Changes to our grant making policy

We have made some changes to our grant criteria and processes to ensure we can continue to be efficient and effective while addressing inflation and rising costs for charitable organisations. 

We always encouraged applicants to apply for what they need to cover the core costs of running a project and over the last few years have grown the number of grants supporting core running costs. However grants we made just a few years ago would have to increase significantly in value to have the same spending power in 2022. And research suggests charities on average need to raise 10% more a year by 2023 just to cover wages. We also know that typically it takes a charity around 40 hours to make a grant application to a trust or foundation – that’s a cost to them of around £380 if we use the national living wage rate, before things like IT or telephones are considered. 

So, with all this in mind, we have decided to increase our minimum grant in response to an application to £1,000, up from £750. We have also reviewed and made some changes to how we fund non-charities. You can read our updated grant-making policy in full here. 

Rob Williamson
Chief Executive, Community Foundation