We Fund

Our ambition is to support small and medium-sized charities to recover and renew beyond the immediate crisis. In 2021, we will offer around 190 charities a two-year unrestricted grant of £50,000 which gives charities we partner with greater flexibility over how they use their resources.

Alongside the funding, charities will be supported by a Regional Manager, who will work with them to identify priority development needs and support them to access a wide range of organisation development support to meet those needs.

We recognise that there are many charities out there who would like and would benefit from our support but, like any funder, we have a limit to the money we have available.

In 2021, we will only be able to make around 190 new grants to small charities in England and Wales.
We want to be open and transparent with charities and make the best use of their time spent applying for a grant, by being clear in advance which charities we are more likely to fund at any time.

Our funding process considers local need, the prevalence of eligible small and medium-sized charities in the area, the nature of the region and the balance of our portfolio.

To see if we are currently funding the main issue your charity focuses on and area where you do the majority of your work, please start below by selecting a complex social issue then select your local authority.

In-depth

We fund charities which work with people over a prolonged period (a minimum of 12-weeks). As a result, we do not fund work that is primarily one-off advice or signposting.

Holistic and person-centred

We expect the charity to use a 'person centred approach'. The individual will have been assessed and their needs identified with a plan of support put in place. Where your charity cannot meet all of an individual’s identified needs, you will need to tell us how you are working in partnership with others to address them.

Targeted

We do not support work that is purely reactive, or for the benefit of an entire geographic community. The charity will have identified a specific group of beneficiaries, will understand their needs and pro-actively seek to support them.

Supporting a journey of change

We expect the charity to be able to monitor and measure positive, outcome-based changes. These may not always be ‘hard’ outcomes, but we need to see evidence that the charity is supporting its service users to develop new skills, confidence, independence, security and/or agency.

Core cost funding

We apply few restrictions to the grants we make, instead we trust charities to spend their money how they see fit. Therefore, we do not ask for a budget, or how the money will be spent.

Developmental Support

We are able to offer charities a range of tailored developmental support to help build organisational capacity, improve resilience and sustainability. Whether it’s support to embed a new database, one of our expert consultants to help with your governance or fundraising, or even guidance on a particular finance or HR issue. We know the impact this support can have, so we are particularly keen to work with charities that can demonstrate an understanding of their own organisational development issues, and an appetite to address these. 

Unrestricted funding

This is an unrestricted grant programme which means you can use the grant for any purpose that furthers your charity’s aims. For example, your Board might decide to build reserves or choose to pay for extra capacity to engage with organisational development.  We do not ask for a budget or how the money will be spent.

Jump to a section:

• How much funding do you allocate to charities?
• What are your eligibility criteria?
• Why are you not funding my local authority?
• You say you only fund work of ‘registered charities’ – what does this mean?
• What do you mean by published accounts?
• We are a Community Interest Company (CIC), are we eligible to apply?
• Are there things you don't fund?
• You support charities helping people facing complex social issues. What do you mean by complex social issues?
• We support people living with one or more of your complex social issues. Are we automatically eligible to apply?
• We’re working on a complex social issue not listed on your eligibility criteria. Are we eligible to apply?
• You ask about our free reserves – what are free reserves?
• We are a new charity, and we don’t have one year of published accounts. Are we eligible to apply?
• We are a recently merged charity that does not have one year of published accounts. Are we eligible to apply?
• We don’t have our own charity number. Can we apply using the charity number of an umbrella organisation?
• Our income in our last set of published accounts was less than £25,000 OR more than £1 million. Can we apply?
• Does our charity need to have its own bank account to be eligible to apply?
• Do you fund children's charities?
• We are an advice agency, can we apply?
• We are a counselling service, can we apply?
• Re-Applying for Grants
• Technical Issues

How much funding do you allocate to charities?

We award grants of £50,000 over 2 years.

What are your eligibility criteria?

You can download our full eligibility criteria here or simply use our eligibility checker. If you have read our criteria and are still unsure if you’re eligible, please contact us.

Why are you not funding my local authority?

In 2021, we will be able to award funding to 190 small and medium sized charities in England and Wales. We want to be open and transparent with charities and make the best use of their time by being clear in advance with charities about which areas we are more likely to fund at any time. Therefore we have introduced 'regional priorities' to make sure that our portfolio of grants is equitably distributed across the 11 complex social issues and the regions in England and Wales our work focuses on, and that charities don't spend time in applying to us if they stand little chance of being awarded funding.

Regional Priorities consider local need, the prevalence of eligible small and medium-sized charities, the nature of the region and the level of investment the Foundation has given to each complex social issue in that area, including our portfolio of live grants. Whether your charity can apply to us this year depends on which Local Authority you do the majority of your work in, and the complex social issue you are working to address.

You say you only fund work of ‘registered charities’ – what does this mean?

We only fund Charities or Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) registered with the Charity Commission, and who also have at least one year of published accounts.

What do you mean by published accounts?

By published accounts, we mean the accounts published on your charity’s Charity Commission web page.

We are a Community Interest Company (CIC), are we eligible to apply?

No, we only accept applications from charities or Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO) registered with the Charity Commission.

Are there things you don't fund?

Yes, our grants programmes are designed to support small and local charities helping people aged 17+ overcome complex social issues. You can check which issues we fund below or read our strategy to find out why we’ve chosen these.

You support charities helping people facing complex social issues. What do you mean by complex social issues?

We work with hundreds of small and local charities helping people dealing with complex social issues that don’t have simple solutions. Problems such as poor mental health, homelessness and dependency. We fund charities helping people whose lives are significantly affected by these complex social issues:

• Addiction or dependency on alcohol, drugs, and/or gambling
• Asylum seekers and refugees
• Care leavers
• Domestic and sexual abuse
• Homelessness/vulnerably housed
• Learning disabilities
• Mental health
• Offending, prison or community service
• Sexual exploitation
• Trafficking and modern slavery
• Young parents

We support people living with one or more of your complex social issues. Are we automatically eligible to apply?

Not necessarily. You will still need to meet our eligibility criteria and be able to show that the complex social issues you are working on have a significant impact on the lives of the people you work with. For example, some young parents will be well supported by their family and partner, and are not therefore seen as dealing with a complex social issue. We will also be looking for your work to be in-depth, holistic and targeted, as described above.

We’re working on a complex social issue not listed on your eligibility criteria. Are we eligible to apply?

No, unfortunately, due to limited funds, we only make grants to charities working with people experiencing at least one of our targeted complex social issues.

You ask about our free reserves – what are free reserves?

Free reserves are the amount of unrestricted cash reserves your charity held at year-end. This includes reserves which you have decided to allocate but are free to reallocate as needed and does not include the value of fixed assets such as buildings.

We are a new charity, and we don’t have one year of published accounts. Are we eligible to apply?

No, you will need to wait until your first year of accounts is published on the Charity Commission website. At that point, if you meet our eligibility criteria we’d love to hear from you.

We are a recently merged charity that does not have one year of published accounts. Are we eligible to apply?

As a recently merged charity, you can apply for a grant if you can show:

• Your income in your last set of published accounts was between £25,000 and £1 million. If your newly-registered charity does not have a year of accounts published yet, you can use the most recent accounts of the pre-merger charities. The combined income from both sets of accounts must be less than £1 million.
• You have less than 12 months of free reserves. If your newly registered charity does not have a year of accounts published yet, you can use the most recent accounts of the pre-merger charities. The combined free reserves of both charities must be less than the combined spending of both charities.
• At least one of the merged charities has being delivering face-to-face services for at least a year.

We don’t have our own charity number. Can we apply using the charity number of an umbrella organisation?

No, we can only fund you if your charity is independently registered with the Charity Commission, and your charity has a bank account in its own name.

Our income in our last set of published accounts was less than £25,000 OR more than £1 million. Can we apply?

No, your charity’s income must be between £25,000 and £1 million. These limits still apply even if your income is more than £1 million because of an unusual or one-off payment like a legacy or capital grant.

If you are a recently merged charity and are using the published accounts of the merged charities, the combined income must be less than £1 million.

Does our charity need to have its own bank account to be eligible to apply?

Yes, your charity must have a bank account in its own name. If your application is successful, we will pay your grant into this bank account.

Do you fund children's charities?

Our grants are focused on adults. You need to be working with people aged 17 and over – see guidelines on our Notes for Applicants page for exceptions.

We are an advice agency, can we apply?

We do fund charities whose core work is providing advice but only if they support people experiencing our targeted complex social issues AND additional support is provided – e.g. representation, formal referral process, help with deposits. You will need to be able to report on the longer-term impact of the support you provide.

We do not fund one-off advice or helplines.

We are a counselling service, can we apply?

We do not fund charities if your core work is counselling, unless this is part of the wider support you provide to address our targeted complex social issues.

For example, we would consider funding counselling as part of a programme for people who are recovering from substance abuse.

Re-Applying for Grants

We still have an active grant with you, can we apply for another one?

No. You can only apply to us once your grant has come to an end and you’ve met your reporting obligations. However, holders of a national programme grant (such as our infrastructure, criminal justice or welfare reform programmes) can still apply to us. If you’re not sure whether this applies to your charity, please contact us before starting your application by contacting our team on 0370 411 1223 or email enquiries@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk

When do applications open and close?

This is an open grants programme, therefore there is no closing date. You can submit your application at any time, and we’ll aim to let you have the funding decision within four months. 

We’ve forgotten our password. What should we do?

On the account log in page, click 'Forgot Password?' in the bottom left corner. An email with further instructions will be sent to your email address. Open the email and follow the instructions. If you still have problems accessing your account, please phone our team on 0370 411 1223 or email enquiries@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk

Our charity has had an account on your site in the past, but we no longer have the login details. What should we do?

If you are having trouble logging into your account, or have forgotten your login details, please contact our team on 0370 411 1223 or email enquiries@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk.

We would like to update our online account to have new contact details, how do we do this?

If you have your existing login details, you can update the contact details yourself by logging in and clicking on the person icon on the right-hand side of the screen, choosing settings on the drop-down list and selecting ‘Personal Details’ from the menu on the left. Enter your new details then hit the save button.

If you no longer have access to the email address linked to your account, or want to update your organisation’s contact details, please phone our team on 0370 411 1223 or email enquiries@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk.

To ensure this funding is distributed equitably, at least 25% of the £9.5 million awarded in grants this year will be ringfenced for Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. On April 20, we will also be launching our Racial Equity funding stream for charities that are led by and for members of minoritised communities.

To receive a notification once funding is live, sign up here.

Learn more about the fund, application process and eligibility for our core funding in this webinar with the Grants Team.

Still have questions? Download our eligibility criteria.