Frequently Asked Questions

The Funding Offer

• How much and over what time period is funding available?

  The Fore will make grants of up to £45,000 which may be spread over one to three years. We ask you to tell us in your application the total amount of funding you are requesting and over what time period. Please note that our maximum grant size is £45,000 in total.

• What can the funding be used for? Does The Fore fund core costs?

  We offer unrestricted grants that can be used for any purpose, including core costs and capital funding. The key thing to note is that we are looking to make grants that will strengthen your organisation internally and help it take the next step forwards in its growth or sustainability. Our grant might help you grow, increase your internal capacity, serve new beneficiary groups, become more sustainable or more efficient – we don’t mind, we just want you to be able to be better at what you do. We want our grants to have a transformational impact on the organisations we fund. If you are applying for core costs, you must demonstrate how this use of the funds will move your organisation forwards, as opposed to enabling ‘business as usual.’

• What should I 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.

• I hear the process is very competitive, is it worth me applying?

  Yes, the process is competitive, but we also hope you will gain from it. One-third of applicants will get through to our “ideas testing” phase. We know from feedback that most applicants find this useful.

  If you think an hour-long conversation with someone with ten years of senior professional strategic experience is worth it, then we would recommend you apply. Learn more about our Strategic Applicant Consultants.

• Will everyone who applies for funding receive a grant?

  Unfortunately our funding rounds are highly competitive, and we don’t have sufficient funding to make grants to all who apply. The Fore will provide every applicant with feedback, and unsuccessful applicants are welcome to reapply.

• If I am successful, what will The Fore require in terms of monitoring?

  Grantees should expect a phone call every year to discuss their progress against the targets that have been agreed, alongside a short survey. There is no obligation to write and submit a report. We aim to provide support to our grantees and not to burden them with unnecessary reporting.

Eligibility

• Does my organisation need to be a registered charity?

  We accept applications from 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, and 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.

• Can I apply if my organisation is a company limited by guarantee?

  Unfortunately we can only accept applications from companies limited by guarantee if they are also Registered Charities or Community Interest Companies. Otherwise, we cannot accept applications from companies limited by guarantee, even if they have other elements associated with social enterprises (such as asset locks, non-distribution clauses or charitable/social purposes).

• Can I apply if my organisation is a Community Interest Company limited by shares?

  Unfortunately, we can only accept applications from Community Interest Companies limited by guarantee. We do not fund Community Interest Companies limited by shares.

• Can I apply if my organisation is a non-charitable Community Benefit Society without an asset lock?

  Unfortunately, we can only accept applications from charitable Community Benefit Societies and non-charitable Community Benefit Societies with an asset lock. We do not fund non-charitable Community Benefit Societies that do not have an asset lock.

• We have applied to be a registered charity/community interest company limited by guarantee/charitable incorporated organisation/community benefit society, but our application has not yet been approved. Can we still apply for funding?

  We are unable to fund organisations whose registration (as a charity, community interest company limited by guarantee, charitable incorporated organisation or community benefit society in the UK) is in process but has not yet been approved. Please do not register for one of The Fore’s funding rounds until you have received confirmation from the relevant regulator that your registration has been approved.

• Do you fund charitable activities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as England?

  Yes.

• Do you fund charitable activities overseas?

  Yes, but the organisation needs to have a base and be registered within the UK as described above.

• My organisation has annual income of more than £500,000. Can we still apply for funding?

  No. The Fore only provides grants to organisations with less than £500,000 annual income in the previous completed financial year. Unfortunately, even if your income this current year will be under £500,000, you cannot apply until next year.

• I have an existing grant from The Fore. Can I apply?

  No, unfortunately we cannot accept applications from grantees who have not come to the end of their grant term. Once you have had your final grant closure Monitoring and Evaluation call with us, you become eligible to re-apply.

• If I have been turned down previously for a grant from The Fore, can I apply again?

  Yes, you can reapply. We would strongly advise you to note how you have taken account of any feedback previously supplied by the Fore. Please ensure that your application is sufficiently different from previous unsuccessful attempts. You should make sure that you have clearly addressed how the funding will create a step change for your organisation.

Registering for funding

• How do I apply for funding?

  To apply for funding, organisations must first register some basic contact details at the start of the funding round. Dates for upcoming registration periods are always provided on our website in advance. When registration opens, a link to the registration form appears on this page.

  Once your place on the funding round has been confirmed by email, you have 3-4 weeks to submit an application document via a secure weblink – please see the guidelines for application for more details. Only organisations that have registered with us at the start of a funding round and were allocated a place, may submit an application for that funding round.

• How long do you stay open for registration?

  Registrations are open for one week. This takes around two to three minutes.

  After this, applicants will receive confirmation by email, if they have been allocated a place on the funding round. Details of how to apply will be included. If there are more applicants registered than places available, places will be allocated at random.

  You can find more information on the next rounds and when they open on our Applying for Funding page.

• I previously applied but was unsuccessful. I have been allocated a place in the current funding round, which means I have been invited to submit a full application. Can I speak with someone to get further feedback on my previous application before I submit my new one?

  If you’ve applied three or more times previously (i.e. submitted full applications, not just registered your interest), and none of your applications progressed beyond Stage 1 Initial Review (i.e. you didn’t have a call with one of our consultants), a member of The Fore’s team can provide further feedback on your most recent application. This should hopefully help to increase your chances of success when submitting your new application.

  Please note, owing to team capacity, we can only offer this to organisations that have been invited to submit an application in an active funding round where the application deadline has not passed. We are also unable to review/provide commentary on draft applications in the interest of fairness.

  If you think it would be helpful to speak to us then please reach out to us at info@thefore.org to arrange a time for a chat.

• I have sent in my application by the secure weblink but have not heard back from The Fore.

  Please first check the spam/junk folder of the e-mail address you used to register. If you are still unable to locate an email from us confirming the receipt of your application please contact info@thefore.org.

Applications

• What should I write in my application?

  Please review our guidelines for application, available on the website here.

• Am I required to include a detailed budget in my application?

  No, detailed budgets are not required, please only include a financial table pasted into part of your three submitted pages (see below). If the Strategic Applicant Consultant allocated to your application has any additional questions, they will ask you directly if your organisation is long-listed for an interview.

• Do we need to include a financial table in our application?

  We expect applications to include a simple statement of the organisation’s income and expenditure, for three years of historic and three years of forecast financial years. We provide a model table for you to download in our guidelines for application. Please copy and paste it into your three page application. You should submit your annual accounts alongside this, as a separate document.

• Is the financial table included as part of the three page application?

  Yes, please include the financial table within the three pages. You can either copy and paste the cells from our template, or embed it as an image.

• We don’t have three years of financial results. What should we say in the financial table?

  Please include only as much information as you are able to provide.

• There’s something odd or unusual about our financial history, and we think it may be confusing. What should we say in the financial table?

  We understand that your organisation may recently have undergone significant changes to its operations or experienced COVID-19 related losses. Please include a short explanation under the table, to make sense of the information you have provided. The Strategic Applicant Consultant allocated to your application will ask any additional questions of you directly if your organisation is long-listed for an interview.

• We are a new organisation and don't yet have any accounts.

  Please just include as much of a financial picture as you are able to provide, including some simple forecasts, and attach your management accounts or an internal financial report if you have one.

• How should I calculate our full-time equivalent (FTE) hours?

  When calculating your organisation’s FTE, please:

  • Do use 37.5 hours as the basis for your calculation.
  • Do include part-time staff in your calculations.
  • Do not include freelancers in your calculations.

• I don’t have my audited accounts for the most recent year. Can I still apply?

  Yes. Please attach the most recent audited accounts you have available, and please include your most recent management accounts, even if those are quite basic – we want to understand your organisation as much as we can.

• I made a mistake when uploading my answers to the questions in the webform. What should I do?

  Don’t worry! Please email the correct information to info@thefore.org before the deadline for applications, and we will update your application record. Please use the name of your organisation as you registered it in the subject line followed by Application Amendment and we will update your application record before it is assessed.

  If you have any further queries, please contact us.