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

81 of 704 match your filters

Checked against verified programme data for 169 of 704 funders. 535 not yet verified are listed below; 88 that don't fit were excluded.

Access - The Foundation for Social Investment

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

Action Together CIO

Matching programme: Ashton Parish Church Charity Small Grants Programme

Action Together CIO, established in 2016 through the merger of Voluntary Action Oldham and Community and Voluntary Action Tameside, serves as the infr...

Grant Range
£500 - £25,000

Charles Littlewood Hill Trust

Matching programme: Charles Littlewood Hill Trust Grant Programme

The Charles Littlewood Hill Trust, established in 1978 by Charles Littlewood Hill, pursues a mission of advancing diverse charitable purposes through ...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £10,000

Civic Power Fund

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

Matching programme: Community spaces - interest-free loans (UK wide)

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

Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust

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 in Wales

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

Corra Foundation

Matching programme: Henry Duncan Grants

Corra Foundation, an independent Scottish grant-maker established in 1985 (originally Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland), drives positive change, opp...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Cruden Foundation Ltd

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

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

Delapage Limited

Matching programme: Delapage Grant Programme

Delapage Limited is a UK charity established in 1978 by Jack and Joseph Ackerman to support the Orthodox Jewish community, advancing Orthodox Jewish f...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £150,000

Dorset Community Foundation

Matching programme: BCP Crisis and Resilience Fund

Dorset Community Foundation is an independent grantmaker dedicated to improving lives and fostering thriving, united communities across Dorset by chan...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

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

Edgar E Lawley Foundation

Matching programme: General Grant Programme

The Edgar E Lawley Foundation, established in 1961, drives a philanthropic mission to advance social welfare and alleviate disadvantage through flexib...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £2,000

Enkalon Foundation

Matching programme: General Fund

The Enkalon Foundation embodies a mission rooted in community resilience and social welfare, originating from support for former factory workers facin...

Grant Range
£500 - £6,000

Eric Wright Charitable Trust

Matching programme: Eric Wright Charitable Trust Grants 2025/26

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

Matching programme: Large 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

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

Matching programme: Essex 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

Matching programme: Bright Futures Fund

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

Grant Range
£500 - £1,500

Foundation Scotland

Matching programme: Women's Fund for Scotland

Foundation Scotland, Scotland's sole community foundation, drives a mission to empower communities by bridging innovative ideas with resources, foster...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £35,000

Friends Provident Charitable Foundation

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

Matching programme: Major 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

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

Girton Town Charity

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

Greenham Trust Ltd

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

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

Heathrow Community Trust

Matching programme: Communities Together Small

Heathrow Community Trust (HCT), established in 1996 as an independent grant-making charity, supports and enhances quality of life for communities arou...

Grant Range
£2,500 - £15,000

Herefordshire Community Foundation

Matching programme: Community Chest 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

Holkham Charitable Foundation

Matching programme: The Holkham Charitable Foundation

The Holkham Charitable Foundation embodies a legacy of family-led stewardship and social responsibility, established to champion local philanthropy as...

Grant Range
£500 - £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

J G Graves Charitable Trust

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

John Moores Foundation

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

Joseph Rank Trust

Matching programme: General Fund

The Joseph Rank Trust is an independent Christian grant-maker established in 2002 from charities founded by Joseph Rank (1854–1943) and family between...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £50,000

Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust

Matching programme: Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Grants

The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, founded in 1904 by Quaker philanthropist Joseph Rowntree, advances social justice through bold interventions in demo...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £100,000

Kelly Family Charitable Trust

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

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

Len Pick Trust

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

Locality (UK)

Matching programme: Cost of living grants

Locality is a national network and registered UK charity founded in 1994 through the merger of two leading community support bodies, dedicated to empo...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £75,000

London Community Foundation

Matching programme: Lambeth Wellbeing 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

Milton Keynes Community Foundation Limited

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

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

Nisbet Trust

Matching programme: Nisbet Trust Grants

The Nisbet Trust is an independent grant-making charity established in 2011 by the Nisbet family, with roots in Greater Bristol through Andrew Nisbet'...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £30,000

Norfolk Community Foundation

Matching programme: Handelsbanken Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund

Norfolk Community Foundation is an independent local charity dedicated to strengthening Norfolk communities by investing in small grassroots organizat...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

Oakdale Trust

Matching programme: Grant Applications

The Oakdale Trust is a small, family-run charitable foundation established in 1946 by Brandon Cadbury, rooted in the Cadbury family's philanthropic le...

Grant Range
£250 - £3,000

Oxfordshire Community Foundation

Matching programme: Community Capacity

Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF), established in 1995, is an independent charity dedicated to improving lives and tackling inequality in Oxfords...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

P H Holt Foundation

Matching programme: Action on Abuse Fund

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

Peter Sowerby Foundation

Matching programme: Impact in Healthcare Fund (Strand 1)

The Peter Sowerby Foundation, established in 2011 by Dr Peter Sowerby—a rural North Yorkshire GP and co-founder of EMIS—with a substantial endowment, ...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £25,000

Showing 50 of 81 matching funders

535 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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