Grants overview
As the largest grant-giving organisation in Wiltshire and Swindon, we award around £2 million in grants each year to help local people thrive.
We provide funding to grassroots voluntary, community and social enterprise to tackle pressing local issues and build stronger communities. Additionally, we give individual grants to young people to support their development, education, and future employment.
In partnership with other local capacity-building organisations we arrange events, workshops and advice sessions for the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to build skills and knowledge and help develop networks.
We offer a variety of events, training workshops, and advice sessions for the voluntary and community sector to build skills, knowledge, capacity, and networks.
We run various grants programmes throughout the year. Each programme has its own themes and funding priorities, so please read the full criteria on each programme’s individual webpage and make sure you are eligible before making an application.
We know that applying for funding can be daunting, so we try to make it as straightforward as possible. Please read this page carefully before starting an application. If you have any questions or need support through any part of the application process, please get in touch.
We want to fund groups or individuals regardless of their experience in making grant applications and actively help all applicants. You don’t have to be experienced at writing applications to get a grant from us.
Our friendly team will help you if you need extra support, have any accessibility requirements or if English isn’t your first language. You can also contact us if you have any questions, or can’t use our online forms.
Our end of grant reporting aims to be simple and useful to grantees.
Our processes are informed by the “open and trusting grant-making” approach developed by IVAR in early 2021 which seeks to minimise the information required from applicants before and after a grant and to build strong relationships between funder and funded.
The success rate for applications to Wiltshire and Swindon Community Foundation is between 60-70%. Please note, this is an average across programmes and may vary slightly year to year depending on what funds we have available.
This figure also includes those that were withdrawn before going to panel. Reasons for this include ineligibility for the programme, a change in plans by the applicant, further assessments concluding that there was not a strong enough fit to the programme priorities or concerns regarding governance or sustainability. Applications that are not successful at the panel stage are often due to insufficient funds available and the successful applications having a stronger fit to programme priorities.
Before you start your application, please check whether your group meets with our general eligibility criteria. These can be found here.
There may also be other programme-specific eligibility criteria which will be detailed on the named programme webpage.
For individual applications, please check the criteria for each programme.
If you would like to talk through your eligibility, please contact our grants team on 01380 738985 or at info@wscf.org.uk.
Our Individual and Group grants pages list which programmes are open for applications now and when others will be opening. Each programme has a dedicated page with information including:
- funding priorities
- specific eligibility criteria
- who we do and don't fund
- what we do and don’t fund
- timelines.
Some pages have additional downloadable guidelines or link to our Meet the Funder videos where we talk through the programmes in more detail.
Once you’ve found a programme that you’d like to apply to, you’ll need to complete an online application. This is your chance to tell us more about yourself/your group/or activity and how it is, or you, are a good fit for the programme.
Application forms are specific to each programme. Some of our pages include a copy of the application questions and give you an idea of the kind of detail you need to include. The form itself also provides advice on what to include.
You’ll also need to attach supporting documents to your application depending on the programme and these are detailed on each programme webpage or on the application form.
You do not have to complete the application form in one go. If you wish to leave the form and come back to it at another time, press the ‘save my progress and resume later’ button at the bottom of the form. You will be asked to enter your email and a password so you can login at another time. This will also be emailed to you.
There are no ‘right’ answers or the ‘right’ sort of words. Try to complete the form as fully as possible but do not be overly concerned about ‘getting it right’ as we will arrange a call to talk through your application.
We are also happy to discuss ways we can support your accessibility requirements in making an application. Please contact us by telephone 01380 738985 or email info@wscf.org.uk so we can discuss alternatives.
Each application is initially checked to ensure it has been fully completed and that all necessary information and supporting documents have been submitted. Applicants may be contacted at this point to check any missing information.
A grants assessor will review each application, and most applicants will receive a call to discuss their application in further detail. The purpose of this call is to ensure that the Grants Panel, who will make the decision on the awards, understands the details in your application and need for the grant. It is a further opportunity for you to explain to us why you are applying for a grant from us.
Decision on grant awards are made by an independent grants panel.
Panel members consider the application form and report from the assessor before reaching their decision together.
Membership of the panel varies according to the focus of the programme and usually includes people with relevant expertise and experience of the issues being addressed by the programme.
The panel will usually meet around 8-10 weeks after the programme’s application closing date. For our individual grant programmes, Panels maybe made sooner. Timeframes will be advertised on the programme page.
You will receive an email with the outcome of your application around 10-12 weeks after the programme’s application closing date. For our individual grant programmes, decisions maybe made sooner. Timeframes will be advertised on the programme page.
If your application is successful, we will email you with:
- a link to Terms and Conditions that need to be signed and returned to us
- details of the amount of funding awarded and over how long
- reporting requirements and due date(s) (groups only)
- information on communicating about your grant and branding requirements (groups only)
If your application is unsuccessful, you will receive an email with any feedback that has been provided by the grants panel. We often receive more applications than we can fund, so an unsuccessful application could simply be due to lack of available funding.
If your application is successful, you’ll need to do the following before the grant can be paid:
- Fulfil any conditions that are included in your offer email
- Sign and return the Terms and Conditions form -this is done electronically
- Send a scan or photograph of a recent original bank statement, if you have not already done so.
Successful applicants will receive their funding around a month to six weeks after the return of the signed Terms and Conditions.
At the end of your grant, we’ll ask you to complete a short form to let us know how you’ve used the grant and what difference it’s made to you/your organisation/the people you support. Some programmes also have interim reporting. If you don’t complete these forms, it may affect payment of multi-year or future grants.
As a funder, we are keen to learn about the outcomes and impact that your grant funding has facilitated. Reporting also offers an opportunity for you as an organisation to reflect on the period of the grant and evaluate your successes and learning for the future.