The Fore funds small charities that make a big impact.
We offer unrestricted funding to have a transformational impact on your whole organisation, supporting growth, structure, sustainability or efficiency.
We see applicants as experts in their fields. We also know that many of the best people who run small charities don’t have lots of fundraising experience. Our approach is designed to level the playing field.
We encourage applications from organisations working with underserved communities, and those who have struggled to access trust and foundation funding in the past. We are proud to have been one of the first grant funders for many of our portfolio charities.
Our grants programme is open to:
- Registered Charities (including those constituted as charitable trusts, charitable unincorporated associations, charitable incorporated organisations and charitable companies limited by guarantee), Community Interest Companies (CICs) limited by guarantee, or Community Benefit Societies (CBSs) that are either Charitable CBSs or non-charitable CBSs with an asset lock
- We do not fund CICs limited by shares or non charitable CBSs that do not have an asset lock
- Your annual revenue should be less than £500k
- Applicants in any location or sector, but you need to be registered in the UK
Things to Consider Before Applying
We know how valuable your time is, and we want our application process to feel worthwhile.
Our funding rounds are highly competitive, and while we assess every application on its individual merits, experience shows that certain types of applications are less likely to progress:
- Your organisation is forecasting an ongoing deficit in future years, and the funding ask doesn’t strengthen your financial position.
- You have no reserves, or the funding ask won’t improve a very low reserves position: We understand that reserves policies vary depending on an organisation’s size and legal structure. However, in a competitive round, organisations without reserves are generally less likely to succeed. If there are exceptional/justifiable reasons for this, then please briefly set out why in your application.
- Your funding ask generates a transformational change that can’t be sustained after our funding ends: We’re looking for the impact of our funding to continue beyond the grant period. We’d like to see that your organisation won’t return to square one once the funding ends.
- You’re requesting funding as part of a much larger capital project (e.g. building renovations or new facilities): If our grant would be a small part of a larger fundraising goal, it can be difficult for us to see the specific, transformational impact our funding would have.
- You’ve had a grant from us before. Our funding is intended to support transformational shifts, so we’ll be looking for a new, significant leap that wouldn’t happen without our support. Continuing or expanding the work we previously funded is unlikely to be competitive. If the original transformation was successful, we would expect it to have strengthened your organisation’s position. Given this, we’ll also be looking at why the outcomes of that previous investment aren’t enabling this next step without additional funding from The Fore.
- You’re requesting a fundraising role, but no credible explanation of how this will lead to meaningful, sustainable change is presented. We’re open to funding fundraising posts, but they’re most effective when part of a well-considered strategy rather than a reactive fix for financial difficulty. In some cases, the best approach may be freeing up existing staff to focus on income generation. Whatever the model, we’re looking for a realistic plan on how success will be achieved and sustained.
Reapplying to The Fore
- If you are unsuccessful, you can reapply
- You should consider the feedback you have received before reapplying
- If you have an active grant, you can’t reapply until your existing grant has closed and you’ve had a “grant closure” call with our team
- We do not currently offer follow-on funding