Investor Programme

This programme offers three year grants of between £230,000 and £300,000 to registered charities with incomes not exceeding £10m and which fit our funding guidelines. This programme is closed to new applicants.

• Priorities

  In addition to the priorities described in the funding guidelines, the Investor Programme also has the following priorities:

  • Joint bids: We will give preference to applications from registered charities which have formed partnerships with other organisations (not necessarily charities e.g. academic bodies, think tanks, researchers, social enterprises etc) to address the issues identified in the objectives; or which intend to form partnerships to do so.
  • Innovation e.g. we are interested in funding:
    • new work
    • pilot projects
    • work based on successful pilot projects
    • the delivery of existing services in new ways
    • work which seeks to develop effective models for replication
    • continuation or roll out of existing pioneering work.
  • We offer grants for:
    • Research
    • New projects, pilot projects and existing work (based on previous evidence of need / research)
    • Awareness raising / campaigning to promote change
    Priority will be given to applications for work which encompass two or three of these.

  We are happy to fund core costs and to contribute towards the salaries of finance staff for the charity.

• Added Value of the Investor Programme

  Partnership

  We have a legacy of encouraging charities which work in the same fields to work in partnership with one another to:

  • share experience and learning
  • identify ways of reducing duplication to save valuable charitable resource
  • achieve greater outcomes for their beneficiaries e.g. through signposting them to one another's services, to forming awareness raising projects together.

  This work was first piloted though a grant programme which we operated from 2001-2005 called the New Generation Initiative, NGI. This programme won the grant making category at the Charity Awards 2006. It was independently evaluated and the lessons learned helped to shape our previous Supporting Families Investor Programme, which in turn has helped to shape this strategy.

  As part of the grant conditions, successful applicants must be prepared and committed to work in partnership with other successful applicants, which the Foundation intends to bring together. This is a key part of our Investor Programme and has the aim of achieving wider benefits and creating a stronger voice to help bring about positive social change in the areas identified in our funding guidelines.

  The commitment will include a requirement for successful applicants to attend partnership meetings 1-2 times a year and a commitment to visit other successful applicants to share learning.

  All costs associated with partnership working will be covered by the Foundation, in addition to the grants available.

  Building Resilience

  We are committed to building the resilience of charities we fund, to help them become more robust and therefore operate more effectively and to help ensure that they continue successfully after our grant support ends. We are therefore committed to:

  • Funding core costs
  • Giving grants which incorporate Full Cost Recovery (www.fullcostrecovery.org.uk)
  • Offering the deployment of exit strategy consultants during the third year of funding to prepare charities for the withdrawal of our support and assist them with seeking replacement funding

  As a part of our new grant strategy, we are also prepared to consider support towards the following, determined on a 'needs basis' as identified when we start working with successful applicants:

  • Ways to increase financial resilience and competence e.g. funding of finance staff
  • Training for trustees and staff (finance, governance, HR and strategy related)
  • Fees of conferences/seminars to 'plug' charities into the networks in the fields in which they operate
  • Membership of umbrella support organisations e.g. offering governance support
  • Strategy days for trustees, staff and volunteers
  • Risk Reviews.

  All costs associated with building resilience will be covered by the Foundation, in addition to the grants available.

  Monitoring

  Successful applicants will receive quarterly monitoring and support visits from a dedicated Foundation staff member. This is for the following reasons:

  • To ensure the charities are meeting the agreed objectives and outputs
  • So the Foundation can build a positive, transparent, relationship with the charity
  • So the charity can communicate any current or potential issues which may affect the delivery of the work being funded
  • So the Foundation can offer more hands-on support as and when needed
  • So the Foundation can meet staff, volunteers and beneficiaries of the charity and witness 'work in action'
  • So the Foundation can better understand the needs of the charity and its beneficiaries so it can respond more effectively.

  Measuring and Evaluation

  An independent evaluator appointed by the Foundation will:

  • Conduct a four year evaluation of the work funded and the grant programme itself. The evaluation will run for the 3yrs of grant funding and a year thereafter to capture any longer term benefits achieved
  • Provide the Foundation with an independent evaluation on its performance as a funder so it can improve its performance and its future grant programmes. The evaluation may also be used to share lessons and good practice with other funders
  • Provide each charity with an independent evaluation of its own work which the Foundation is funding. Charities will therefore be visited from time to time by the evaluator who will work with it to produce a robust report for them and the Foundation. Charities will be able to use the independent evaluation to help improve their work and evidence the benefits of their work to other potential funders.

  All costs associated with the independent evaluation will be covered by the Foundation, in addition to the grants available.

  End of Programme Event

  The Foundation can consider organising an end of programme event with the charities supported, for wider benefits e.g.:

  • To share the findings of the independent evaluations
  • To raise awareness of work funded and share learning on how best to address the issues and promote change for the better.

  All costs associated with such an event will be covered by the Foundation, in addition to the grants available.

• Apply for a Grant from the Investor Programme

  Application Process and Time-line:

  • We currently welcome Expressions of Interest on one page of A4 from applicants. The deadline for these is 31 May 2009.
  • We will assess Expressions of Interest and visit applicants in which we are interested, in June and July 2009, to undertake detailed assessment interviews.
  • A sub-committee of Foundation Trustees and staff will meet in late July 09 to shortlist those visited, based on information provided at interview. A small number of applicants will then be invited to submit detailed funding bids.
  • Applicants will be expected to write their funding bids, with clear objectives, outputs and outcomes to be achieved, during August 2009.
  • Some of the funding bids will be agreed by the full Board of Trustees at their quarterly Board Meeting in mid September 2009. Work funded may start immediately thereafter.

  How to Complete Your Expression of Interest

  • Please check the exclusions
  • Do not exceed one page of A4.
  • Tell us:
  • Briefly, the main work / services of your charity
  • Whether you are submitting a joint Expression of Interest and if so, who with and what their organisational status and expertise is
  • What you want the grant for (ensure it's clear whether you want us to fund projects, existing work, research, awareness raising or more than one of these; also be clear who the beneficiaries are, as per our funding guidelines)
  • Where (geographically) the work will take place
  • What the work to be funded will achieve
  • How you identified the need for the work which you are requesting a grant towards
  • Who you will work in partnership with to deliver the project, if applicable
  • What systems you will use to monitor the work and measure achievements
  • The total cost of the project to be supported with a grant from us.
  • Send us a photocopy of a signed version of your latest annual accounts (signed by your independent examiner / auditor and Board of Trustees / Committee)

  Ensure that the information you send us contains your:

  • Charity name
  • Charity registration number
  • Charity telephone number and address
  • Contact name and job title

  Please send the information to: The Nationwide Foundation, Nationwide House, Pipers Way, Swindon, Wilts, SN38 2SN.

  The Investor Programme is now closed to new applicants.

The Nationwide Foundation is a registered charity (no 1065552) and has limited liability being a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (no. 3451979). Registered office address: Nationwide House, Pipers Way, Swindon, SN38 1NW.
Site updated: February 2010