Funding
We support organisations to access funding and become financially sustainable through expert guidance and insights.
There are four pages to choose from to help with your funding. Click on the subject below to explore the different ways you can help fund your NGO.
DFID and institutional funding
| Upcoming funding opportunities
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Diversifying your funding and income
| Training and events for funding
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DFID and institutional grants
Below is a brief guide to funding from some of the largest open grant-funding options for UK-based NGOs including DFID, Comic Relief, the Big Lottery Fund and the major trusts and foundations. For regularly updated forthcoming funding opportunities, please see the funding opportunities section and sign up to Bond's newsletter.
DFID funding
The Department for International Development (DFID) funds civil society organisations through several programmes:
UK Aid Connect
Aid Connect invites proposals from consortia of CSOs together with think tanks and public, private and third sector organisations for funding to help find solutions to complex situations across DFID's priority countries. Applications are made through a one-stage process – the submission of a proposal by the consortium lead.
The Terms of Reference for each of the themes set out the background on UK Aid Connect and the process for submitting the proposal.
Applications for Aid Connect are currently closed.
Small Charities Challenge Fund
The Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF) will support Britain’s small non-for-profit groups, to scale-up and increase the reach and efficiency of their projects. The fund is designed to strengthen grassroots development organisations working with the poor, vulnerable and most marginalised.
Grants of up to £50,000 are available for projects of up to 2 years, and applications for funding can be submitted via on the UK aid direct website
The SCCF is a rolling funding opportunity – applications are reviewed on a 6-monthly basis.
To find out if your organisation is eligible to apply visit the eligiblity section or the how to apply section.
UK Aid Match
The UK Aid Match programme match-funds public donations to charity appeals for projects to reduce poverty in developing countries. The programme proposes to make up to £30 million available to match appeals for programmes.
UK Aid Match has recently announced the opening of a new funding round launching on Tuesday 20 August. To further support potential applicants, Mannion Daniels will be hosting two webinars – one on Wednesday 7 August, to register please visit this link, and another on Tuesday 27 August – before the application deadline on Tuesday 12 November.
UK Aid Direct
The UK Aid Direct programme is the main, central fund for small and medium CSOs. Even the smallest organisations are welcome to apply.
Community Partnership grants are open to applications from small, UK registered, non-government organisations. Grants are available for up to £250,000 for projects of 3 years or less. The grants are designed to support initiatives that focus on delivering results on a small scale, pilot new or innovative approaches, focus on the most marginalised, and work at the community level.
Impact grants are open to applications from medium-sized, non-government organisations registered in the UK, one of the lowest 50 countries in the UN HDI or in a country considered to be of high or moderate fragility. Grants are available from between £250,001 and £4,000,000 for projects of 3 – 5 years. The grants are designed to bring tangible change to the lives of the poorest and most marginalised, on a large scale.
Community partnership grants Impact grant
In-Country funding
DFID has decentralised country offices around the world which also distribute funding, some of which is available for international NGOs. For the contact details for country offices, go to the country profile page. It is generally not possible to find out about funding opportunities from DFID country offices here in the UK, but is possible to see what kind of activities are being funded or planned by searching on AidData.
Further reading
DFID's Funder Finder is a comprehensive searchable website of all their funding opportunities.
DFID country offices have all published a country profile. The profiles set out: why DFID is investing in a country; what UK aid has achieved; what UK aid expects to achieve looking ahead; how DFID is supporting countries to transition from aid; what is being achieved for the UK; who DFID is working with; and their country spending plans over the financial years 2017/18 to 2018/2019. This is helpful as it will outline the priorities and programmes that the country office is going to procure.
The National Lottery Community Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund is a government-appointed body responsible for distributing the National Lottery's profits. Between 2009 and March 2015, the BLF’s International Communities programme was their main source of funding for projects overseas. They have since re-strategised and are now focused on disability and livelihoods with the majority of their portfolio in East Africa through the East Africa Disability Fund. They don’t have any funding open at the moment.
More on National Lottery grants
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is one of the largest UK donors for international development they focus on promoting a just world free from poverty.
Comic Relief focuses their work on four main thematic areas: children survive and thrive, global mental health matters, fighting for gender justice and a safe place to be. They also support social tech investments and sport for change approaches that cut across core issues.
Comic Relief operates in all four nations in the UK and key priority countries around the world which include: Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. They aim to split their funding 50/50 between the UK and rest of the world.
Contracts and tenders
For those interested in contracts from the major aid agencies, the Development Aid website offers a resource that provides a list of current tenders.
