Heart of the Community Fund 2022 in Ireland

Deadline: 2-Nov-22

The Ireland Funds has launched the Heart of the Community Fund which is designed to support organisations striving to meet the ever-growing needs of people across the island of Ireland.

The past two years have shown that the age-old adage of ‘the heart of the community’ is personified by organisations who work tirelessly to support their communities through crisis.

Funding Information

• The Heart of the Community Fund 2022 offers awards up to €20,000 for small, not-for-profit organisations with an annual turnover of less than €3,000,000 / £3,000,000.
• Awards will be offered in the following 3 tiers:
  • €5,000
  • €10,000
  • €20,000
• Please note that organisations may only apply for one tier of funding.
• The Fund anticipates a large number of applications being submitted so please carefully consider which tier is the appropriate level for your proposed application.

Funding priorities

• There are two types of funding available through this open-call grant round:
  • Core/operational support.
  • Programmatic funding.
• Core/operational support.
  • This type of support is an opportunity to secure funding for your organisation’s day-to-day needs. The Fund encourage you to apply for longer-term investments as well as immediate needs.
• Example 1: Your energy bills are soaring beyond a point you can afford. You apply for support to meet your upcoming bills and to make upgrades to the building you own/rent to improve efficiency and sustainability i.e., fitting insulation in improve the BER rating; installing solar panels; installing draught excluders; switching to energy efficient lightbulbs.
• Example 2: You run a mentoring programme and have a long waiting list of people who are waiting for you to manually match them with a mentor. You apply for funding to hire someone for 8 weeks to help you get through the backlog manually and for funding to purchase a software that will automate much of your work and help you triple the number of mentor/mentee matches you make per year.
• Programmatic funding
  • This type of support is an opportunity to secure funding for a particular programme you currently run or propose to run in the future. Please ensure you clearly demonstrate the need for, and potential impact of, the programme you apply for funding for.

The Fund will Prioritise

• Organisations that can demonstrate that they are responding to the current and emerging needs of their communities
• Organisations that can demonstrate the return on investment of supporting their core/operational funding need

Eligibility Criteria

• The organisation must have an annual turnover of less than €/£3,000,000. Organisations with a turnover exceeding this limit are not eligible to apply for this specific grant round.
• Turnover is the total income made in a certain period. It is sometimes referred to as gross revenue or income.
• The project or activity for which you are seeking funding must take place on the island of Ireland.
• The project must be for a future activity, not for an activity or project that has already been completed- funding cannot be retroactively applied.
• Due diligence is critical for The Ireland Funds. To be eligible, organisations;
  • Must be at least one of the following:
    • Company Limited Guarantee (CLG).
    • Community Interest Company (CIC).
    • Charity Incorporated Organisation (CIO).
    • Registered Charity.
    • Charitable Trust.
  • Must have:
    • Governing Document (ie. Memorandum & Articles of Association; Trust Deed; Constitution).
    • Financial Statements (Audited or Unaudited Accounts are equally accepted).
  • Must have a governing document that contains the following clauses:
    • Income and Property
      • Outlining the allocation of any income to the sole purpose of pursuing the organisations purpose and objects.
      • Ensuring that any Directors will not be remunerated by salary or fees.
    • Winding Up/Dissolution
      • Providing security for income/funds should the organization cease operations. Funds are guaranteed to be transferred to an organisation with a similar charitable purpose.
• Organisations may submit only one application – multiple applications from the same (registered) organisation for different areas of work will not be accepted.

For more information, visit https://www.irelandfunds.org/grants/