COLLABORATE

BECAUSE WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER

The COLLABORATE programme is open to 2 or more charities coming together to tackle a social issue at a local level.

All collaborating charities must have individual income levels of £500,000 or less. 

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.)

COLLABORATE is a rolling programme and will close when the budget is reached. This is a pilot programme with the potential to support approximately 5 – 10 collaborating grants.

Applicants must have a pre-application call with a member of the Grants Team prior to submitting an application. To book a call, please contact grants@halifaxfoundationni.org

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

COLLABORATE - ELIGIBILITY CHECK

All groups involved in the collaboration need to be registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland or other charity regulator within the UK or Ireland. This application must support people residing in Northern Ireland.

We will not ask you to provide your accounts, as we can view then 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.

All collaborating charities must have individual incomes of £500,000 or less as shown on their most recent set of signed and published 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 to cover activities contained in your application.

For guidance published by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, click here

To book the pre-application discussion, please email grants@halifaxfoundationni.org

 

We do not accept applications completed by a professional fundraising consultant. If you need support to complete this application, please discuss this with your Grants Officer at the pre-application call.

WHAT WE DON'T FUND

BEFORE YOU START

You will need an electronic copy of the following documents to attach with your application:

  • The governing documents of the collaborators involved (signed by an office bearer)
  • A recent bank statement (within last 3 months) unredacted
  • We will check the Charity Commission website for accounts of all collaborators, 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 for the collaboration and chairpersons of all charities involved
  • The activities of all charities involved
  • The funding you need, including details of who will benefit
  • The budget
  • Most recent financial information, including income, expenditure and reserves of the lead collaborator

JOURNEY OF AN APPLICATION

Scroll to the right to view the time line.

Pre-application
You must contact us prior to submitting an application to discuss the project. Contact grants@halifaxfoundationni.org to book.
Application phase
Once your application is received, it is checked for completeness and an eligibility check is carried out. Should something be missing, we will email you and give you one week to send the outstanding information to us.
Assessment
A Grants Officer will be assigned to your application and will contact you to discuss your application further. The Grants Officer’s report is presented to the Grants Team. The team will agree a recommendation.
Decision
Your application will be presented to our Grants Committee who meet approximately every 7 weeks. The recommendations are sent to our Board of Trustees for final ratification. We ask that you give us 10 weeks from the submission date to process your application, carry out the assessment and share the decision with you.
Acceptance
A Grant Acceptance email will be sent to you. The chair of the lead collaborator must sign up to the terms & conditions of grant on behalf of the collaborating charities. You must also sign the collaboration agreement prior to payment being released. Once received, your grant payment (in full) will be made to the lead charity bank account.
Monitoring
You are expected to retain all information relating to the grant including financial records. For more information, see our Financial Management Factsheet You may be asked to provide us with progress reports.
Evaluation
When your funding comes to an end, you are required to complete an evaluation form, highlighting the impact of your grant and how you spent the grant. You may receive a visit from a member of the grants team to close off the grant. You may then be eligible to reapply for further support.
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If you are sure the COLLABORATE Programme is suitable for your organisation

If you are sure the COLLABORATE Programme is suitable

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 registered charities with an income of under £500,000, supporting people in greatest need.

Open to infrastructure charities, both regional and sub-regional who provide advice and support to voluntary and community organisations.

Open to registered charities with an income of £250,000 and under, supporting those in greatest need.

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.

If you are sure the COLLABORATE Programme is suitable