OUR FUNDING POLICY
The Wharfedale Foundation is a charitable trust that has its roots in the Christian tradition. We recognise a common practical vision of a better world with those of other faith traditions and none. We fund organisations and initiatives in Yorkshire and the Humber that bring communities together, support communities who feel marginalised and forgotten, or build bridges between communities. We fund organisations with an annual income that is at or below £100,000 by giving grants from £500 and usually up to £2,500.
Our new focus for 2022-23
For a limited period, we are focusing on funding organisations that seek to help disadvantaged marginalised groups in their communities. Groups might include refugees and asylum seekers and others affected by poverty and isolation.
For a limited time, you won’t need to have a special project for us to fund. Instead, we might consider funding your day-to-day work or expenses if you are helping these disadvantaged groups and making a real difference.
Our overall funding approach remains:
- bringing communities together
- supporting communities who feel marginalised and forgotten
- building bridges between communities
The essentials you need:
- To be set up as an organisation with a governing document, e.g. a constitution or articles and memorandum and to be not-for-profit. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has advice on writing a governance document here.
- To have a bank account (though in some rare cases we will instead allow you to use a 3rd party to hold your funds instead).
- A set of financial accounts. Or alternatively, bank statements for the previous three months will be acceptable for new organisations without a full year’s accounts yet.
- Names of all your trustees or management committee members or directors.
- If you work with children or vulnerable adults we will need evidence of your safeguarding policies and procedures.
If you need further advice about these basics, contact one of the advisers listed at the bottom of this page or email us at info@wharfedalefoundation.org.uk.
What we won’t normally fund
- capital projects (eg buildings and land)
- salaries where there is no indication of how the post will be sustainable in the future
- general appeals or projects that do not actively seek to address divisions in society
- applications from individuals
- heritage projects
- any application that is not based in Yorkshire or the Humber
- organisations with an annual income above £100,000
HOW TO GET STARTED
Before you start, please make sure your organisation has in place all the essentials listed on the left and that you can answer YES to these three questions:
- Will your project or activity bring marginalised people together?
- Is your annual income below £100,000?
- Are you operating in Yorkshire and/or Humber?
Then, if you can say YES to all the above questions, please fill in the pre-application checker you will find here.
If your application fits our priorities for funding, we will invite you to complete a full application form which will be emailed to you.
Note – we advise sending your enquiry at least two weeks before the dates below to allow time to complete and submit your application form and supporting documents.
Remaining application deadlines 2023:
- 24 October 2023
NB. Please submit your pre-application by 10 October at the latest if you wish to be considered in this round.
The trustees will assess your application at their next meeting. About 70% of applications are successful. It can take as little as 6 weeks from the application deadline to paying your grant.
If your application is successful, we will ask you to write a project report.
Application deadlines 2024/25:
Please note that Wharfedale Foundation will not be accepting any applications after 24 October 2023 while we review our grant-making programme for 2024/25 – please watch out for further details to be announced by the end of the year.
FURTHER ADVICE AND SUPPORT
You may be able to get free advice from one of these funding advisers
