This guidance describes what Comic Relief is interested in funding now: any applications submitted outside of these criteria, without prior invitation, will be turned down at the concept note stage.
Charities
Comic Relief predominantly funds registered charities. We will ask for evidence of registration during the application process.
We will always prioritise applications from organisations that are registered in the country where the work will take place. Applicants are welcome to include partners not registered in the country, but must be able to clearly demonstrate the added value of all partners included in the proposal.
We do also fund other types of organisations. In these instances, the governing documents of the organisation must clearly outline the organisation’s social purpose, demonstrate that any profit or assets are used for this social purpose, and show that an asset lock is in place. We will ask for a copy of your governing documents as part of your application.
Private providers
Where proposals include the engagement of private providers (e.g. as service providers or consultants) as part of a project to deliver specific objectives, applicant must demonstrate the use of a private provider is ultimately resulting in public good, rather than solely private profit for those private providers.
Comic Relief does not fund:
Applications are welcome from organisations with a maximum annual income of £10m, and a minimum annual income of £250,000 in the UK or £75,000 in other countries, as shown in the last annual accounts submitted to the relevant authority.
We fund in: Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, all four nations of the United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Please review open funding opportunities to identify which countries are included in each call.
We prioritise funding applications direct from in-country delivery organisations. If you are not a direct delivery partner we expect to see clear evidence of how you are adding value, clear partnership roles and responsibilities, and defined power relationships.
To give as many organisations as fair a chance as possible, organisations can only submit one concept note within any funding opportunity (though they can be named as partners on any number of applications). Please be aware we will never read more than one concept note per organisation.
You can apply to multiple funding opportunities at the same time.
Comic Relief will not typically grant additional funding to organisations which have been in continuous funding for ten years or more.
When making funding decisions we're looking for organisations that are:
We prioritise those who are seeking long term funding to deliver and scale their solutions. We fund small or start up organisations through local partners. We directly fund medium sized organisations (£250,000 - £10m annual turnover in the UK and £75,000 - £10m outside of the UK) for whom we believe our funding can make the biggest difference.