How Much to Ask For in a Grant Application

Asking for the right amount is one of the most important decisions in a grant application, and one of the least discussed. Ask for too much and you may look unrealistic or exceed what the funder can give. Ask for too little and you may not be able to deliver. This guide explains how to size a request that is honest, fits the funder and gives you the best chance of success.

Start with the real cost

Every good request starts with a costed budget. List everything the project needs: staff time, volunteers' expenses, venue, materials, equipment, publicity, evaluation and a fair share of your running costs where the funder allows it. Our grant budget template guide shows how to set this out.

Then subtract what you already have or expect from elsewhere: your own reserves, other grants, earned income and in-kind support. The gap is the most you should ask for. Our guide on how to find match funding explains how to fill the rest.

Never inflate costs to reach a funder's maximum. Assessors compare your budget with your activities and notice padding.

Check the funder's range

Every fund has a minimum and maximum. Some examples from funders' own sites:

• National Lottery Awards for All England: £300 to £20,000, and no more than £20,000 in total from the programme in any 12-month period.
• Reaching Communities England: £20,001 to £1,000,000, with more only in exceptional cases.
• National Lottery Heritage Fund: separate programmes for £3,000 to £10,000, £10,000 to £250,000 and £250,000 to £10 million.
• Garfield Weston Foundation: Regular Grants under £100,000 and Major Grants of £100,000 and over, with extra conditions for Major Grants.

If your gap is only a little above a threshold, think carefully. A smaller request in a simpler programme can be quicker and more likely to succeed than a larger one in a more competitive programme. If it is a little below, check you have not left out real costs.

Look at typical awards, not only the maximum

The maximum is rarely the norm. Many funders tell you what they usually give:

• The National Lottery Community Fund says most Reaching Communities England awards are under £500,000, that the average award in 2025 was £319,000 over 3 years, and that you should talk to it before applying for more than £500,000.
• UK Community Foundations says the average community foundation grant in 2024 to 2025 was about £5,500.
• Garfield Weston says that for local community capital projects such as village halls and community centres, grants are likely to be no greater than £30,000, whatever the project size.

You can also look at what a funder has given before. Many publish lists of recent grants on their websites or in their annual reports, and many publish grants data that you can search on 360Giving GrantNav.

Check the funder's share

Some funders expect to cover only part of the cost. Garfield Weston, for example, says its project grants tend to be around 10 to 20% of the cost, and that it expects around half the funding to be secured before you apply. For core costs, its FAQs say it is unlikely to fund more than 10% of your total annual budget. Asking such a funder for the whole cost is likely to fail, however strong the project.

Other funders will fund the whole project. The Heritage Fund, for example, says it can fund total project costs for its £10,000 to £250,000 grants, but asks you to explain why if you are not offering any contribution. Read the guidance on contributions before you decide.

Match the request to your size

Funders look at your request alongside your accounts. A small group with an annual income of £8,000 asking for £150,000 raises questions about whether it can manage the money and the work. Some funders take size into account directly: Awards for All England says it prioritises organisations with smaller annual incomes, and Garfield Weston says that for core costs it generally supports around 10 to 20% of an organisation's total annual budget.

If your request is large compared with your income, explain how you will manage it: extra staff, a project manager, stronger financial controls or a partner with more experience.

Should you name an amount at all?

Most funders want a specific figure. A few are more flexible. Garfield Weston says you do not have to ask for a specific amount, although you are welcome to, and that its trustees will use their judgement to decide what size of grant may be appropriate, as long as you are clear about your need and your shortfall.

Common mistakes

• Asking for the maximum by default. It can look like you started from the funder's limit, not your costs.
• Round numbers everywhere. £10,000 for staff, £5,000 for materials and £5,000 for venue suggests guesswork.
• Leaving out costs. Evaluation, publicity, volunteer expenses and a share of overheads are often forgotten.
• Forgetting eligible costs rules. Awards for All England, for example, cannot fund contingency or VAT you can reclaim.
• Ignoring the timeline. A multi-year project needs a budget for each year.

Multi-year requests

If your project runs for more than a year, show the cost of each year separately. Costs often change over time: set-up costs fall away, staff pay rises, and activity may grow. Awards for All England funds projects of up to 2 years and Reaching Communities England up to 5 years, so check the maximum length as well as the maximum amount. Garfield Weston says it is more likely to make a multi-year core cost grant if it has funded you before, so a first request for one year can be a sensible start.

A worked example

A community café project needs £24,000 over a year: £15,000 for a part-time coordinator, £5,000 for food and equipment, £2,000 for volunteer expenses and training, and £2,000 for venue hire. The group has £3,000 from café sales and £1,000 from its reserves, leaving a gap of £20,000. That fits Awards for All England exactly, but asking for the full maximum from one funder is a risk. Asking for £14,000 there and approaching the community foundation for the remaining £6,000 spreads the risk and gives each funder a clear part to pay for.

When to talk to the funder

If you are not sure, ask. Some funders invite it. The National Lottery Community Fund asks you to talk to it before applying for more than £500,000 from Reaching Communities England, and the Heritage Fund offers an optional Project Enquiry service that gives feedback on your idea within 10 working days for its £10,000 to £250,000 grants. A quick conversation can save months of work on the wrong figure.

Our guide to how funders assess grant applications explains how assessors judge value for money, and our National Lottery funding guide compares programme sizes in each UK nation.

Find grants that fit your budget

GrantMatch shows the amount range for every open grant, so you can filter out funds that are too small or too large for your project. Browse grants for charities or grants for community groups, or create a free profile and we will match you with grants of the right size.