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

85 of 704 match your filters

Checked against verified programme data for 164 of 704 funders. 540 not yet verified are listed below; 79 that don't fit were excluded.

Access - The Foundation for Social Investment

Verified open

Matching programme: Local Access

Access – The Foundation for Social Investment drives systemic transformation in the social investment market, empowering charities and social enterpri...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Architectural Heritage Fund

Verified open

Matching programme: Project Development Grants (PDG) - Scotland

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

Arts Council England

Verified open

Matching programme: National Lottery Project Grants

Arts Council England is the national development agency championing arts, museums, and libraries, rooted in a post-war vision to advance creativity fo...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £30,000

Baywind Energy Community Trust

Verified open

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

Bolton Community and Voluntary Services

Verified open

Matching programme: Bolton Housing Partnership Grants – Organisations

Bolton Community and Voluntary Services (Bolton CVS) is a registered charity and local infrastructure organisation dedicated to strengthening the volu...

Grant Range
£3,000 - £5,000

Castle Cavendish Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: Area-Based Grants

Castle Cavendish Foundation is a Nottingham-based registered charity and social impact company, established over 15 years ago, dedicated to enhancing ...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

City Health Care Partnership Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: Small Grants

City Health Care Partnership Foundation, established in 2013 by City Health Care Partnership CIC, is a grant-making charity dedicated to promoting hea...

Grant Range
£500 - £2,500

Civic Power Fund

Verified open

Matching programme: Alliance for Youth Organising

The Civic Power Fund, launched in 2022 as the UK's first pooled donor fund for grassroots community organising, unites progressive trusts like Unbound...

Grant Range
£2,500 - £20,000

Co-Operative Community Investment Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: Young Gamechangers 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

Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation 2014

Verified open

Matching programme: Recreational Facilities Development

Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation 2014 serves as trustee for CISWO, a national charity dedicated to advancing health, relieving poverty and ha...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: Brighter Futures

The Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust, an independent grant-making charity founded in 1969 by Sir James Colyer-Fergusson, is dedicated to improving li...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £60,000

Community Foundation for Wiltshire & Swindon

Verified open

Matching programme: Community Grants

Wiltshire and Swindon Community Foundation, founded in 1975 as an independent charity (formerly Community Foundation for Wiltshire & Swindon), tackles...

Grant Range
£750 - £5,000

Community Foundation in Wales

Verified open

Matching programme: Fund for Wales

Community Foundation Wales, established in November 1998 as a registered charity and company, drives philanthropy to strengthen Welsh communities by c...

Grant Range
£500 - £2,000

Cruden Foundation Ltd

Verified open

Matching programme: Main Grant Programme

Cruden Foundation Ltd, established in Edinburgh from a building business legacy, embodies a mission of community regeneration and enduring public bene...

Grant Range
£2,500 - £5,000

Cumbria Community Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: Cumbria Community Foundation Grants

Cumbria Community Foundation, established in 1999, is an independent UK community foundation dedicated to tackling poverty, enhancing quality of life,...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

Duke of Devonshire's Charitable Trust

Verified open

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

Earley Charity

Verified open

Matching programme: Grants to Organisations – £3,000 and under

The Earley Charity, evolved from historic poor relief traditions, drives its mission to alleviate poverty, hardship, and disadvantage among vulnerable...

Grant Range
£500 - £5,000

Elmgrant Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: Organisation Grants

The Elmgrant Trust, family-founded in 1936 by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst and Beatrice, carries forward the Dartington Hall ethos of rural regenerati...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Eric Wright Charitable Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: Community Grants

The Eric Wright Charitable Trust embodies a founding vision of responsible business stewardship channeling construction industry profits into perpetua...

Grant Range
£500 - £24,000

Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust

Verified open

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

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: Grants

The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, established in 1961 by Ian Fairbairn in memory of his wife, is one of the UK's largest independent funders, dedicated ...

Grant Range
From £30,000

Essex Community Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: Google Essex Data Centre Community Fund

Essex Community Foundation, established in 1996, is an independent charitable foundation dedicated to enhancing quality of life for Essex residents by...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £7,000

Forever Manchester

Verified open

Matching programme: CDL Fund

Forever Manchester is an independent charitable foundation dedicated to empowering grassroots community activity and building resilient neighbourhoods...

Grant Range
£500 - £1,500

Forever Notts

Verified open

Matching programme: Kynan Eldridge Fund

Forever Notts, formerly Nottinghamshire Community Foundation and established in 1997 as an independent registered charity, serves as a vital broker fo...

Grant Range
£350 - £10,000

Fort Augustus & Glenmoriston Community Company

Verified open

Matching programme: Community Benefit Grant

Fort Augustus & Glenmoriston Community Company, established in 2007 by the local Community Council in the Scottish Highlands, is a community-led organ...

Grant Range
Up to £25,000

Friends Provident Charitable Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: Building Resilient Economies programme

Friends Provident Charitable Foundation, an independent UK grant-making charity established in 2004 with a £33 million endowment from Friends Providen...

Grant Range
£100,000 - £120,000

Gannochy Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: Main Grants

The Gannochy Trust, established in 1937 by Scottish philanthropist A.K. Bell, is a major charitable funder anchored in Perth and Kinross with a missio...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Geoffrey Watling Charity

Verified open

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

Gerald Palmer Eling Trust Company

Verified open

Matching programme: Grant Making

The Gerald Palmer Eling Trust Company, a UK registered charity established in 1984 following the death of founder Gerald Palmer—an author, politician,...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £25,000

Girton Town Charity

Verified open

Matching programme: Grants for Organisations

Girton Town Charity is a historic almshouse provider rooted in medieval philanthropy, dedicated to enabling Girton village residents to lead fulfillin...

Grant Range
£500 - £5,000

Great Dunmow and District Round Table Charitable Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: Donation Programme

Great Dunmow and District Round Table Charitable Trust strengthens Essex communities through volunteer-led, event-based fundraising that channels reso...

Grant Range
£500 - £2,000

Greater Manchester High Sheriff's Police Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: Second Tier

The Greater Manchester High Sheriff's Police Trust is a civic partnership dedicated to enhancing community safety and quality of life by preventing cr...

Grant Range
£500 - £5,000

Greaves & Withey Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: Main Grant Programme

The Greaves & Withey Foundation, formerly the Robin Greaves Foundation, is a family-led independent charity established by the Greaves and Withey fami...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £50,000

Greenham Trust Ltd

Verified open

Matching programme: Community Wellbeing Fund

Greenham Trust Ltd, founded in 1997 as Greenham Common Community Trust following the closure of RAF Greenham Common, reinvests commercial income from ...

Grant Range
£500 - £30,000

Housing Pathways Trust

Verified open

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

Hugh Fraser Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: The Hugh Fraser Foundation

The Hugh Fraser Foundation, established in 1960 by Sir Hugh Fraser, advances health, education, citizenship, community development, poverty relief, an...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £20,000

J G Graves Charitable Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: General Grant Programme

The J G Graves Charitable Trust, founded in 1930 by Sheffield businessman and philanthropist John George Graves, is a legacy-driven funder dedicated t...

Grant Range
£500 - £3,000

Jack Brunton Charitable Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: Jack Brunton Charitable Trust Grant Programme

The Jack Brunton Charitable Trust, established in 1986 by fifth-generation Yorkshire farmer Jack Brunton, is dedicated to sustaining rural life in the...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £3,000

John Moores Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: Grants for Merseyside

The John Moores Foundation, established in Liverpool in 1964 by philanthropist Sir John Moores, is a family-founded independent grant-maker dedicated ...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £10,000

Kelly Family Charitable Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: Main Grant Programme

The Kelly Family Charitable Trust, a UK-based family foundation established in 2004 by the Kelly family, is dedicated to strengthening and preserving ...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

King Henry VIII Endowed Trust, Warwick

Verified open

Matching programme: Town Share Discretionary Grants

The King Henry VIII Endowed Trust, Warwick, established in 1545 through Tudor-era negotiations to safeguard ecclesiastical assets during the Dissoluti...

Grant Range
£500 - £150,000

Lancaster Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: Grant Funding (General Programme)

The Lancaster Foundation, established in 1997 by John and Rosemary Lancaster, is a UK charitable trust driven by Christian values, aiming to express G...

Grant Range
£15,000 - £100,000

Len Pick Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: Grant Over £1,000

The Len Pick Trust is a community-rooted grantmaker inspired by the philanthropic legacy of local farmer and benefactor Len Pick, dedicated to deliver...

Grant Range
£500 - £15,000

Lionel Abel-Smith Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: General Grant Programme

The Lionel Abel-Smith Trust is an endowed grant-making charity founded to perpetuate local heritage and community stewardship, with a mission to enhan...

Grant Range
£500 - £5,000

Millennium Awards Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: Millennium Awards Trust Scaling Up Award

The Millennium Awards Trust, established in 2002 with an endowment from the UK government's Millennium Commission and National Lottery, catalyses posi...

Grant Range
£500 - £18,000

Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust

Verified open

Matching programme: Local 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

Milton Keynes Community Foundation Limited

Verified open

Matching programme: Community Roots Project

Milton Keynes Community Foundation is an independent place-based funder with a mission to strengthen communities and improve quality of life by channe...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £15,000

Moto Foundation

Verified open

Matching programme: Community Grants

Moto Foundation, established in 2005 as Moto in the Community and rebranded in 2022, serves as the charitable arm of Moto Hospitality Limited, the UK'...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £2,500

National Lottery Heritage Fund

Verified open

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

Natural Resources Wales

Verified open

Matching programme: Small Grants Woodland Creation scheme

Natural Resources Wales (NRW), established in 2013 through the merger of Countryside Council for Wales, Environment Agency Wales, and Forestry Commiss...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £250,000

Showing 50 of 85 matching funders

540 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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