Community Development704+ Funders

Community Development Grants & Funding

There are 704 UK funders offering grants for community development charities, with typical awards from £100 to £4,500,000.

Community development funding supports the organisations and initiatives that strengthen local areas across the UK. This encompasses community centres, neighbourhood projects, civic participation, social cohesion, and place-based regeneration. Many of the UK's largest funders — including the National Lottery Community Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, and local community foundations — prioritise grassroots organisations that are rooted in and responsive to their communities. Funding is available for both capital projects (building renovations, community spaces, equipment) and revenue work (staffing, activities, outreach). Community development grants often favour a participatory approach, where local residents are involved in identifying needs and designing solutions. Rural communities, post-industrial areas, and urban estates with high deprivation frequently receive targeted support. The trend toward devolution and community ownership of assets has also created new funding streams for community land trusts, community energy projects, and social enterprises.

Quick Stats

Total Funders
704
Grant Range
£100 - £4,500,000
Open to Applications
48%

Community Development Funders

45 of 704 match your filters

Checked against verified programme data for 148 of 704 funders. 556 not yet verified are listed below; 103 that don't fit were excluded.

Architectural Heritage Fund

Matching programme: Project Development Grants (PDG) - Wales

The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF), a UK-registered charity founded in 1976, champions the conservation and sustainable reuse of historic buildings...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £100,000

Asda Foundation

Matching programme: Local Community Spaces Fund

The Asda Foundation, an independent charity established in 1988 and funded by Asda Stores, empowers small grassroots community groups across the UK to...

Grant Range
£500 - £25,000

Baywind Energy Community Trust

Matching programme: Main Grant Programme

Baywind Energy Community Trust champions community-owned renewable energy and environmental sustainability, rooted in the pioneering ethos of the UK's...

Grant Range
£100 - £5,000

Benefact Trust Limited

Matching programme: Building Grants

Benefact Trust Limited, formerly Allchurches Trust, is an independent UK-registered charity established in 1972 with roots in 1887, headquartered in G...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £25,000

Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust

Matching programme: Main Grant Programme

The Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust embodies Dame Catherine Cookson's vision to transform lives in North East England communities through enduring ...

Grant Range
£100 - £100,000

Co-Operative Community Investment Foundation

Matching programme: Carbon Innovation Fund

The Co-operative Community Investment Foundation, known as the Co-op Foundation, is the charitable arm of the Co-operative Group, established in 2002 ...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £30,000

Community Foundation for Northern Ireland

Matching programme: RTÉ Toy Show Appeal Community Grants Round

The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, established in 1979 as the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust, is an independent grant-making body with o...

Grant Range
£3,000 - £20,000

Duke of Devonshire's Charitable Trust

Matching programme: Duke of Devonshire's Charitable Trust

The Duke of Devonshire's Charitable Trust is a family-led foundation embodying stewardship, heritage responsibility, and community flourishing through...

Grant Range
£250 - £10,000

Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust

Matching programme: Medium Grant

The Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust (EKCT), established in 1963 by Ernest and Joan Kleinwort, is a family-led grant-making foundation dedicated to m...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £25,000

Football Foundation

Matching programme: Lionesses HERe to Play Fund

The Football Foundation, established in 2000 by the Premier League, The FA, and the UK Government via Sport England, is the UK's largest sports charit...

Grant Range
£300 - £100,000

Geoffrey Watling Charity

Matching programme: General Grant Programme

The Geoffrey Watling Charity embodies entrepreneurial generosity, local pride, and civic friendship, channeling resources to vitalize communities thro...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £30,000

Gwinear-Gwithian Sustainable Community Fund

Matching programme: Gwinear-Gwithian Sustainable Community Fund

Gwinear-Gwithian Sustainable Community Fund is a community-rooted charity dedicated to enhancing sustainability, resilience, and quality of life in ru...

Grant Range
£500 - £10,000

Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland

Matching programme: 40 INVEST

Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland, established over 40 years ago and funded entirely by Lloyds Banking Group profits as one of four autonomous H...

Grant Range
£2,500 - £45,000

Herefordshire Community Foundation

Matching programme: Main Grant Programme

Herefordshire Community Foundation (HCF), established in June 2002, is an independent grant-making charity dedicated to promoting charitable purposes ...

Grant Range
£3,000 - £5,000

Hey Smile Foundation

Matching programme: I AM Fund

HEY Smile Foundation, founded in 2008 by Jim Dick OBE, is a Yorkshire-based infrastructure charity dedicated to strengthening the voluntary sector in ...

Grant Range
£500 - £10,000

HM Treasury

Matching programme: Rapid Response Vehicles Grant Scheme

HM Treasury, the United Kingdom's economic and finance ministry established centuries ago and led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, serves as the gu...

Grant Range
£1,000,000 - £50,000,000

Home Office

Matching programme: Positive Futures

The Home Office, the United Kingdom's interior ministry established in 1782, serves as the lead government department for public safety, national secu...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £10,000

Housing Pathways Trust

Matching programme: Main Grants Programme

Housing Pathways Trust, a historic almshouse charity rooted in seventeenth-century principles, drives community transformation by enabling those in ne...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

Isle of Wight Foundation

Matching programme: Isle of Wight Foundation Grant

The Isle of Wight Foundation, established in 2014 by a consortium of private sector companies including Island Roads, Meridiam, and Vinci Concessions,...

Grant Range
£3,000 - £16,000

Kensington and Chelsea Foundation

Matching programme: Earls Court Community Fund

The Kensington and Chelsea Foundation, established in 2008 as an independent place-based charity, addresses profound hardship, exclusion, and inequali...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £25,000

Lancashire Environmental Fund Limited

Matching programme: Small Grants

Lancashire Environmental Fund Limited is a partnership-driven grantmaker dedicated to offsetting landfill impacts through environmental enhancements t...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £30,000

London Community Foundation

Matching programme: Wimbledon Foundation Community Fund

London Community Foundation champions a fairer London by investing in small, local charities and grassroots groups tackling deep inequalities, wealth ...

Grant Range
£500 - £25,000

Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust

Matching programme: Regional Grants

The Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust is an independent Welsh grant-maker founded to harness the legacy of the Millennium Stadium for enhancing qual...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Mobbs Memorial Trust Limited

Matching programme: General Grant Programme

The Mobbs Memorial Trust Limited, established in 1956 by Sir Noel Mobbs using family endowment funds, is a family-governed grantmaker dedicated to pre...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

Morrisons Foundation

Matching programme: Grant Funding Programme

The Morrisons Foundation, established in 2015 by Wm Morrison Supermarkets Ltd, is a UK grant-maker dedicated to creating lasting positive change in co...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £10,000

National Lottery Heritage Fund

Matching programme: National Lottery Grants for Heritage £10,000–£250,000

The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the UK's largest dedicated heritage funder established in 1994 (with roots in the 1980 National Heritage Memorial ...

Grant Range
£25,000 - £100,000

Northern Powergrid Foundation

Matching programme: Energy Resilience Grants Programme

Northern Powergrid Foundation champions energy resilience and social equity for communities ravaged by extreme weather, with a mission rooted in preve...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £20,000

Nova Wakefield District Limited

Matching programme: Castleford Pride in Place Community Grants Programme

Nova Wakefield District Limited is the local infrastructure charity empowering Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations across ...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

P H Holt Foundation

Matching programme: Main Grant Programme

The P H Holt Foundation is a legacy-driven grantmaker rooted in over a century of philanthropy aimed at improving everyday life for Merseyside residen...

Grant Range
£3,000 - £10,000

People's Health Trust

Matching programme: Advice for Health

People's Health Trust is a national UK charity established in 2011, funded initially by The Health Lottery, dedicated to challenging health inequaliti...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £50,000

Point North Community Foundation

Matching programme: Northern Cancer Alliance Living with and Beyond Cancer Fund

Point North Community Foundation, formerly County Durham Community Foundation and established in 1995 by Sir Paul Nicholson and David Grant, is an acc...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £10,000

Postcode Innovation Trust

Matching programme: Dream Fund

Postcode Innovation Trust, established in 2016, is an independent funder powered by proceeds from its society lottery linked to People’s Postcode Lott...

Grant Range
£100,000 - £1,250,000

Postcode Neighbourhood Trust

Matching programme: Postcode Neighbourhood Trust Community Grants

Postcode Neighbourhood Trust, a Scottish-registered charity and company limited by guarantee funded exclusively by People’s Postcode Lottery proceeds,...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £25,000

Real Farming Trust

Matching programme: LEAP (Loans for Enlightened Agriculture Programme)

The Real Farming Trust, a UK charity established in 2009 by Colin Tudge and Ruth West from the Oxford Real Farming Conference, drives the agroecologic...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £30,000

Salford Community & Voluntary Services

Matching programme: Salford Centenary Fund – Large Grants

Salford Community & Voluntary Services (Salford CVS), established in 1919 as part of post-WWI social service efforts and independent since 1973, serve...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

Sir James Reckitt Charity

Matching programme: Main Grant Programme

The Sir James Reckitt Charity, founded by Quaker industrialist Sir James Reckitt, advances social, material, and moral welfare for Hull and East Yorks...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

South Downs National Park Trust

Matching programme: Pounds for Ponds Fund

The South Downs National Park Trust, established in 2017 as the official independent charity for the South Downs National Park spanning Hampshire, Wes...

Grant Range
£500 - £10,000

Summerfield Charitable Trust

Matching programme: General Grant Programme

Summerfield Charitable Trust advances community resilience, inclusion, creativity, environmental stewardship, and support for disadvantaged population...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £50,000

Sussex Community Foundation

Matching programme: Chagossian Fund

Sussex Community Foundation, established in 2006 by the late 10th Duke of Richmond and Gordon, is an independent UK Community Foundation dedicated to ...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

The Severn Trent Water Charitable Trust Fund

Matching programme: Severn Trent Community Fund (Project Funding)

The Severn Trent Water Charitable Trust Fund, established by Severn Trent Water Limited, champions social responsibility, fairness, and sustainability...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £200,000

Tides Foundation

Matching programme: Frontline Justice Fund

The Tides Foundation, a US-based public charity founded in 1976 in San Francisco by Drummond Pike with vision from Jane Bagley Lehman, challenges trad...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £75,000

Veolia Environmental Trust

Matching programme: Community Grant Scheme

The Veolia Environmental Trust, a UK-registered charity established in 1997 by Veolia as an independent entity, channels funds from the government’s L...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £75,000

Wales Council for Voluntary Action

Matching programme: Volunteering Wales Strategic Grant Round 2 - 2025-28

Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA), established in 1934 as a response to economic hardship, is Wales' national membership body for charities, c...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Walton on Thames Charity

Matching programme: Community Grants – Small Grants (up to £10,000)

Walton on Thames Charity, known as Walton Charity, is an ancient local foundation with over 800 years of history rooted in the parish of Walton-on-Tha...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £25,000

Wixamtree Trust

Matching programme: Main Grant Programme

The Wixamtree Trust, an independent grant-making charity established in 1962 by Sir Humphrey Whitbread, focuses on enhancing the wellbeing and develop...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000
556 funders not yet verified against these filters

We haven't confirmed these funders' programme details yet, so they may or may not fit. Showing the first 10.

Tips for Applying to Community Development Funders

Community development funders want to see that your organisation is genuinely rooted in the area you serve. Demonstrate local knowledge by referencing specific neighbourhood dynamics, community assets, and the relationships you have built over time — not just census data. Describe a participatory needs assessment process: how did residents themselves identify the issues your project addresses, and how will they continue to shape delivery? Partnership working is essential in this space, so detail your collaborations with other local organisations, statutory agencies, and community groups, explaining what each partner brings and how you avoid duplication. Address sustainability explicitly — funders need confidence that your work will continue beyond the grant period through community ownership, income generation, volunteer capacity, or integration into local infrastructure. Include community asset mapping that shows you understand what already exists and how your project builds on strengths rather than starting from scratch. Strong applications demonstrate that the community drives the agenda rather than the organisation imposing solutions. Show how you reach residents who are typically excluded from community engagement processes, and explain your approach to building social capital and civic participation alongside delivering specific project activities.

Frequently Asked Questions about Community Development Grants

What grants are available for community development charities in the UK?

There are 704+ UK funders offering grants for community development charities. These range from small community grants under £5,000 to large multi-year funding programmes exceeding £100,000. Use Fundermatcher to find the best match for your organisation.

How much funding can community development organisations get?

Grant amounts for community development charities vary widely depending on the funder and project. Typical grants range from £1,000 to over £100,000. Many funders offer multi-year funding for established organisations with a strong track record.

How do I apply for community development grants?

Start by identifying funders whose priorities align with your community development work. Fundermatcher matches your charity's profile against 704+ funders to find the best fit. Our AI assistant can then help you draft compelling grant applications.

How to Find the Right Community Development Funders

1

Describe Your Charity

Tell us what your charity does, who you help, and where you work. Takes 30 seconds.

2

Get Matched Instantly

Our AI ranks all 704 community development funders by how well they fit your specific work.

3

Write Winning Applications

Our AI assistant helps you draft and refine grant applications tailored to each funder.

Which of These 704 Funders Are Right for You?

Browsing 704 funders manually takes hours. Describe your charity once and get your top matches ranked by compatibility — in seconds.

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