Deadline: 23-Nov-22
The Charities Aid Foundation is inviting applications for the Keystone Fund that aim to strengthen the organisational capacity and agility of local and regional charities which address social equity in the UK.
Sharply increased demand for services, economic pressures and an ongoing decline in public donations is putting many smaller charities across the UK under heavy strain.
The Keystone Fund aims to enable locally and regionally-focused charities working towards social equity to become more agile in their support for their communities. It provides a programme of unrestricted grants, networking and access to advice webinars and toolkits.
The legacy of the fund will be greater opportunities for those who need it most, along with charities that are in a stronger position to continue to support them, thereby accelerating progress in society towards a fair and sustainable future for all.
CAF intends that through these grants and access to additional resilience building resources, small charities will be better positioned now and for the future as keystones in their communities.
Priorities for the Keystone Fund
- They will support eligible charitable organisations to:
- Adapt their ways of working (eg digital capability, staff and volunteer training, operational challenges)
- Bolster their core building blocks (eg governance, strategic planning, capacity building)
- This fund is not designed to support direct service provision or capital projects.
- To be selected for the Keystone Fund, charitable organisations will be asked to demonstrate:
- A clear understanding of the needs and challenges of the communities they serve
- An excellent track record of at least 3 years of creating better outcomes for marginalised communities through a range of activities and/or advocacy
- In-depth local or regional knowledge and networks
- How they have responded to a significantly increased demand for services
- An operational or governance structure which provides opportunities for people with lived experience to have a voice or to influence strategy
- A reasonably clear idea of what they need to do next to transform or adapt their ways of working and strengthen their building blocks for the future
Funding Information
- At stage 1, they ask what your organisation’s expenditure on core staff and overheads was in your last annual financial accounts, and what you expect it to be in the current financial year. They will also ask how much you would like to apply for.
- Unrestricted grants, intended to enable charitable organisations in the UK to adapt ways of working, strengthen capacity or build resilience, according to identified needs.
- Grants will be awarded between £5,000 and £50,000
- Approximately 120 grants will be awarded over 2-3 rounds during 2022-23.
- Grant funds must begin to be spent within 6 months of grant payment, but can be carried forward into the following financial year if required to enable flexibility. They should be fully spent within 24 months of grant payment.
Eligibility Criteria
- UK registered charitable organisations (including registered charities and Community Interest Companies)
- Addressing social injustice or working towards social equity to build a fairer society for all. These might be organisations which primarily support:
- Refugees in the UK
- People experiencing racial inequity
- People experiencing digital poverty
- People at risk of homelessness
- Deaf and disabled people
- LGBQT+ people
- Responding to increased need among their local or regional communities.
- They are also interested in hearing from charities which address other social inequities.They appreciate that organisations may be working to remove barriers for people at the intersection of more than one of these areas.
- They will focus approximately 50% of the Fund towards organisations supporting refugees in the UK.
What they cannot fund
- Individuals Organisations that:
- Are not fully registered as charitable in the UK
- Established or registered as charitable after 1 January 2020
- Discriminate or primarily promote political or religious viewpoints to the people they support
- Primarily focus on animals
- Are unable to supply appropriate documents including charitable registration, governance and financial documents and personal details of trustees/directors if required
- The fund cannot be used for:
- Expenditure which will have already taken place when the grant is offered
- Any grants, bursaries, sponsorship or financial donations to other organisations or individuals
- Capital projects or significant items to hire or purchase
- Grants awarded to Community Interest Companies, and other non-registered charities, will be subject to some restriction of the grant use towards specific charitable activities, services or outcomes.
For more information, visit https://www.cafonline.org/charities/grantmaking/keystone