Grants for Charities and Community Organisations in the UK
A practical guide to funding for UK charities, CICs and community groups: who funds this work, who is eligible, how much you can get, and where to start.
If you run a charity, a community interest company, or a small community group, there is real money out there to fund your work. The hard part is knowing which funders back organisations like yours, what they expect, and how to spend your limited time on the applications you can actually win. This guide covers grants for community and voluntary organisations across the UK: who gives them, who qualifies, how big they are, and a sensible order of work.
This is funding for the organisation, not for individuals. If your group delivers a service, runs a project, or brings people together for a shared purpose, you are the kind of applicant these funders have in mind.
Who counts as a community organisation?
Funders use the term loosely, and most care more about what you do than the exact box you sit in. You are likely in scope if you are:
- A registered charity, large or small
- A community interest company (CIC), limited by guarantee or shares, with an asset lock
- A community group or unincorporated association run by and for local people
- A voluntary or not-for-profit organisation with a clear public benefit
- A social enterprise that trades with a social mission
Some funds are written specifically for registered charities. Others welcome CICs, community groups, or even unconstituted groups with a local sponsor. Read the eligibility criteria before you write a word, because the legal form is where most rejected applications fall down.
If you are still deciding how to link your work to the right funding, our pages for charity grants and CIC grants are a good place to see what is open right now.
Who funds community and voluntary work?
The UK has a strong set of funders that exist to back this kind of work. A few names come up again and again.
The National Lottery Community Fund is the largest community funder in the UK. It runs programmes across all four nations, from small awards for grassroots groups to six-figure grants for established organisations. For many groups it is the first stop.
Community foundations operate in almost every region. They pool money from local donors and give it out through small, place-based grants. Because they know their area, they are often more approachable than a national body, and the paperwork is usually lighter.
Local and council funds are easy to miss but often the best fit for smaller groups. These are place-based pots for community activity, and they tend to have less competition than national programmes.
Charitable trusts and foundations fund specific causes, places, or groups of people. There are thousands of them, each with its own focus, which is exactly why matching matters so much.
Corporate and lottery-linked funds round out the picture, from supermarket community grants to sport and heritage funding.
How big are the grants?
Live UK grants across the sectors community organisations work in. Source: GrantMatch, updated daily.
Grants for community organisations sit across a wide range, and the smaller ones are worth as much of your attention as the large ones.
- Micro grants: up to around £1,000, often for a single project, event, or piece of equipment. The forms are usually short.
- Small grants: £1,000 to £10,000, for a programme or a year of activity.
- Larger grants: £10,000 upwards, usually for established organisations with a track record and accounts to show.
A £1,000 grant can pay for the thing that unblocks your next stage, and it often takes an evening to apply. Do not overlook the small pots while you chase the big ones.
Who is eligible?
Eligibility varies by fund, but most community grants ask you to show a handful of things:
- A clear public benefit or social purpose, written into your governing document
- A recognised structure, or a plan to work through a sponsor if you are not yet constituted
- Some form of community accountability
- Basic financial records, or a simple budget if you are new
Newer groups are not shut out. Plenty of funders exist to back early-stage and grassroots work. What matters is that you can explain who you help, how, and why it needs to happen.
How to find and apply
Finding the right grant is half the battle. Here is a sensible order of work.
Start local. Check your community foundation and any council or place-based funds first. Less competition, simpler forms.
Grant funding is spread across every UK nation and region, well beyond the big cities. Source: GrantMatch, updated daily.
Match the fund to your organisation. Filter by your legal form and the people you serve rather than reading every fund from the top. If you are a charity, start with charity grants. If you deliver health or wellbeing work, look at health and social grants. If your focus is broader community work, browse charities and non-profit grants.
Read the eligibility criteria twice. Most rejected applications fail here, not on the quality of the idea. Check the legal form, the geography, the funding range, and the deadline before you start.
Prepare your core documents once. A short mission statement, your governing document, recent accounts or a budget, and two or three impact stories will cover most applications. Keep them in one folder and reuse them.
Funders want evidence of impact
This trips up more community organisations than anything else. Funders are not buying a good intention alone. They want proof that your work changes something.
Start collecting evidence now, before you need it: numbers (how many people you reached, what changed for them) and stories (a real example of someone your work helped). A funder reading a hundred applications remembers the one with a clear before-and-after.
You do not need a formal evaluation framework to begin. A simple record of who you work with and what happens as a result will put you ahead of most applicants.
Grants for specific causes
Some of the most common questions we hear come from organisations working in particular areas. If that is you, these guides go deeper:
- Grants for mental health and wellbeing projects
- Grants for disability, SEND and neurodiversity projects
- How small community groups win their first grant
Your next step
Pick one fund that matches your legal form and your area, then set aside an hour to check the eligibility criteria against your organisation. If it fits, gather your core documents and draft your mission statement while the fund is still open.
A free GrantMatch account will show you grants matched to your organisation, so you spend your time on the ones you can actually win. Browse all live grants to see what is open today.