The Community Grant Programme remains the main focus of the Foundation, and focuses on social and community welfare and education and training.
We operate a rolling grant programme. This means an organisation can apply to the Foundation at any time. You will receive a decision within 4 months of submitting an application.
The average grant is currently between £3,000 - 4,000.
Applications that are strategic in nature with a Northern Ireland wide benefit will be considered under the Special Initiative section of the Community Grant Programme.
In order for organisations to be eligible to apply, they must have an income of less than £1 million in the previous 12 months. For registered charities with a Headquarters based outside Northern Ireland, the income of their Northern Ireland operation will be the figure used to assess eligibility.
The Trustees have taken this decision as there have been an increasing number of applications to the Foundation which makes the decision process more difficult. Also the Trustees are keen to ensure they stay in line with the overall aim of the Foundation, ‘to support underfunded charities that enable people, especially disadvantaged or people with special needs, to play a fuller role in the community.’ This new eligibility will stay in place for the foreseeable future.