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%
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Clear filtersFilters use programme details verified from each funder's own published guidance. Funders we haven't verified yet are listed separately below, never hidden.
Community Development Funders
81 of 704 match your filtersChecked against verified programme data for 158 of 704 funders. 546 not yet verified are listed below; 77 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...
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...
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...
Adnams Community Trust
Matching programme: Adnams Community Trust
The Adnams Community Trust, established in 1990 by Adnams PLC—a historic brewery based in Southwold, Suffolk—channels at least 1% of the company's ann...
Architectural Heritage Fund
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...
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...
Castle Cavendish Foundation
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 ...
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...
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...
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 ...
Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation 2014
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...
Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust
Matching programme: Community Fund
The Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust, an independent grant-making charity founded in 1969 by Sir James Colyer-Fergusson, is dedicated to improving li...
Cornwall Community Development Limited
Matching programme: Digital Together Community Hub and Creative Digital Grants
Cornwall Community Development Limited, operating as Cornwall Rural Community Charity (CRCC), was established in 2001 from the Cornwall Rural Communit...
Croydon Voluntary Action
Matching programme: Croydon Community Grant Fund
Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA) is the leading umbrella organisation for Croydon's voluntary and community sector, established to promote charitable pu...
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,...
Developing Healthy Communities (DHC) Limited
Matching programme: PHA Short Term Funding
Developing Healthy Communities (DHC) Limited is a longstanding Northern Ireland-registered charity with over 30 years of experience transforming lives...
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...
Earley Charity
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
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...
Forever Manchester
Matching programme: Bright Futures Fund
Forever Manchester is an independent charitable foundation dedicated to empowering grassroots community activity and building resilient neighbourhoods...
Fort Augustus & Glenmoriston Community Company
Matching programme: Group Grant (standard)
Fort Augustus & Glenmoriston Community Company, established in 2007 by the local Community Council in the Scottish Highlands, is a community-led organ...
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...
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...
Gatwick Airport Community Trust
Matching programme: Gatwick Airport Community Trust Grant Fund
Gatwick Airport Community Trust is an independent grant-making charity established in 2002 through a legally binding agreement between Gatwick Airport...
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...
Great Dunmow and District Round Table Charitable Trust
Matching programme: Donation Programme
Great Dunmow and District Round Table Charitable Trust strengthens Essex communities through volunteer-led, event-based fundraising that channels reso...
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 ...
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...
Harpenden Trust
Matching programme: Community Fund
The Harpenden Trust is a grassroots charitable organisation rooted in fostering neighbourly compassion and alleviating hardship for local residents th...
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...
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 ...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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 ...
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...
Kensington and Chelsea Social Council
Matching programme: COVID-19 and Vaccine Awareness Grant
Kensington and Chelsea Social Council (KCSC), established in 2001 as the voluntary sector infrastructure organisation for the Royal Borough of Kensing...
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...
Lancashire Environmental Fund Limited
Matching programme: Green Grants
Lancashire Environmental Fund Limited is a partnership-driven grantmaker dedicated to offsetting landfill impacts through environmental enhancements t...
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...
Lionel Abel-Smith Trust
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...
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...
Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust
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...
Movements Trust Limited
Matching programme: Charitable Sponsorship
Movements Trust Limited, a UK-registered charity founded in January 2021, empowers social movements driving systemic change toward a just and sustaina...
National Forest Company
Matching programme: National Forest Arts Grants
The National Forest Company pioneers landscape-scale environmental regeneration through tree planting and sustainable land management in post-industri...
Showing 50 of 81 matching funders
546 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.
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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
Describe Your Charity
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