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Most applications are assessed within three months, some considerably sooner.
We can make grants to groups that are charitable, educational or benevolent in purpose. You do not have to be a charity. Most successful applications are from user-led, self-help groups that can show real community support plus direct benefits resulting from the project funded. We will expect you to demonstrate in your application that your group and the proposed project work in similar ways. We give small grants to small groups, so please do not apply if you don’t fit the bill!
You can only hold one grant from County Durham Foundation every 12 months (This excludes awards made by The Banks Community Fund or The Esh Charitable Trust). If successful your grant may be made up from more than one programme managed by the foundation e.g. Keepmoat and Grassroots Grants. If you are successful you must complete any end of project reports and provide evidence of the project expenditure before reapplying to the foundation.. You can immediately reapply for a different project if your application is rejected, but cannot reapply for the same project unless your rejection letter says that you can do this.
No. We don't require applicants to secure matching funding to our grants, but we're happy to match fund.
We will not assess your application until we have received all the necessary signed paperwork. Failure to include all items will delay or invalidate your application. You will be sent a letter requesting any missing information, which will include a deadline for its return. If you fail to return the missing information by the requested date (without contacting the office and giving us a valid reason why you cannot do so) we will reject your application. Please ensure you use the correct stamps - most application forms with enclosures weigh enough to cost between 50p and £1.00 (second class post).
As well as the completed application form, you must send to us:
1. A copy of your organisation’s governing document: This may be a simple set of rules, a constitution or memorandum and articles of association. Your group’s management committee MUST sign the document. You should have a volunteer committee with a Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer and at least two other committee members. You do not need to be a registered charity. Your constitution should be open and it should not include any clause that could benefit an individual or a group of individuals. Your organisation should operate with regard to equal opportunities best practice and this should be reflected in your constitution.
2. A copy of your organisation’s most recent accounts: If you have been running for over one year we would expect to see a full set of accounts showing a breakdown of your annual income, expenditure and carry-forward balance. If you are a new group (less than 12 months old), a recent bank statement plus an annual budget/cash flow forecast showing estimated income and expenditure is acceptable. Before sending these documents ensure that they have been signed and authorised by your Treasurer. If you do not have a bank account it is possible for you to nominate another organisation to receive payment on your behalf. The nominated organisation should be willing to provide confirmation that they are able to ring-fence your grant within their own accounts. You should ensure that cheque signatories are not related in any way. Remember that County Durham Foundation will not fund organisations that are holding more than one year’s running costs or £15k as free reserves. If your organisation has high free reserves you should ensure that you explain what these are for and why we should give you a grant (and you cannot pay for it yourself) when submitting your application.
3. A copy of your child protection policy: If your organisation works with children or young people (under 19 years), or the activity you are applying for will involve working with children or young people, you will need to provide a copy of your child protection policy. An adequate child protection policy should include procedures for the following: Named person responsible for implementing the policy and preferably a nominated deputy; Safe recruitment; Induction and training for staff and volunteers; Appropriate reporting; Health and safety and insurance details. If you do not have a policy, we can offer you training to develop one. You can be offered a grant but cannot receive it until your management committee have adopted an acceptable child protection policy.
4. Vulnerable persons policy: If your organisation works with vulnerable people aged 18 years or over you should include a copy of your organisation’s policy. The definition of a vulnerable adult is a person who is or who may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to take care of himself or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation. The range of vulnerable adults can involve people with physical (including sensory loss), mental health or learning disabilities.
5. Postcode: You should include the postcode of the area in which your group is based and works and if applicable a postcode for the area where the project will take place if this is different from your group’s address.
6. Details of an independent referee: This should be someone who knows about your organisation, but who is not on the committee, a volunteer or a user of your group. This could be a member of the clergy, a policeman, councillor or a professional local resident who knows your group and its activities well. If your application is for a project working with children or young people or vulnerable adults, the referee should be knowledgeable about child protection issues and be prepared to vouch that the group either has a child protection policy in place that is updated regularly or is in the process of developing one.
7. Environmental: If your project is for environmental improvements, you must know who will maintain your site after completion of the project and have permission from the landowner or landlord. Evidence of the landowner or landlord’s permission must be included (i.e. a letter). You must also enclose a location plan showing where your project will take place, as a minimum sketch plans of the site and planned improvements plus photographs of the proposed site (with your group's name on the back). If your project is large scale or particularly complex you should consider taking professional advice, as we will require more detailed plans. We encourage the use of re-cycled materials and the planting of native species of trees and shrubs in all environmental improvement projects. Every Action Counts (EAC) is an environmental and sustainable development programme for voluntary and community groups throughout England. We would like to encourage groups to sign up to EAC if you have not already done so. For more information see www.everyactioncounts.org.uk your group may wish to develop its own environmental policy, if so, County Durham Foundation can supply you with a policy template.
8. Full Cost Recovery: Please see County Durham Foundations Full Cost Recovery Guidelines. These are included with the application pack and are also available online by following this link.
9. Project Start Date: You must enter the date when you expect your project to start and end. If your project is ongoing you must explain how you intend to finance your project once any grant funding you are awarded is exhausted.
Once your application has been received, we will contact you to discuss your project further or may even arrange a visit. A factual report on your project will be produced and circulated to members of the relevant Grants Committee who will then consider your request. Different grant programmes have different committees that take the decision on whether to fund your application or not. Many of these committees involve local people and are District based. Full details of who sits on the Grants Committee appropriate to your application can be obtained by telephoning the office. We actively discourage you from lobbying members of any County Durham Foundation Grants Committee or staff in support of your application. You can, however speak to County Durham Foundation staff for advice prior to submitting your application.
If your application is unsuccessful we will give you feedback as to why we could not give your support and we will, where possible, give advice on how to direct it to other, more appropriate funders.
Signature 1 must be the person who completed the application form. Signature 2 should be the Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary or other senior official of your group.
The referee must not be a member of your management committee, a volunteer or user of your group. They could be your local member of the clergy, policeman, councillor or a professional local resident (e.g. solicitor, accountant, doctor or teacher) who knows your group and its activities well.
If the application is for a project/activity working with children and young people, the referee should be knowledgeable on child protection issues and be prepared to vouch that the group either has a Child Protection Policy that is implemented and updated regularly or is in the process of developing one.
Your application will be acknowledged within a week of receiving it if you return the acknowledgement post card (correctly stamped) included with the application form. Once it has been received, we will contact you to discuss your project further or even arrange a visit. A factual report on your project will be produced and circulated to members of the Grants Committee who will then meet to consider your request. Different grant programmes have different committees that take the decision on whether to fund your application or not. Many of these committees involve local people and are District based. Full details of who sits on the Grants Committee appropriate to your application can be obtained by telephoning the office. We actively discourage you from lobbying members of any County Durham Foundation Grants Committee or staff in support of your application. You can, however speak to County Durham Foundation staff for advice prior to submitting your application.
If your application is unsuccessful we will give you feedback as to why we could not give your support and we will, where possible, give advice on how to direct it to other, more appropriate funders.
If you are unsuccessful in getting a grant from us and you disagree with our decision, If you feel you have been treated unfairly (i.e. you perceive that we have failed to take account of relevant information or have based our assessment on inaccurate information), you can appeal in writing to the Chief Executive who will consider your request. You must include evidence to back up your appeal. You cannot appeal just because you do not like our decision – remember we cannot fund every deserving application. If necessary the application can be referred back to the original grants committee that declined the application. If following this process the application is still declined then there is no further right to appeal.
