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

56 of 704 match your filters

Checked against verified programme data for 120 of 704 funders. 584 not yet verified are listed below; 64 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

Active Essex Foundation

Matching programme: Sport and Youth Crime Prevention programme (SYCP)

Active Essex Foundation is an independent charity established in 2016 to tackle health and social inequalities in Essex, Southend, and Thurrock throug...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

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

City Health Care Partnership Foundation

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

Matching programme: Community Action Fund

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: 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

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

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

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

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: East of England Co-op Community Cares 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

Forever Notts

Matching programme: J N Derbyshire Trust

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

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

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

Helen Roll Charity

Matching programme: Helen Roll Charity Grant Programme

The Helen Roll Charity, established in 1992 by Jenny Williamson in Ramsden, Oxfordshire, honors her grandmother Lady Helen Roll and draws from family ...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £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

Home Office

Matching programme: Community Engagement Fund 2025/26

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

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

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

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

Lake District Foundation

Matching programme: Real Hedge Fund

The Lake District Foundation, successor to Nurture Lakeland, drives a mission to safeguard the Lake District's natural environment, rich heritage, and...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

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

Marketors Trust

Matching programme: Charity Grants Programme

The Marketors Trust, established in 1976 as the charitable arm of the Worshipful Company of Marketors, inspires excellence in marketing while supporti...

Grant Range
£2,500 - £10,000

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

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

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

Peabody Community Foundation

Matching programme: Kerslake Awards

The Peabody Community Foundation (PCF), established in 2016 as the charitable arm of Peabody Group, builds on George Peabody's legacy to foster health...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £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

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

Quartet Community Foundation

Matching programme: Express Grant Programme

Quartet Community Foundation harnesses local philanthropy to tackle entrenched inequalities, promote inclusion, and build resilient communities throug...

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

Rees Jeffreys Road Fund

Matching programme: Project Grants

The Rees Jeffreys Road Fund, established in 1950 by pioneering transport campaigner William Rees Jeffreys, is a UK charity dedicated to enhancing the ...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £30,000

Rothley Trust

Matching programme: Small Grants

The Rothley Trust is a grant-making charity established in 1959 to deliver small grants advancing charitable work among disadvantaged communities in t...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £3,000

Sackler Trust

Matching programme: The Sackler Trust

The Sackler Trust is a UK-based grant-making foundation established in 2010 with a mission to advance medical science, healthcare innovation, educatio...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Salford Community & Voluntary Services

Matching programme: Health and Wellbeing Fund

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

Shears Foundation

Matching programme: Core Grants Programme

The Shears Foundation, a family-led charitable foundation established in 1994 by Trevor and Lyn Shears from proceeds of the Go-Ahead transport group f...

Grant Range
£3,000 - £6,000

Sheffield Town Trust

Matching programme: One-Off Project Grants

Sheffield Town Trust, founded in 1297 by Thomas de Furnival, is one of the UK's oldest charities and a pioneering civic trust originally created to gr...

Grant Range
£500 - £3,000

Sir James Knott Trust

Matching programme: Rolling Grants Programme

The Sir James Knott Trust, established in 1924 by Tyneside shipowner Sir James Knott following the loss of his sons in World War I, is a cornerstone p...

Grant Range
Up to £20,000

South Yorkshire Community Foundation Limited

Matching programme: South Yorkshire Green Social Prescribing Grants Programme

South Yorkshire Community Foundation Limited (SYCF), established in 1986, is an independent charitable funder and the region's largest grant maker, di...

Grant Range
£500 - £5,000

Steel Charitable Trust

Matching programme: Luton Matters Programme

Steel Charitable Trust advances meaningful change through strategic grantmaking to UK charities, rooted in a dual commitment to place-based regenerati...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £25,000

Showing 50 of 56 matching funders

584 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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