Funding and support

Before applying for the first time we recommend you attend one of our bi-monthly Time to Talk sessions. You can find information on those sessions using the link below.

When you apply please be aware that:

• You provide all the information and supporting documents requested. Missing information or documents may mean your application will be delayed or in some cases rejected.
• We do not tend to make larger grants to first time applicants.  If you want to apply for more than our average grant of £6,000 please contact grants@communityfoundation.org.uk  If the application is for a specific call please contact the member of staff listed on the fund page
• We do not accept multiple applications from first time applicants. Organisations receiving their first support grant from us must submit satisfactory monitoring or an agreed progress report before we will consider further applications.
• If you do not have accounts yet, you can send a copy of management accounts or a cashflow forecast.

We make support grants to organisations from nearly 300 funds set up to benefit causes in Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, and across North East England. No two funds are the same, so we match eligible applications to each fund’s interests. Of the funding requests we made decisions on in 2022-23, 66% succeeded in getting a grant.

Please check your organisation is eligible to apply. If you are, you can make a general application or answer a call for applications. Our help notes cover all our questions and explain the information we need. Please read the notes before starting an application.

We do not fund applications:

• for activities which are not charitable in law
• from organisations that do not have adequate safeguarding arrangements
• for contributions to general appeals or circulars
• where the primary benefit is the advancement of religion
• where the primary benefit is to enable a public body to carry out its statutory obligations
• where the primary benefit is the advancement of animal welfare;
• for activities which have already taken place
• for grant-making, or equivalent gifts in kind, by other organisations (although we can fund provision of goods necessary for a service e.g. food parcels or activity packs)
• from privately owned and profit-distributing companies or limited partnerships.

We focus on small, local charities and community organisations. By small, we mean those with income up to £1 million, with priority to those with income up to £0.5 million. We will consider applications from larger charities where they are the best organisation to meet a priority need. By local, we mean organisations based and working in our area of benefit (see ‘which area do we need to be in to apply’ below).

To be eligible for our funding, your organisation must have all the following:

• a governing document (a constitution, rules, articles of association etc.)
• a governing body of at least three unrelated individuals
• a bank account in the organisation’s name with at least two unrelated signatories
• adequate safeguarding arrangements

You don’t have to be a registered charity, but the work you want us to fund must be legally charitable. We can only make grants for general running costs or unrestricted purposes to charities. If you are any other sort of organisation, funding from us must be restricted for a charitable purpose. Organisations like schools usually only get grants from us where we have a specific fund for that purpose.

The Foundation can provide funding to social enterprises like Community Interest Companies (CICs) which are not charities but where the grant will support charitable purposes. To be eligible, non-charity social enterprises must provide a plan explaining how the organisation is or aims to be financially resilient with trading as a core part of its income. If we agree the plan is appropriate for the social enterprise’s age and size, we can consider applications for: reasonable direct costs of services that address a new or unmet community need, or which provide new ways of addressing issues; building the organisation’s capacity to develop and run such services; equipment, land and buildings in line with our rules on capital grants to non-charities.

Some of our funds have more specific requirements for the size and type of organisations. In those cases, we will have a call for applications stating the extra criteria you must meet.

Our main area of benefit is Tyne & Wear (Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland) and Northumberland. If you are based here, or your organisation’s work benefits all or part of our area, you can apply at any time. If your work is in Durham, the Tees Valley or elsewhere in the UK, please only apply if we have a current call for applications that says we will award funding in your area. Otherwise your application will not be eligible.

We support a wide range of causes, although our trustees sometimes prioritise certain places and issues. You can apply for funding towards:

• keeping current activities going, expanding them or working in new areas;
• making your organisation stronger, through improving services, developing staff and trustees or working on your longer-term plans;
• influencing relevant policy and practice that could improve the situation for the people you help.

Funding can be towards core running costs (including salaries and overheads), projects, equipment or capital developments. The work can be new, continuing or a one-off initiative. Whatever you are seeking funding for, you need to explain what you will do with the grant, who will benefit and how you know the work will make a difference.

Please note, we can only fund capital costs for non-charities (CICs, Parish Councils etc.) where:

• it is a condition of our grant that if the organisation sells any assets we fund, it must apply the value it gains for the same purpose set out in our grant offer, or return that portion of the grant to us;
• the applicant’s governing document specifies that if it transfers assets (for example, if it winds up), it will be to a charity or for a restricted charitable purpose.

We mainly make grants of around £1,000 to £10,000 for a year. The average grant is around £6,000. We don’t accept applications for less than £1,000.

Some of our funds make larger or longer-term grants. In those cases, we will have a call for applications stating the amounts available.

Yes, if each application is for a different activity (for example, one for your core costs, one for a capital purchase and another for a project). But if you do put in multiple applications, we will look at them all and think about how much funding in total we could offer you. So please plan carefully.

We first check that your application is complete, eligible for our funding and we’ve got reports on any previous grants you’ve had. If we cannot consider your application at any stage, we will tell you as soon as we can. If your application is complete, eligible and we have all previous reports, the process runs like this. We see if your application matches one of our available funds. If you’ve applied in response to a call for applications, it goes to that fund first.

One of our team assesses your organisation and funding request, looking at the strengths and any weaknesses. We may contact you for more information.

We shortlist assessments for the funds they’ve been matched to. There are usually more shortlisted than we have money to support. In many cases a donor or advisory panel is involved in recommending which shortlisted applications should be funded.

We decide whether to offer you a support grant based on the recommendations from donors and panels.

For eligible applications, we aim to give you a decision within 12 weeks of receiving all the information we need. If we think your application fits one of our funds but it will take more than 12 weeks to make a decision, we will contact you.

The success rate for eligible applications from organisations to the Community Foundation is around 60-70%. Please note, this is an average across all our funds and programmes, and the success rate can vary a little year to year depending on what funds we have available.

If you applied to us and were successful, you can apply again so long as you have sent us any outstanding reports from previous grants. For organisations receiving their first support grant from us, you must submit satisfactory monitoring or an agreed progress report before we will consider further applications.

Yes, and many organisations do go on to get funding from us. But there may be things we ask you to change or get advice about before you apply for something we’ve previously turned down.

We will write to tell you how much we are offering and from which of our funds. We will include up to three results we’ve agreed to help assess whether the grant is successful. There’ll be a link to our standard grant terms and conditions. We’ll also say whether there are any extra conditions. We then ask you to send us an acceptance slip to say you agree our offer. Once you do, we can usually pay the grant into your bank account within 14 days. But if we don’t hear from you within a month, we’ll cancel our offer.

At the end of the period of work we fund, you’ll need to complete an online monitoring form. It asks how you’ve done against the results agreed. We’ll also ask for stories, photos or other evidence to describe the difference you’ve made. We may want to visit you to learn more. You need to keep proper records of your activity and spending relating to our grant. Sometimes we ask for interim monitoring if a grant is being paid in more than one instalment or over more than a year. Once we’ve checked your end-of-grant monitoring, we’ll write to say the grant is closed and to give you feedback on its success. We take this into account when we look at future applications from you, and when we recommend organisations to our donors and to other funders.

The Community Foundation has some funds that have been set up to help individuals. These funds have specific eligibility criteria and so full attention should be paid to the specific call for applications and any associated guidelines.

We do not have any funds for individuals that support cost-of-living related issues. If you need help with cost-of-living issues you can find information here

Please only apply if your request fits with one of the funds shown.

Our current opportunities for funding will be shown once you’ve read this information.

Please note:

• To submit an application you need to be registered on our grantee portal. If you are not currently registered you need to allow up to two working days for your registration to be checked.
• Some funds have deadlines.
• You will normally get a funding decision from us within 12 weeks from the date we receive your completed application.
• Please only apply if your request fits with one of the funds shown.
• Please download and read the guidance before starting an application in response to a current call.