Aims/priorities: Unrestricted grants are available to small charities across the UK to enable them to adapt ways of working, strengthen capacity and build resilience so that they can better serve their beneficiaries in light of increased pressures and demand.
Funding is intended to support charitable organisations to:
- Adapt their ways of working via digital capability, staff and volunteer training and responding to operational challenges.
- Bolster their basic running capabilities via improvements to governance, strategic planning and capacity building.
The following types of expenditure are recommended:
- Leadership time to develop strategy or organisational capacity.
- Accessing additional external expertise, support and advice to develop resilience plans.
- Staff costs.
- Digital costs.
- Overheads.
- Delivery costs or equipment.
Who can apply? UK registered charitable organisations (including registered charities and Community Interest Companies). To be eligible to apply, organisations must:
- Addressing social injustice or working towards social equity to build a fairer society for all. These might be organisations which primarily support:
- Refugees in the UK.
- People experiencing racial inequity.
- People experiencing digital poverty.
- People at risk of homelessness.
- Deaf and disabled people.
- LGBQT+ people.
- Be responding to increased need among their local or regional communities.
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of the needs and challenges of the communities they serve.
- Have an excellent track record of at least 3 years of creating better outcomes for marginalised communities through a range of activities and/or advocacy.
- Show in-depth local or regional knowledge and networks.
- Show how they have responded to a significantly increased demand for services.
- Have an operational or governance structure which provides opportunities for people with lived experience to have a voice or to influence strategy.
- Have a reasonably clear idea of what they need to do next to transform or adapt their ways of working and strengthen their building blocks for the future.
Approximately 50% of the funds will be focused on organisations supporting refugees in the UK.
Grant amount: Grants of £5,000 to £50,000 are available. It is expected that 120 grants will be made over two to three rounds during 2022/23.
Application process: There is a two-stage application process:
- Stage 1 deadline 23 November 2022.
- Stage 2 deadline 9 January 2023, for decisions in February 2023.
There will be an information webinar on 2 December 2022.
Guidelines and an application form can be found on the CAF website.
Deadline: Stage 1 deadline is 23 November 2022.
Contact information: Tel 03000 123 000, Email keystone@cafonline.org
Website address: www.cafonline.org