• Foundation in Fundraising: learning the basic elements that must go in any funding bid, recognising funders’ buzzwords and what they mean, and unpacking funding options you need to be aware of
• Core Knowledge: learning how to find the most appropriate funding for your project, understanding ‘need’ and how to evidence it, how to write, measure and explain outcomes, and know how to avoid common mistakes
• Advanced Skills: learning to persuasively evidence your unique selling point, how to ensure your core costs are covered, and how to create your own funding strategy

Suitable for everyone from beginners to those wanting to brush up on their skills or get a final polish on their work, this training course is just what you need to write a winning funding bid.

You can secure your place on this fantastic course for just £220 – price includes refreshments plus a wealth of course materials to take away with you. For more information, and to book your place, visit our website.

To be eligible for support, your application must be for over £10,000 and be either developing an existing partnership or setting up a new partnership. The application must also meet at least one of the overall BLF funding priorities:

• bring people together and build strong relationships in and across communities
• improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
• enable more people to fulfil their potential by working to address issues at the earliest possible stage

The Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme has also recently relaunched, after a 3-month hiatus. Both Reaching Communities and the new Partnerships Fund are using BLF’s new streamlined online application process. This means you’ll fill in a short online form instead of a PDF – although it’s still a good idea to write up a project proposal to paste into the form.

For more information on both funding streams, and to apply, visit the Big Lottery Fund’s website.

Applications are via the online Grantium system, just as Grants for the Arts were. If you are applying for £15,000 or under, you will receive a decision in 6 weeks. If you are applying for over £15,000 a decision will take 12 weeks. Everything that was eligible for funding under Grants for the Arts will still be eligible under Project Grants.

Across 2018-22 The Arts Council is also launching number of new development funds. The first is Developing your Creative Practice, aimed at supporting independent creative practitioners – this opened on 12th April.

For more information on Project Grants and other Arts Council funding, and to apply, visit their website.

• Main Grants: supporting charities whose core work covers Arts or Learning
• Small Grants: supporting charities in all fields whose annual turnover is under £150,000

Grants made through the Main Grants scheme will generally be for amounts between £10,000 and £50,000 – applications through this scheme for grants of less than £10,000 per year will not be accepted. Main Grants will usually be for project costs.

Grants made through the Small Grants scheme will be one-year grants for amounts between £1,000 and £10,000. These grants can be for core costs, equipment or project funding. In addition to their maximum income requirements for these grants, you should be able to demonstrate that the requested grant will make a significant difference to your work.

There are no deadlines, but the Foundation advises applying well in advance of when you need funding, as it may take four months or more to receive a decision. For more information, and to download the relevant application forms, visit the Foyle Foundation’s website.

Applications should be able to demonstrate how they will address at least one (but preferably more than one) of the fund’s aims:

• Enable organisations to better support women and girls within the target groups.
• Showcase how women and girls’ lived experience can inform the design and delivery of services, practice and policy.
• Provide opportunities for projects to try out new ways and models of working, for example by acting earlier, building community assets or using digital approaches.
• Enable cross sector partnerships to work together to provide high quality support.
• Support approaches that can provide learning for other organisations and stakeholders across the sector.
• Improve access to support for women and girls with complex needs in less well-served communities, such as BAMER, older women, LBTI, disabled women

Comic Relief plans to make around 40 grants through this scheme, which has a deadline of midday on 2nd July.

Other open funding initiatives include the London Together Fund, seeking projects within London which will use sport to effect social change; Safe, Secure, Settled, which will fund projects in the UK, India, South Africa, Brazil or Kenya to support young people into independent living; and their Local Communities Core Strength programme, run in partnership with local Community Foundations.

For more information on Comic Relief’s funding options, and to apply, visit their website.

• Tesco’s Bags of Help scheme: making grants of up to £4,000 to support a variety of community projects
• One Stop’s Carriers for Causes scheme: making grants of up to £2,000 towards community projects within 2 miles of a One Stop shop that ‘benefit local communities – helping to improve lives and local places’
• The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government’s Neighbourhood Planning fund: making grants to community groups in England who are developing a Neighbourhood Plan – the level of funding is dependent on the needs of your area

More details of the funding streams available via Groundworks are available on their website.

CAST is asking charities with annual income of £1 million or less to share their ambitions and challenges around digital technology, and what would help them achieve their vision. They will use this feedback to help shape the Fuse accelerator programme – a 12 week workshop where charities are paired up with a team of digital experts from CAST, to plan and build a new digital service or product for them to take to pilot – along with new programmes, resources and events aimed at smaller charities. In return, your charity will be able to access advice and support from CAST.

If you fit the bill, and you’d like to benefit from CAST’s support, expertise and connections, all you need to do is book a 30-minute phone call with them, in which you’ll share your feedback about the new programme. You can book your phone call here. For more information about the new Fuse programme, visit the CAST website.

You can find out more about this research in Charity Digital News’s breakdown, which includes a handy infographic.