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Small Grants Programme
Guidelines
We welcome applications from UK registered charities from all sections of the community regardless of race, colour, gender, sexuality, religion, national origin, age, disability or any other circumstance. All applications which fall within the Foundation's criteria are considered equally on grounds of merit.
How to Apply
1. Read the guidelines
Please read the guidelines carefully to make sure that you are eligible to apply for funding.
2. Check what we do not fund
Please check the list of exclusions below - it wastes your time and ours if your application is for something for which we will not provide funding.
We do not make grants to the following types of applicants or work:
- Large national charities which enjoy wide support
- Organisations with charitable purpose which are not registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator or are not registered as exempt with the Inland Revenue in Northern Ireland
- Charities which have substantial reserves (savings and profits of over 50% of their yearly running costs in unrestricted or general reserves) or are in serious debt
- Charities whose income exceeds £500,000 per year
- Buying, building, converting, refurbishing buildings, gardens or playgrounds
- Fundraising
- Advertising
- Medical research
- Individuals
- Animal welfare
- Conservation of flora and fauna
- Promoting religion
- Promoting politics
- Corporate membership
- Loans or business finance
- Overseas travel and work outside the UK
- Schools, universities and colleges (except for relevant work which is additional to statutory responsibility)
- Vehicles
- Hospices**
- Holidays**
- Endowment funds
- Museums or galleries**
** Consideration, however, may be given to museums, galleries and hospices which may be working with the target client groups e.g. as volunteers. Consideration may also be given to projects involving holidays for the target client groups e.g. as respite, working holidays, learning new skills.
3. Complete the application form
Application forms are only accessible from our website and must be completed in full. Please type or write clearly (illegible applications make it difficult for us to assess what your organisation is doing and may lead to your application being declined). Remember to keep a copy of the entire application for your own records, but send the original to us.
Please note: if you complete the form online, you will not be able to save the pages. Therefore it is most important that you print the completed form before you close it, or you will lose the information typed.
4. What to send with your application
Please send the following information with your application. If you do not include all of the information requested, your application may be declined as we will be unable to complete a full assessment:
- A photocopy of your most recent annual accounts, bearing signatures of approval from your independent examiner and your board / committee
- A photocopy of your signed governing document (e.g. Rules, Constitution, Memorandum and Articles of Association etc.)
- A photocopy of a recent bank statement
- A photocopy of your Equal Opportunities policy
- A photocopy of any Child and/or Vulnerable Adult Protection policies
- " If you are a charity registered in Northern Ireland, a photocopy of your letter from the Inland Revenue confirming your charity status
5. Send your application to us
You can send your application to us at any time but you must send it, together with the appropriate enclosures, by post - we cannot accept applications by fax or e-mail.
6. Time taken to make a decision
You should expect a period of up to three months before receiving our final decision. Please avoid telephoning to enquire about the progress of your application. However, please e-mail or write to us if there are any material changes to the work which you have asked us to fund.
Payments will be made to successful applicants bimonthly.
What the Small Grants Programme funds
The themes we are supporting are:
- Domestic Violence
- Prisoners' Families
- Young Offenders
Domestic Violence
The Government defines domestic violence as:
"Any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality".
We will consider applications for work which helps those affected in any way by domestic violence, but in particular, work which offers ways of preventing domestic violence at the outset or preventing its reoccurrence.
Examples of work directly related to domestic violence which we will consider funding include:
- programmes aimed at young people aged 0-18 years e.g. awareness raising and prevention work in schools, work with children who have experience of living with domestic violence
- issues of concern to Black and Minority Ethnic groups, e.g. forced marriages
- preventative measures e.g. research, education, training, awareness raising
- perpetrator programmes
- lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender specific services
- rape and sexual abuse services
- advice, support and information
- outreach
- counselling and befriending
- housing
- advocacy
- collaborative projects, e.g. Domestic Violence Forums
- projects involving volunteers
Prisoners' Families
We will consider projects which provide support for families which have a family member or members in prison. We aim to improve the quality of life of the families, through the provision of services responsive to their needs.
Examples of work we would consider funding include:
- information and support services for families with a relative or loved one in prison
- services designed to assist people in prison who have formerly been the primary carer of their child or children
- minimising the disruptive impact of having a parent in prison and promoting better understanding of the problems faced, particularly in schools
- supporting services which assist children who want to visit their parents
- services assisting carers in financial difficulty who have taken caring responsibilities as a consequence of imprisonment e.g. grandparents
- improving the services available to family members visiting prison
- services supporting parents in prison, in particular young parents
- specific support for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) families with a relative or loved one in prison
- supporting services helping to sustain family ties once a prisoner is released
- prison visitors' centres
Young Offenders
We will consider supporting projects which are designed to provide young people who are, or have been, involved with the criminal justice system with rehabilitation programmes; these would provide opportunities to obtain the skills, confidence and personal support networks to enable them to lead fulfilled and successful lives. Applications can include projects working with young ex-offenders and those at risk of offending, as well as those who are in or are leaving custody.
Examples of work we would consider funding include:
- Enabling young ex-offenders and those at risk of offending to improve their basic skills e.g. literacy and numeracy courses, arts education, social and life skills
- Services assisting young ex-offenders and those at risk of offending to access:
- suitable housing
- health services particularly with regard to mental health needs, drugs and alcohol
- voluntary and community activities
- Services assisting young people to develop constructive and supportive social networks
Restrictions
In order to qualify for a grant your organisation must:
- be a registered charity (registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in Scotland or registered as exempt with the Inland Revenue in Northern Ireland)
- not have an income exceeding £500,000 in your last financial year
How much to apply for
We make one-off grants of up to £5,000 maximum. Please do not apply for more than this amount.
Assessment process
Your application will be assessed on its own merits and against our funding priorities.
We may contact you for further information on any aspect of your application. It is therefore important to provide a daytime telephone number where indicated on the application form (landline preferably, rather than mobile).
We may also contact at least one of your given referees about your organisation or work which you have asked us to fund. Please ensure that your referees are independent i.e. they should know your work well but should not be an employee or member of your board/committee
We will write to let you know whether your application has been successful or not.
Reasons for declination of applications
Unfortunately we have to turn down many good applications. It is our policy not to provide reasons for declining applications, however the most common reasons are:
- Limited funds available - we have £500,000 to distribute as small grants annually across the UK
- The organisation has over 50% of its annual expenditure in unrestricted reserves, as shown in the financial accounts (see 'What we do not support')
- The size of the grant requested exceeds £5,000 (see 'How much to apply for')
- The organisation is not a registered charity (see 'Restrictions')
- Application forms have not been completed in full
- Additional information requested on the application form has not been enclosed
- Applications do not meet the funding criteria
Annual Reviews
All applicants will need to complete an Annual Review form, reporting on the work funded. We will contact you 12 months after payment of the grant. You should ensure that you complete the form promptly, as failure to do so could affect any future grants for which you might apply. Charities may also be contacted by our independent evaluators, Rocket Science, who will be assessing both the benefit of the grant to you and the effectiveness of our grant-making processes.
Applying again
You can re-apply to us for funding 12 months after receiving notification of the outcome of your application. This applies whether a grant is made or if the application is declined.
How your information will be used by the Foundation
The Nationwide Foundation processes personal data in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998, and uses such personal data and other information which you provide as part of the process of assessing grant applications, and monitoring and evaluating the progress of work funded. Information may also be assessed or monitored by external agencies appointed by the Foundation eg accountants, external evaluators and statutory agencies such as the Charity Commission. It will not be used for any additional purposes or disclosed to third parties without your permission, except for the purpose of determining, preventing or detecting crime.
Fraud
The information provided by you may be made available to other agencies for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime. Any misleading statements given at any stage during the application process may render the application invalid and you may be liable to return any monies already paid out. We will take the appropriate action against any applicants who commit or attempt to commit fraud, which may include reporting to the police.
Retention of Application Forms
It is the Foundation's policy to retain applications for three years after they have been declined or, when an application has been successful, it will be retained for three years after the active period of grant.
Complaints Policy
If you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of the Foundation’s work, please click here.
Application Form For Small Grants Programme (pdf 152KB)
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Site updated: 13 October 2008