CICs184+ Funders

Grants for CICs (Community Interest Companies) in the UK

There are 184 UK funders offering grants for cics, with typical awards from £200 to £5,000,000.

Community Interest Companies (CICs) are a popular legal structure for social enterprises in the UK, offering a balance between charitable purpose and commercial flexibility. However, CICs face a unique funding challenge: many grant-makers restrict their funding to registered charities, excluding CICs from eligibility. The landscape is improving though — an increasing number of funders now explicitly accept applications from CICs, recognising their role in delivering social impact. The National Lottery Community Fund, Power to Change, and several community foundations accept CIC applications. Some funders are even specifically designed for social enterprises, such as UnLtd and Access – The Foundation for Social Investment. CICs can also access blended finance — combining grant funding with social investment, loans, and trading income — in ways that charities typically cannot. The Charity Commission's guidance makes clear that some CICs may qualify as charities if they meet the public benefit test, potentially opening up additional funding streams. For CICs, the key is to clearly demonstrate social impact and community benefit in applications, as funders will assess your eligibility based on the social value you deliver rather than your legal structure alone.

Quick Stats

Total Funders
184
Grant Range
£200 - £5,000,000
Open to Applications
76%

Funders for CICs

184 funders found

Access - The Foundation for Social Investment

Open

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

Open

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

Active Travel England

Open

Active Travel England champions walking, wheeling, and cycling as the preferred everyday travel modes in England, rooted in values of inclusivity, inn...

Grant Range
£15,000 - £100,000

All Ways Network

All Ways Network (AWN) is a UK-registered charity and the UK's only cross-sector membership network dedicated to empowering small not-for-profits serv...

Grant Range
Contact funder

An Ciste Infheistíochta Gaeilge

Open

An Ciste Infheistíochta Gaeilge is an independent capital development fund dedicated to empowering Irish language communities through strategic invest...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £250,000

Aquila Family Charitable Trust

The Aquila Family Charitable Trust is a UK-based grant-making Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) dedicated to advancing a just and transformed...

Grant Range
£20,000 - £100,000

Architectural Heritage Fund

Open

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

Barking and Dagenham Giving

Open

Barking and Dagenham Giving is a place-based funder dedicated to tackling deprivation, inequality, and limited opportunity in one of England's most di...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £10,000

Bates Wells Foundation

Open

The Bates Wells Foundation, established in 2015 as an independent UK-registered charitable incorporated organisation by the law firm Bates Wells, hono...

Grant Range
£25,000 - £25,000

Belfast Charitable Society

Belfast Charitable Society, founded in 1752 by Belfast's leading citizens, established the city's first Poor House and Infirmary, pioneering social we...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £20,000

Big Change Charitable Trust

Open

Big Change Charitable Trust, founded in 2012 by Holly and Sam Branson, Princess Beatrice, and four friends in response to the London riots, drives sys...

Grant Range
£25,000 - £100,000

Big Issue Invest Trust

Open

Big Issue Invest Trust (BIIT), the charitable arm of Big Issue Invest within the Big Issue Group, was established in 1994 (originally as the Local Inv...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £20,000

Birmingham City Council

Open

Birmingham City Council, the local authority for the UK's second-largest city established in the nineteenth century, serves its 1.1 million residents ...

Grant Range
£200 - £75,000

Blagrave Trust

Open

The Blagrave Trust is an independent endowed foundation established in 1978 under the wills of Herbert and Peter Blagrave, restructured as a Charitabl...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £50,000

Bolton Community and Voluntary Services

Open

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

Bridges Impact Foundation

Bridges Impact Foundation, a UK-registered charity established in 2009 by Bridges Fund Management, drives catalytic philanthropic support for innovati...

Grant Range
£25,000 - £250,000

Bristol Charities

Bristol Charities, a historic organisation dating back to at least 1621, is governed by a proactive trustee board and dedicated to enhancing the quali...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Buckinghamshire Community Foundation

Open

Buckinghamshire Community Foundation, operating as Heart of Bucks, serves as a catalyst for social change by connecting philanthropy to local causes, ...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £10,000

Building Communities Trustee Limited

Building Communities Trustee Limited (BCT), established in 2014 as the sole corporate trustee of Invest Local Trust in partnership with the Big Lotter...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Cabinet Office

Open

The Cabinet Office, a central UK government department established in 1916, serves as the corporate headquarters for the UK civil service, supporting ...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £1,700,000

Cambridgeshire Acre

Open

Cambridgeshire ACRE, an independent charity and company founded in 1924, champions and strengthens rural communities across Cambridgeshire and Peterbo...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £10,000

Canary Wharf Contractors Fund

Open

The Canary Wharf Contractors Fund, established by declaration of trust in 2002 and registered as a charity in 2003, supports communities in and around...

Grant Range
£500 - £10,000

Ceniarth Foundation

Ceniarth Foundation, established in 2013 as the philanthropic arm of the Isenberg family by Diane Isenberg, deploys capital from its $749 million asse...

Grant Range
£25,000 - £5,000,000

Chapter (Cardiff) Limited

Chapter (Cardiff) Limited, founded in 1971, is a leading contemporary arts charity based in Canton, Cardiff, operating from a renowned arts centre tha...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £40,000

City Health Care Partnership Foundation

Open

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

Clarion Futures

Open

Clarion Futures is the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group, the UK's largest housing association, established as the successor to William S...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

Clothworkers' Foundation

Open

The Clothworkers' Foundation, established in 1977 by The Clothworkers' Company—one of London’s historic Great Twelve Livery Companies—serves as its pr...

Grant Range
From £500

Coalfields Regeneration Trust

Open

Coalfields Regeneration Trust, established to regenerate former coalfield communities ravaged by mine closures, drives social justice, community wealt...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £25,000

Community Foundation for Northern Ireland

Open

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

Community Foundation for Staffordshire and Shropshire

Open

Community Foundation for Staffordshire and Shropshire is an independent grantmaker dedicated to strengthening local communities through targeted phila...

Grant Range
£500 - £20,000

Community Foundation for Surrey

Open

The Community Foundation for Surrey, established in 2005, is an independent grant-making charity inspired by the global community foundation movement,...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

Community Foundation for Wakefield

Open

The Community Foundation for Wakefield is an independent grant-making charity rooted in inspiring local philanthropy to transform lives by tackling de...

Grant Range
£200 - £3,000

Community Foundation in Wales

Open

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

Community Foundations for Lancashire and Merseyside

Open

Community Foundations for Lancashire and Merseyside (CFLM), established in 1997 as Sefton Community Foundation and evolving into its current form, is ...

Grant Range
£250 - £30,000

Cornwall Community Development Limited

Open

Cornwall Community Development Limited, operating as Cornwall Rural Community Charity (CRCC), was established in 2001 from the Cornwall Rural Communit...

Grant Range
£500 - £10,000

County of Gloucestershire Community Foundation

Open

Gloucestershire Community Foundation is a grant-making charity dedicated to reducing inequalities and enhancing quality of life for disadvantaged Glou...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

Criseren Foundation

The Criseren Foundation, established in 2013 as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and the philanthropic arm of the CriSeren Group with roots in v...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £50,000

Croydon Voluntary Action

Open

Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA) is the leading umbrella organisation for Croydon's voluntary and community sector, established to promote charitable pu...

Grant Range
£500 - £5,000

Dandara Charitable Partnership

The Dandara Charitable Partnership, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation established in 2016 and closely linked to the Isle of Man-based Dandara Gro...

Grant Range
£500 - £10,000

Department for Work and Pensions

Open

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), established in 2001 through a merger of UK government departments handling social security and employment,...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Dorset Community Foundation

Open

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

Duchy Health Charity Limited

Open

Duchy Health Charity Limited, established in 1976 from the proceeds of Cornwall's first private hospital sale, is a Cornwall-based grantmaker dedicate...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £30,000

Earthshot Prize

Open

The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental award founded to inspire a decade of urgent, optimistic action repairing the planet through ambitious, e...

Grant Range
Up to £1,000,000

Ebico Trust for Sustainable Development

Open

The Ebico Trust for Sustainable Development, established in 2008 from funds of Ebico Limited—a not-for-profit energy provider founded in 1998 to comba...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £60,000

Edward Vinson 1957 Charity Settlement

Open

Edward Vinson 1957 Charity Settlement, rooted in Edward Vinson's philanthropic legacy, advances public benefit through targeted support for Faversham'...

Grant Range
£500 - £5,000

Ellis Campbell Foundation

The Ellis Campbell Foundation, a Hampshire-based family foundation established in 1990 by Michael Campbell of the Ellis Campbell Group, drives systemi...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £200,000

Energy Saving Trust Foundation

Open

The Energy Saving Trust Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales (No. 1144106), established to advance public education on conserving, ...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £40,000

Eric Wright Charitable Trust

Open

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

Grant Range
£500 - £24,000

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

Open

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

Feedback Trust

Feedback Trust, publicly known as Feedback, is an environmental organization founded in 2013 by campaigner Tristram Stuart to combat global food waste...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £50,000

Showing 50 of 184 funders for cics

Tips for CICs Applying for Grants

When applying for grants as a CIC, address your legal structure proactively. Explain what a CIC is for funders who may be unfamiliar — highlight the asset lock, community interest statement, and CIC regulator oversight that ensure your company operates for public benefit. Clearly describe your social mission and how your profits are reinvested into community benefit rather than distributed to shareholders (or explain your dividend cap if you are a CIC limited by shares). If the funder's eligibility criteria mention "charities and social enterprises" or "community organisations", make the case that your CIC fits within their scope. Present your social impact evidence prominently — as a CIC, you need to demonstrate public benefit just as clearly as a charity would. Include your CIC annual report to the regulator, which describes the community benefit you deliver. If your CIC generates trading income, explain how this makes you more sustainable and less dependent on grant funding — this is a strength, not a weakness. Address governance by describing your board structure, community interest statement, and how you ensure accountability to the communities you serve. For CICs that could also qualify as charities, consider whether dual registration might open up additional funding opportunities, and mention if you are exploring this.

Frequently Asked Questions about Grants for CICs

Can CICs apply for charity grants?

Some but not all charity funders accept applications from CICs. An increasing number of grant-makers now include CICs in their eligibility criteria, including the National Lottery Community Fund and many community foundations. Use Fundermatcher to filter for funders that accept CIC applications.

What funding options are available for CICs?

CICs can access grants from funders that accept social enterprises, social investment and loans (e.g. from Access Foundation or Big Society Capital), trading income, crowdfunding, and blended finance packages. This flexibility is one of the advantages of the CIC structure.

Are CICs at a disadvantage compared to charities for grant funding?

CICs have a smaller pool of available grant funders than registered charities, but this gap is narrowing. CICs compensate with access to social investment and greater commercial flexibility. Some funders actually prefer CICs for their sustainability through trading income. The key is finding funders that explicitly accept CIC applications.

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