This document provides an overview of grant-making trusts and how to identify and research potential funders. It discusses the different types of trusts based on their spending policies, typical amounts of funding, and what types of projects trusts tend to fund or not fund. The document offers strategies for developing shortlists of funders and researching individual trusts, including questions to ask and online resources. Networking and utilizing support organizations can help organizations make connections to potential funders.

1. A Matter of Trust
Identifying & Researching
Trusts
IOF Conference
10 November 2011

2. Agenda
• About Grant Making Trusts
• What Trusts Fund
• Identify Trusts
• Research Trusts
• Online Resources
• Examples of Trusts

3. Grant-making organisations

4. Trust Income
• Most trusts and foundations derive their income from
an endowment, ie a capital sum given to them by an
individual, family, company or charity.
• Some trusts and foundations receive their income
from other sources: eg gifts from a company's current
profits, or a regular appeal on TV and radio.
• Some trusts act as a broker for donors and collector
of endowment eg CFNI

5. Three different trust types
based on spend policy
• External Income
• Spend Down
• Perpetual

6. Amount of Funding
• The amount each trusts has to give varies.
Common factors on amount of grant giving:
• Size of endowment capital
• Interest generated from endowment capital
• Percentage of company profits
• Spend Policy

7. Why would a trust fund you?
• First of all.. Take a long hard look at yourself
and ask yourself what are you offering?
or

8. What trusts typically want to fund
• New & innovative methods of tackling problems
• Responses to newly identified needs
• A one-off item of equipment or project
• Activities for which other forms of fundraising is
difficult
• Targeting at most disadvantaged
• Short term projects

9. Ronseal Effect

10. What funders typically don’t want to fund
(1/2)
• Core / ongoing running costs
• Current salaries / projects
• Retrospective costs
• Long-term funding

11. What funders typically don’t want to fund
• Non-registered charities
• Work outside the UK
• Large capital projects
• Replacing statutory funding / responsibility

12. The Funders Viewpoint
The Funder doesn’t The Funder wants to
want to fund: fund:

13. Strategy for Identifying Funders
• Developing, maintaining and refining a
shortlist
• Prime targets, usual suspects and wildcards
• Broadband, Buddies and Books
• Look at similar organisations – who funds
them?
• In depth research

14. Identifying funders
Create a long-list then a short-list. You may wish to split
your applications into three general areas…
• Key Targets: A small number of focused applications
which need significant work
• Middle Ground: A larger number of other funders
who do not require as much information but still need
a tailored application
• Long shots: A large number of speculative
applications with almost the same application
(probably a letter).

15. Key Targets
• Lloyds TSB Foundation
• NIE Staff and Pensioners Charity Fund
• Comic Relief
• Children in Need

16. Middle Ground
• Victoria Homes Trust
• Henry Smith Foundation
• Garfield Weston Foundation
• Hilton in the Community
• Santander Foundation

17. Long Shots
• Bombardier Aerospace Foundation
• Rank Foundation
• 29th May 1961 Charity
• Clore Duffield Foundation
• Henry Smith Charity
• Tudor Trust

18. Finding a Link
• What possible links are there between
your cause and charitable trusts?

19. Finding a Link
• Thematic
• Geographical
• Family/Friends
• Historical
• Religious/Ethical
• Corporate

20. Researching Trusts
• What questions would you ask a trust before
applying to them or what information would
you want to find out?

21. Typical Questions to Ask
• Total Grants Budget
• Copy of Annual Report/Accounts
• Application deadlines, meeting dates
• When is the best time to apply
• What do trustees particularly look for
• How are applications assessed
• Who are the trustees

22. Deeper Research
• Speak to the Trust
• Look into past grants, history of the trust
• Speak to organisations who have been
successful
• Speak to funding advisers
• Investigate, speak to Trustees
• Look at accounts/annual report

23. Research Tools
• Grant Tracker
• Directory of Grant-making Trusts
• Major Trusts Guide Vol 1 & 2
• Charity Commission
• Funders own website
• Social Media

24. Online resources
• Funding Websites
• Social Media
• Other sources

33. www.charitycommission.gov.uk

35. Social Media - Facebook
• Must have a presence
• Follow important funders
• Apply via Facebook
• Vote via Facebook

42. Social Media - Twitter
• Follow good contacts
• Follow trusts and foundations
• Be aware of calls for application
• Deadlines published

46. Grant-making Trusts/Foundations
• Around 9,000 Trusts in the UK
• The largest 2,500 give £2.5 billion each year
• 10% of voluntary sector income in Northern
Ireland

47. About Trusts
• UK trusts and foundations give about £2.7
billion in grants each year (2006)

48. NI Charitable Trusts
• Small in comparison to UK.
• At least £50m per annum.
– Ulster Garden Villages – Quality of life
– Enkalon Foundation – Cross community, self help
– Victoria Homes Trust – Homelessness, drugs
– Lloyds TSB Foundation – disadvantaged
communities

49. Henry Smith 2011
• Youth Action NI - £75,000
• Home Start Lisburn/Colin - £17,400
• Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and
Asylum Seekers - £80,000
• Harryville Partnership Initiative - £68,700
• Lisburn Downtown Centre - £7,000
• 2011 Total for NI so far – £248,000

50. Old and New Trusts
• Some are very old: Drapers Charity (1361)
• Some are new: Nominet Trust 2008
• Some get a new lease of life: Turkington Fund
• Some are international: Rockefeller Foundation
• Some are local: Carrickfergus Literary and Scientific
Committee
• Some are both: Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust
• Some are only here for a short-time (Arthur
Guinness)

51. New – Nominet Trust
• The Nominet Trust is a charity created by
Nominet, which maintains the .uk register of domain
names
• Nominet has made an initial donation of £5 million to
the Foundation for the first year of operations in
2009.
• The Nominet Trust consider funding UK-based and
international Internet-related initiatives in the sectors
of education, research and development, safety and
social inclusion.
• These initiatives should meet the needs of our target
groups, who are the young, the elderly, the disabled
and sick, the disadvantaged, and those who are
vulnerable.

52. Trusts/Foundations 2009/10
• Wellcome Trust £800m
• Comic Relief (2009) £80m
• Football Foundation £55m
• Leverhulme Trust £55m
• Gatsby Charitable Foundation £52m
• Sainsbury Family £55m (2005) (18 Trusts)
• Wolfson Foundation £35m
• Garfield Weston Foundation £26m
• Esmee Fairbairn Foundation £25m

53. Recession and other impacts
• Some Trusts income significantly down
• Knock on effect less grants and lower amounts
• Sustainability of some groups called into question
• EU Funding has had a detrimental effect on
applications to trusts
• Not all bad – some trusts have bucked the trend

54. Buddies
“it is not what you know... but who you know”

55. NICVA Fundraising Advice
• By phone, email, by appointment and via
facebook
• Discussing project proposal
• Funding application review
• Identifying funding sources
• GrantTracker access
• Fundraising options

56. Institute of Fundraising
• IOF membership
• IOF lunchtime seminars
• IOF website
• www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk

57. Friends in the right places
• Support agencies eg: NICVA, local
councils, local networks
• The funder themselves – grant/information
officers
• Local Representatives of UK Trusts
• Trustees of grant-making organisations
• Organisations previously funded

58. NICVA News
free to NICVA
members

59. Funding Advice Service
Tel: 028 9087 7777
james.laverty@nicva.org
neil.irwin@nicva.org
www.twitter.com/neilirwin
www.twitter.com/jameslaverty
www.nicva.org
www.grant-tracker.org