Introduction to International grants

How to apply

We aim to treat all organisations applying for a grant fairly and efficiently. We try to keep the process of applying for and managing grants as simple as possible, while making sure that the money the public donates to us is well spent. You should go through the following steps before deciding to make an application.

1. Make sure that you are eligible for funding and check that your work fits with one or more of our grant programmes and grant making policies.

2. Look to see whether your approach fits with our grant making principles.

3. Decide whether you are applying for a project grant or you are eligible to apply for a research and development grant.

4. For project grant applications, you will need to fill in a summary application form, giving basic details about your work. For research and development grants there is only one form, but eligibility is limited. Please refer to the guidance notes to see whether your organisation is eligible for this type of grant. You can access the specific application form for each programme after reading the relevant Programme Strategy and clicking the 'Apply Now' button, where you will also find guidance notes for filling in your application.Please do check the application form header to ensure you are using the correct form for your programme. Please complete this form and the budget template. Your application must reach us by midday on the day of the deadline for applications. Please do not send any other information, as we will not consider it at this stage.

5. For project grant applications, we will then assess your application and draw up a shortlist of those we want to invite to send us a full application. If we shortlist your application you will be asked to complete a full application. We will then arrange an assessment visit to discuss it. For research and development grants, we will arrange an assessment visit to discuss your application.

Our international grants advisers and committee will then carefully consider your application. They make recommendations for funding to our trustees, who make the final decision. Competition for grants is very strong, and we will not be able to fund all the applications we would like to support

Who can apply

We make grants to UK-registered charities (including charities registered in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) whose main aim is development and who work closely with local organisations. Applications to our trade programme, and to the Enterprise and Employment programme under the Common Ground Initiative may be made from any UK registered organisation where they can show that all profits generated from the project will be reinvested in the project. In exceptional circumstances we will consider applications from other types of organisations. In these cases, there will need to be a discussion between a member of the grants team and the applicant, resulting in the applicant being invited to apply in writing.

We expect all applicants to share and discuss these guidelines with the local organisations they plan to work with. This will mean the application and budget has been jointly agreed and there is a clearly set out way of working together.

We fund all sizes of UK-registered charities. We also welcome applications that come from groups of UK-registered charities that can show how working together will improve the effectiveness of their work.

What we fund

To be as effective as possible, we have focused our grant making onto six ‘open’ grants programmes and three additional programmes under the Common Ground Initiative. Your application needs to show how your work fits one of the programme strategies and all our grant-making principles.

What we don’t fund

Please refer to our programme strategies and our grant making policies for more details on what we will and won’t fund. You should be aware that we won’t fund general appeals or applications for work that has already been completed.

How long we fund for

Most of our grants are for between three and five years. Small grants for project research and development are usually for between 3 months and a year.

How much we give

You can apply for up to £1 million for project grants and up to £25,000 for research and development grants.

Equal opportunities and diversity

When we make grants, we want to make sure that we consider the needs of people from a range of different backgrounds, especially the needs of people who are often left out. Some of the grants we make will serve everyone in a community, others may be targeted at specific groups who are very disadvantaged or find it particularly hard to get funding. We encourage applications to all our programmes to look at how you involve women, disabled people, people with HIV and AIDS, children and other disadvantaged groups such as older people or minority groups.