Charitable Trusts
Sources of information and funding
Trustfunding is a web-based version of the directories listed below; annual subscription is £129.25.
The Grant-Making Trusts CD-ROM 2003 published by DSC/CAF, 3rd edition 2003, £135. CD-ROM version of the above.
The Charity Commission has an excellent searchable database of charitable trusts.
FunderFinder produces specialist software (especially GIN "Groups In Need") that you should be able to view at your local Council of Voluntary Service (CVS). You can download free software that helps to create grant applications and budgets.
The Directory of Grant-Making Trusts 2003-2004 - DSC/CAF, 18th edition 2003, £80. 2,500 trusts each giving at least £20,000 a year.
A Guide to the Major Trusts 2003-2004 DSC, 9th edition 2003. Volume 1 gives detail on the 300 largest trusts £20.95. Vol 2 £20.95 and Vo1 3 £17.95 give details of medium-sized national trusts.
Trust Fundraising - edited by Anthony Clay, DSC/CAF/ICFM 1999 £19.95 152- page paperback. Lots of useful articles by experienced charity managers and trustees.
Fundraising from grant-making trusts and foundations by Gilchrist & Horsley, DSC/CAF 2000 £10.95, 90-page "how to" guide.
Avoiding the wastepaper basket by Tim Cook, London Voluntary Services Council £5.95, a short workbook full of practical wisdom.
We are grateful for permission to publish the above list from the leaflet "Applying for grants for your church" by the Chichester Diocese.
The following are brief summaries of generally fairly complex schemes, most of which have their own application guides and forms.
Consult the Architectural Heritage Foundation 020 7925 0199 web site which has up-to-date details of funders from their publication Funds for Historic Buildings: a directory of sources.
English Heritage (0870 333 1181) and the Heritage Lottery Fund operate a joint Repair Grants Scheme with these main criteria:
- church is grade I, II* or II listed
- open for regular public worship, and regularly open to the public at other times
- involves urgent high-Ievel repairs to keep the church structurally stable and weathertight
- a fairly recent professional structural report is available (eg the quinquennial inspection)
- the work needs to be carried out within two years
- there will be a single building contract costing between £10,000 and £200,000
- the PCC's unrestricted reserves are less than 80% of the cost of urgent works.
The scheme provides some initial funding for detailed investigation and planning (eg long-term maintenance, disability access audit, tenders) and then the main repair grant.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (020 7591 6000) has other specialist funds (eg Your Heritage) available for non-structural items of historic interest (eg organs, bells, churchyards, furnishings and monuments).
The Arts Council has some lottery funds it uses to improve cultural facilities (eg concerts, plays) in churches. Applications take 2 or 3 months to process, depending on size (normal maximum £30,000).
Council for the Care of Churches (020 7898 1885) has an excellent website full of detailed advice. It administers funds from other trusts for the conservation of church contents of historic or artistic importance, and for the fabric ofpre-1850 grade I+II* listed buildings. Publishes Fundraising for your church building with CHP £3.50.
Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (0845 601 5945) helps to retrospectively recover some of the VAT on repairs to listed churches. You must send them the original invoices to demonstrate that the full VAT has been paid.
Landfill Tax Credit Scheme Local landfill site operators can pay grants for environmental projects within ten miles of their sites, mainly funded from the Landfill Tax they collect for the government. One object of the scheme is to help restore or repair buildings used for religious worship, including churchyards. Details of the scheme can be found on their website. You need to make contact with your local one(s) to find out if they have any uncommitted funds and would consider your project suitable - each operator has their own particular criteria and priorities.
Garfield Weston Foundation (020 7589 6363) regularly gives four-figure grants to about 300 churches a year mainly for work on buildings.
Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts (020 7410 0330) are centrally administered (only one application is needed) and several support church work including the Headley, Linbury and Monument Trusts. Speculative applications are not encouraged, so phone or write in with details about the proposed work to find out if any of the trusts might be interested in receiving further details.
Historic Churches Preservation Trust (020 7736 3054) makes over 300 grants a year; normal maximum is £6,000. Church must be over 100 years old.
Central Church Fund (020 7898 1563) provides grants for the innovative adaptation of church buildings for wider community use. Typical grant is £5,000.
Church Urban Fund (020 7898 1000) provides funding for churches in deprived urban areas.
Allchurches Trust (01452 528533)is the grant-making arm of EIG. It supports over 500 parish projects a year and about 7% of its grants went to building projects, typically 4-figure sums.
Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust. Nick Cleaver on 01223 232897.
Your Local Authority.
Further books to consult
Maggie Durran, The UK Church Fundraising Handbook. Canterbury Press. 2003.
Jane Grieve. Fundraising for Churches. SPCK.1999
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