Introduction

There are many ways of approaching fundraising for community groups and voluntary organisations.

There are pages here that deal with different ways of raising funds

• Effective fundraising
• DIY Fundraising

There are pages for finding funds for specific purposes:

• Funding for Education
• Support for IT

Funding is often available from the following sources:

• Government
• Statutory
• Trusts
• Europe
• Lottery
• Companies 
• High Street Stores 
• Banks
• Local Business
• Philanthropy

Funding opportunities from these sources are either ongoing in that you can apply for funds at any time or time deadlined where funding is available for a short period.

Newsletters prepared by fit4funding

fit4funding produces a funding newsletter. Click here to fill out form for a trial subscription.

Funding Search

Click here to use the Funding Search facility on this website.

Regional and Local Information

There are sources of regional and especially local funding in the 'In your area' section of 'Help & Advice'.

Other sources of funding information.

There are publications (as books or on CDRom available from Directory of Social Change (DSC), Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) (available from DSC bookshop).

DSC provides searchable databases online. There is a database of Government and other funding which covers most Government departments funding the Voluntary and Community Sector www.governmentfunding.org.uk There is information and a subscription service to a searchable database of ongoing funding from Trusts and Foundations at www.trustfunding.org.uk

FunderFinder sells software including a searchable database of ongoing funding from Trusts and Foundations. Contact them to find out if there is an agency offering public access to this database in your area. They also offer some free downloadable software to help with applications to funders. Look at website www.funderfinder.org.uk for further information.

Funding Central is a service offered by NCVO with help from J4B now offer access to a database of current funding opportunities under a Government contract through Funding Central. Government funding is included within this database. Website: http://www.fundingcentral.org.uk

GRANTfinder provides a comprehensive searchable database to subscribers across the public, private and voluntary sector. It includes over 4,000 different funding programmes, ranging from the EC to national government, local government, charitable trusts and corporate sponsors. Look at website www.grantfinder.co.uk for further information.

GRANTnet is a free-to-use funding search site, developed by GRANTfinder. Its aim is to enable organisations such as community groups, social enterprises and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to run an initial funding search. Once funding has been identified, organisations may choose whether or not to make their search visible to a local Grantnet host (this could be the CVS, a local authority or Business Link), as a way of receiving further support on the grant application process. You may register at www.grantnet.com

J4B provide searchable databases of all funding for Local Authorities and business as well as the voluntary and community sector for subscribers in local areas. These, including many Local Authorities, offer the service free to the public, including 'bfunded4community' for Bradford. J4B also make this database freely available on their website www.j4b.co.uk for those who register.

Grants Online provide subscription services including the latest funding opportunities at website www.grantsonline.org.uk

Profunding offer subscription services of the latest funding information for the Voluntary and Community Sector at www.fundinginformation.org.uk/. This service is comprehensive and particularly useful for professional fundraisers and those giving funding advice. They also provide a low cost basic service for community groups.

Remember to compare services before paying any substantial fee. You should be able to gain a free trial to see what you are getting (as with the fit4funding newsletter above). Phone and ask if they do not offer this on their website.

Note:

Before parting with subscription fees check whether the service you want to access is available at your Local Infrastructure Organisation (LIO) (ie Community Action Voluntary Action, Council for Voluntary Service). To contact your local LIO go to the NAVCA website http://www.navca.org.uk/liodir/