Welcome to the Charities Aid Foundation

We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

Personal giving From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions. Corporate giving You have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals. Services for charities Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient. Insights Discover the latest insights for donors and charitable organisations to help create a greater impact About us We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work. Donate  
 
 
 

Personal giving

From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions.

DISCOVER OUR PERSONAL GIVING SOLUTIONS

Corporate giving

You have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals.

DISCOVER OUR CORPORATE GIVING SOLUTIONS

Services for charities

Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient.

DISCOVER HOW WE SUPPORT CHARITIES

Insights

Discover the latest insights for donors and charitable organisations to help create a greater impact

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About us

We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

Find out more about CAF
Services for charities

Prepare a grant application for your charity

Our grant programmes


We run a range of programmes on behalf of our clients, awarding grants of various sizes, across many cause areas within the UK and internationally.  

Key to our mission at CAF is building the resilience of social purpose organisations. A number of our programmes include one-to-one CEO coaching, tailored advisory support, webinars and networking opportunities to provide peer learning and make sure we are funding organisations for success. 

Most of our programmes are by invitation only.  When we have open grant programmes, we will list them here.  

We are not currently seeking applications for our live grant programmes. 


CAF Resilience Fund
Doncaster Housing for Young People's

Find out how Doncaster Housing for Young People’s organisational resilience was strengthened through a grant and support from the CAF Resilience Fund.

Top tips for applying for a grant

 

Make sure your charity is eligible

Grant programmes have a clear criteria – make sure you read these first. And when you answer the eligibility questionnaire, try to be as objective as you can. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and effort if you avoid programmes that aren’t a good fit, and instead focus on those that are. 

 

Read the guidance notes before you complete your application

These include a summary of the information you’ll need to provide and some common questions. All of this is there to help you, so make the best use of it.

 

Upload all the documents asked for

Make a list of what is asked for, and check everything off the list as you go. If you miss out a document, it can slow down your application – or it might even mean you miss out on a grant.

What do funders look for in your grant application?

 

How will you meet the need?

Funders want to know how you’ll meet the needs of the people or causes you support. What’s gone well that you may develop in future?

Have you consulted anyone along the way? Do you have any evidence?

 

What impact you will have?

There’s almost nothing more important: make this clear, and put it at the heart of your application. How will you use the grant? What difference will it make to you and the people and causes you support? And perhaps most importantly, how will you measure your impact? 

 

Your capacity 

Funders look for evidence that you’ve thought about the long-term sustainability of your charity and what needs to change in the future. This will include having the right policies in place to carry out your work, and good financial management.

 

A clear, well-presented budget

Is your budget clear and linked to the activities you’ve planned? Funders want to know you can manage a grant, so they’ll look for evidence. Does your application reflect the impact you want to achieve? Does it give the funder value for money?

Resources to help you apply for grant funding

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Find more grants

For more grant opportunities, please visit dedicated funder portals such as:


Looking to grow your income?

Our dedicated team provide expert advisory services to help build capacity, resilience, and effectiveness. Find out how we could help your organisation.

Explore charity advisory

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