Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some questions we at Community Foundation for Northern Ireland are frequently asked about grant applications. Please click on the question to get the appropriate answer. If you can’t find the answer you are looking for, please click here to contact us directly.
What is the Community Foundation’s grants’ strategy?
At the heart of the Community Foundation’s work is using funding from a variety of sources to facilitate social change and empower local communities. The Community Foundation employs a range of models for achieving this objective including proactive interventions and approaches such as: collaborating with other funders; community chests and consensual grant-making. However, competitive application for funding is the approach most commonly used by the Community Foundation.
The Community Foundation has from the outset seen itself as ‘more than a grant-maker’ seeking out how best to use its grant-making function to engage and empower those most marginalised, to promote models of best practice and to influence policy.
The Community Foundation seeks to facilitate learning from its grant-making by bringing community and voluntary groups together in seminars, workshops and networking sessions as well as through the use of external evaluation.
I’ve completed the application form. What else do I need to do to apply for a grant?
When you have completed Part A you will be advised to complete and print Part B and send it to us appropriately signed along with the requested documentation: your constitution or memorandum & articles of association, the details of your committee, the latest set of annual accounts, original bank statement and confirmation on your group’s safeguarding / child protection policy if you work with children or vulnerable adults. All of these documents should bear the same name as the group making the application.
We don’t know where to start! Who can help us?
You can get advice on making applications from Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action NICVA website: www.nicva.org and often from the community development officers at your local District / City Council. There may be an umbrella organisation or community network in your district with staff willing to assist. Often neighbouring organisations like your own may be glad to share the most practical and valuable advice of all. Funding for Voluntary Action is a readily available booklet that many people have found helpful and provides sources for funding and advice about applying. We can post you a copy of this.
Does our group need to have been established for a set length of time to be eligible?
No, though some of our funds may require groups to be active for a minimum of a year.
Does the Community Foundation give grants to individuals?
The Thomas Devlin Fund provides specific funding for young individuals. Specific guidelines / timetable apply.
Our different funds can support a wide range of things – project costs, events, materials, equipment, training and sharing the learning – but all proposed activity must show how the community will benefit and evidence the need for the funding requested.
What does the Community Foundation mean by a live grant?
A grant is live from the time a letter of offer is issued until the completed Monitoring Form is returned by the group and the final payment is made by the Community Foundation.
What does the Community Foundation mean by social justice outcomes?
Our funding is intended to make a positive difference in the lives of people in communities who are relatively disadvantaged in some way. Social justice outcomes cover a range of differences that the funded activity can make from enabling people on the margins to take on responsibility for something in their own lives, to having their voice heard by those who make decisions affecting their lives. Social justice outcomes can be about reducing the barriers to people’s inclusion either in their local community or in wider society. Achieving social justice outcomes may involve changes in the way local community organisations work or indeed policy change at statutory level to take on board people’s views where these were previously excluded.
Please apply online through our website on the Grants page. If you are unable to access the online form, you can call the Grants Team on 02890 245927 and they will advise you (application forms in a larger font size can be made available). If you have any questions just call the Grants Administrator.
How do I know what fund to apply for?
Let us have the details of your proposed project and what you require funding for and we will match it against the most appropriate fund. Our staff are familiar with all funding available through the Community Foundation and are well placed to match your application to these funds.
What is responsive grantmaking?
Responsive grantmaking is giving out grants in response to applications / funding requests from community organisations. This is a way of differentiating this approach of putting resources into communities from other initiatives. A different approach is where the Community Foundation decides to fund proactive community development work in a local community or to invest in action on a specific issue.
Social Capital refers to the level of skills and knowledge local communities have to manage self help initiatives. Greater social capital is where local organisations have the confidence and the where-with-all to network effectively with other communities and agencies to address local needs and to enhance community assets for the common good.
Can we apply for funding from a specific fund, for example, The Turkington Fund?
The Turkington Fund is a very important fund within our portfolio of funding. It provides funding for projects that are for older people, for projects that run by and for older people. If you are looking for funding for this type of project you may apply using the standard Application Form (Part A and Part B). However, you do not need to apply to a specific fund as our staff will match applications to the appropriate fund.
When will we hear whether our application has been successful?
All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application within approximately 12 weeks.
We are committed to starting our project in a couple of weeks. What should we do?
Your request for funding must be submitted at least 12 weeks prior to the proposed start date of your project activities.
Our project has already started but we didn’t really have enough money. Can we apply to you?
If you are planning to add a completely new element to an existing, successful project that is so distinct it could qualify as a separate project, then please give the Grants Team a call on 02890245927.
Can I apply for different projects on separate application forms?
No. We ask you to be clear about what precisely you propose to do that will change something in your community and then having read thoroughly the Responsive Grant-making Guidelines and information on our website, that you submit your request on our standard application form (Part A and Part B). We will match your application to the appropriate fund.
Do you part-fund large projects?
No.
Can we email our application to you?
You should apply online using our standard application process which involves completing the online Part A and a second stage Part B which you need to complete with signatures and post in a hard copy to us along with the identified supporting documents.
Do we have to be a registered charity to apply for a grant?
The legal requirements for voluntary organisations may change as the role of the Charities Commission NI develops. As of June 2011 you don’t have to be a registered charity but you do need to be formally constituted, have written accounts and have policies on equal opportunities and safeguarding children and vulnerable adults if appropriate.
What happens after we submit the application form?
Every application is considered on its merits within a competitive process. An acknowledgment will be emailed with a unique Digits reference number. Applications are initially screened for eligibility. If the application is ineligible you will be informed. If an application is deemed eligible then it is assessed and a recommendation made to our Grants Subcommittee. The Grants Subcommittee will consider the recommendation and decide whether to fund or not. We aim to fund projects that will be of greatest benefit in your community. If you are given a grant, we expect you to provide feedback both on what was achieved, how the money was spent and any lessons from your experience.
How long do we have to spend our grant?
Your offer letter will include the date by which all the grant money should be spent and monitoring information returned. The spend period is normally 12 months.
What are the guidelines for promoting our project?
Any press releases, leaflets, news-sheets, marketing materials or publicity you produce should mention the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland and the fund your grant came from (as detailed in your offer letter), preferably with the logo if appropriate. We also ask that the grant is listed in your annual financial reports.
Our Committee has changed - do we need to tell you?
It is very important to let us know of committee changes, especially committee officers, during the life of a grant, otherwise we may not be able to contact you.
If we do not need all the grant money can we spend it on other items?
You must contact the Community Foundation Community Projects Officer and discuss the situation. Normally we will seek to use our discretion where it is a clear case for using the savings to increase the impact of the funding, but we must agree all changes in advance in writing.
Will you come and see our project?
We try to see as many different groups as is feasible. Let us know if you are organizing an event that is important for your community and if possible an officer from the Community Foundation will attend. Formal monitoring visits are conducted on a random basis for quality purposes.
We’ve been given our grant already and now we need to change part of our project. Can we do this?
We understand that in real life situations plans have to be adjusted and we are willing to listen and discuss how any change can better help you achieve the agreed objectives. However, these changes must be agreed in advance by a member of the Grants’ Team and you must tell us by email or in writing and wait for a response in writing from the Community Foundation.
What happens if we don’t return the monitoring information?
Returning monitoring information, including financial records and receipts, is a condition of grant. If you do not complete and return the monitoring form your group will not get a grant in future and we will ask for the grant to be returned.
