team continue to review and make decisions on applications received before this date.

We received an exceptionally high number of applications to the programme when it closed in March 2023 and as a result it might take us a bit longer to complete your assessment. Final decisions on the grant programme will be made in September 2023.

Information on awards made to date can be accessed on the webpage.

For the first phase, we developed a flexible and responsive grant programme that supported organisations to be able to adapt to future challenges and be more financially resilient. We supported organisations that identified the best way to improve their long-term capacity, sustainability or resilience to best deliver their mission.

Phase one of the Dormant Accounts Fund NI also supports larger strategic investments to enable collaboration and develop new and creative approaches to sustainability for the sector. These investments will be Northern Ireland-wide or sector-specific proposals that focus on specific themes. We are still considering applications for strategic ideas.

Area: Northern Ireland
Funding size: Up until 3 March 2023, £100,000 was available for individual organisations. Organisations can chat to us about strategic investments.
Total available: Total programme pot will vary, depending on Dormant Accounts funding available
Application deadline: Closed to individual applications at 5pm 3 March 2023. Strategic investments discussions are still taking place.

How to apply

Important information regarding this programme

Phase One of the fund closed to applications from individual organisations on Friday 3 March 2023. We will continue to assess the applications received before this date and expect to continue awarding grants into Autumn 2023, but no new applications from individual organisations will be accepted.

Given that we will have committed around £20m of Dormant Accounts funding by Autumn, we have no plans to open a similar grant programme again.

We will continue to have conversations with the sector regarding strategic projects. Discussions will take place with organisations who are interested in developing ideas that enable collaboration and develop new and creative approaches to the sustainability of the sector. If you feel this option suits your idea please get in touch with our team.

A significant amount of funding has been invested that has made a considerable impact on many organisations. However, we also know that there are some gaps in the investment to date. These are outlined in the first learning report on Dormant Accounts Funds NI which we published last year.

We have identified a gap in the current grant programme for support to smaller grassroots organisations. Our learning has informed us that support for grassroots organisations is best provided by a trusted support organisation or umbrella body. Therefore, we will develop a programme for umbrella and membership organisations. We anticipate this programme will open in early 2024. This will ensure we reach the smaller organisations that have not benefited as much from Dormant Accounts Funding to date.

We will continue to gather learning from the sector which will inform where we go to next with the Fund. If you are interested in keeping up to date, sign up to receive our digital newsletter and follow our social media channels.

Support through Phase One

We encouraged organisations to really think about how their project idea would help their organisation become more resilient and sustainable for the future. Organisations were asked to clearly demonstrate how their idea will transform the organisation in the long term.

This Fund aimed to support the NI voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector to be more resilient and prepared for the future, through increased capacity and sustainability.

We expected projects to meet the following outcomes:

VCSE organisations will be more confident about their ability to adapt to future challenges
VCSE organisations will be more financially resilient
VCSE organisations will have increased skills and capacity
Strategic planning in the VCSE sector will improve
There will be more collaboration within and across sectors.

Learning from Phase One

147 organisations have been supported with £12.8 million as of February 2023.

One year into phase one of this fund, we reviewed the impact it was having in Northern Ireland. You might like to read the first learning report on Dormant Accounts Funds NI which we published in July 2022 to find out what we learnt.

Strategic Investments

The Dormant Accounts Fund will continue to consider applications for larger strategic investments to enable collaboration and develop new and creative approaches to sustainability for the sector. These Northern Ireland-wide or sector-specific proposals could focus on specific themes such as volunteering, digital capacity or diversity and inclusion. These are examples of themes and not set criteria.

Already applied? This is what happens now

When reviewing your application we consider the following:

The extent to which the project meets the aim and outcomes of the Dormant Accounts Fund
The extent to which the organisation understands the challenges and opportunities it has in relation to its long-term capacity, sustainability or resilience
How well does the project respond to the challenges and opportunities it has identified? What will the long-term impact be for the organisation?
The extent to which the project is likely to positively impact on the achievement of the organisations aim or mission
How well will the project be managed?
Local knowledge – how does the organisation fit with the local or thematic context.

We may get in touch with you to arrange a time to discuss your project idea in more detail. We might also ask for further information to help with our assessment of your project, including job descriptions, a more detailed budget and a project plan.

Awards made to date

This is a list of organisations who have received funding through Dormant Accounts Fund NI - Awards made through Dormant Accounts Fund NI (PDF 467 KB).

Already got funding?

Download the logo and read guidance on how to use it to acknowledge your grant.

Reduce your environmental footprint

The National Lottery Community Fund cares about our environment and are always striving to manage our environmental impact. We encourage and support projects and communities to do the same. Learn more about how you can make your project or event more environmentally sustainable and perhaps save money at the same time.

Who can and cannot apply

You can apply if you are currently delivering services in Northern Ireland and are:

an unregistered community or voluntary organisation
a registered charity (unincorporated)
a registered charity and not-for-profit company
a not-for-profit company
a Community Interest Company
a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.

You cannot apply if you are a:

statutory body
school
college
university
religious institution like a church, synagogue, mosque etc. However, faith based groups that are working in a community setting are eligible.

Please Note: The Dormant Accounts Fund NI cannot support new or emerging organisations to become more established. The programme will not cover the cost of supporting organisations to recover from the immediate impact of COVID-19.

If you’re not sure if you can apply

Contact us.

What  we will fund 

We hope that the Dormant Accounts Fund will support VCSE organisations to:

have the confidence, capacity and resources to achieve their aims
be flexible, adaptable and strategic with a clear understanding of their environment
be sustainable, with financial flexibility and longevity.

Here are some examples of what we could consider supporting through the programme. These are examples and not set criteria: 

support for organisations to help them to develop long-term financial sustainability - for example, help them develop and implement financial planning tools or ideas for income diversification
collaborations and/or mergers between organisations
activity that supports organisations to communicate and connect with other organisations and communities more effectively
activity that increases the diversity and skills of volunteers and trustees/committee members within organisations
succession planning (identifying and developing new leaders) to support the long-term sustainability of organisations
activity that helps organisations to improve the delivery and impact of their work, by using the full potential of digital infrastructure and data analysis tools.

This is not a complete list of what we will fund.

Your application will be unique to your organisation, as it will be focused on improving your sustainability and resilience and supporting your ability for capacity-building longer term.

Here is a list the awards we have made so far through the Dormant Accounts Fund NI - Awards made through Dormant Accounts Fund NI (PDF 178 KB)

What the programme won’t consider

We can’t fund your existing programme delivery or expand the delivery of programmes. The Fund will not be able to help new or emerging organisations to become established. Funding will not cover the cost of supporting organisations to recover from the immediate impact of COVID-19.

If you need help to recover from the immediate impact of COVID-19 or to fund service or programme delivery costs we would encourage you to look at another source of funding.

Currently the Dormant Accounts Fund grant programme can only support individual organisations. We are unable to support organisations who are seeking funding to develop or build the capacity of their members or branches.

We’re also happy to chat to you about our National Lottery programmes.

Any questions?

Contact us

What you can spend the money on

The Dormant Accounts Fund is a highly competitive programme with a limited budget. Therefore, only projects that strongly meet the programme priorities can be funded. We also consider the type of organisation you are and your location to ensure the grant programme has a wide reach across Northern Ireland and the VCSE sector.

If you’re planning to merge or share services on a permanent basis with another organisation, you can request more than £100,000, but talk to us before you apply.

If you are applying for over £40,000 we expect you to provide a strategic plan or a business plan that demonstrates how your organisation will be more resilient or sustainable as a result of the project.

We do not have a list of eligible and non-eligible costs for this programme. We will consider whatever costs you need to be able to achieve the change you want to make for your organisation. But we will not fund capital refurbishment, purchase of buildings, loan repayments or costs for new buildings.

When you complete your application, we will ask you to give broad headings for your project costs. We will discuss these with you during the assessment process and may request a detailed budget.

For example, you might need us to fund salaries to free up time of existing members of staff, personal development and training, leadership programmes, digital capacity, and so on. We will consider any reasonable cost if it’s the best way to achieve the change you are working towards.

You must be able to demonstrate the change you expect the funding to make when you are writing your application. For example, how you will adapt how you work so it doesn’t need to rely on funding once it ends.

If you want to apply for salaries the post(s) must be either fixed term or you need to demonstrate how the post(s) will be funded in the future without reliance on grant funding.

Consider how your organisation will have changed at the end of the grant. We will be looking for evidence that you have undertaken a thorough review of your organisation and carried out some business or strategic planning to inform your application. And of course, the larger the grant request the more evidence we will expect to see.

Ultimately, we want the Dormant Accounts Fund NI to deliver long-term transformational change for VCSE organisations.

We have gathered insight and identified some pitfalls from recent applications which might be of help when you are considering your project idea. Read our latest blog to find out more.

You can also find some useful advice on applying in this blog.

Any questions?

Contact us

If you're ready to start your application

Apply online