40 INVEST
INVESTING IN YOUR FUTURE
- CLOSED FOR APPLICATIONS
- 2 year Grants
- Up to £40,000
- Capacity building support
To celebrate 40 years of grant-giving in Northern Ireland, 40 INVEST opened for applications in September 2024.
This programme will provide funding to support and strengthen your charity – investing in your future. We welcome applications that directly support people in greatest need while focusing on developing your charity’s work.
40 INVEST is open to registered charities with an income of £250,000 or less, with a least one year of annual returns published on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s website. If your charity is registered with another charity regulator in the UK/Ireland, it must show that you operate in Northern Ireland.
40 INVEST will provide support of up to £40,000 over 2 years (maximum £20,000 per year). We want to help charities grow stronger and more resilient – to thrive beyond the lifetime of this grant. As such, an additional £5,000 will be held for each grantee for organisational development initiatives.
In line with the priorities of The Halifax Foundation, your charity must support people in greatest need. For example, supporting people living in poverty; those who are unemployed; those with disabilities or mental ill health. (This is not an exhaustive list – other areas of need will be considered.)
40 INVEST closed for applications on Monday 30th September 2024. Awards will be made in December, with a start date of January 2025
10 grants will be awarded. We expect there will be high demand for this fund. This will be a competitive process and as such, we expect a high unsuccessful rate due to the small number of grants available.
Grantees of our other programmes may also apply. However, if successful with 40Invest, grantees are not eligible to apply for other grant programmes during the lifetime of their grant.
FLEXIBILITY COMMITTMENT – We recognise that costs you need supported at the time of application may not be what you need throughout the lifetime of your grant. We encourage you to speak to your grants officer should things change and we will endeavour to be as flexible as possible. (Please note – you must receive confirmation of approval before changes are made.
TYPES OF CHARITIES WE FUND
Social and Community Welfare
Community Services: Family centres, youth clubs, older peoples clubs, afterschool clubs, self-help groups, childcare provision, preschools and playgroups.
Advice Services: Homelessness, addictions, bereavement, family guidance, money advice, helplines, suicide awareness.
People with disabilities: Residences, day centres, transport, carers, information, advice and advocacy.
Promotion of health: Information and advice, mental health support, independent living, day care.
Civic Responsibility: Young people at risk, crime prevention, promotion of volunteering, victim support, mediation, rehabilitation of offenders.
Cultural Enrichment: Improving access to the arts and heritage for those in greatest need.
Education and Training
Employment: Employability skills, personal development support, interview and job coaching.
Training and Education: Accredited, vocational, personal development training, life skills.
*We have developed additional guidance for PTAs. Click here for further information.
TYPES OF COSTS CONSIDERED
- Materials & Equipment
- Salary Contributions
- Overheads / Core costs
- Transport costs
- Volunteer expenses
- Training / Tutor costs
- Activity costs
- Research Costs
- Minor refurbishment
40 INVEST - ELIGIBILITY CHECK
Your group needs to be a registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland or other charity regulator within the UK or Ireland. Your application must support people from Northern Ireland.
We will not ask you to provide your accounts, as we can view them on the charity regulator website. Accounts must be uploaded within 10 months of your financial year end, as per charity commission guidelines. If you have not uploaded your accounts within this timeframe, your application cannot be considered.
The total income of your charity needs to be £250,000 or less as shown on your most recent set of annual accounts.
In addition, you must follow the rules around the minimum number of Trustees/Board Members as set out in your governing document.
If you work with children, young people or vulnerable adults, you must have a safeguarding policy in place. For further information published by NSPCC, click here
You will not be able to submit an application if you do not have adequate insurance cover to run your charity and activities contained in your application.
For guidance published by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, click here
We do not accept applications completed by a professional fundraising consultant. If you need support to complete this application, sign up for one of our monthly support sessions at grants@halifaxfoundationni.org
WHAT WE DON'T FUND
- Non registered charities or groups using the charitable status of a parent, umbrella or third-party
- Travel or activities outside of Northern Ireland
- Grant Making charities
- Individuals, including students
- Hospitals or medical centres
- Promotion of religion
- The environment
- Animal welfare
- Fundraising – sponsorship, events or staff
- Lost opportunity costs
- Capital and associated costs (e.g. Architecture fees)
- Bursaries, loans or business finance
- Endowment funds
- Charities in deficit (whether through authorised or unauthorised overdraft)
- Projects that are the responsibility of local government
BEFORE YOU START
You will need an electronic copy of the following documents to attach with your application:
- Your governing document (signed by an office bearer)
- A recent bank statement (within last 3 months) unredacted
- Minutes of your last Board Meeting
- We will check the Charity Commission NI website for your accounts, so make sure they are up to date.
In the application form, we will be asking you questions about:
- Contact details of a main contact and your Chairperson
- The activities of your charity
- The funding you need, including details of your beneficiaries
- The budget
- Most recent financial information, including income, expenditure and reserves
JOURNEY OF AN APPLICATION
Scroll to the right to view the timeline.
The 40 INVEST programme is now closed
40 INVEST is now closed for applications
Other Grant Programmes
Open to groups who are recently set up (within last 2 years). Groups must be registered with Charity Commission NI. It provides funding to support a charity to get started
This programme is open to 2 or more registered charities with an income of under £500,000, who are coming together to tackle a social issue at a local level.
This programme is open to registered charities with an income of under £500,000, supporting people in greatest need.
This programme is open to infrastructure charities, both regional and sub-regional who provide advice and support to voluntary and community organisations.
In addition to our range of funding opportunities, we are proud to offer our grantees a range of additional support programmes in partnership with our funder Lloyds Banking Group.
