page 8 of 13charities, all charitable trusts in England andWales must be registered with the CharityCommission and file their annual accountsaccording to the requirements of the Statement ofRecommended Practice (SORP). Over time, thefounder’s influence can diminish as outsidetrustees are appointed, which has happened withthe Joseph Rowntree and Nuffield Foundations.9.3 The trust’s object and policiesThe trust deed, governing or founding document,sets out the objects or purposes of the trust,defining what can and cannot be supported.Objects can be very broad, defined only asgeneral charitable or educational purposes, orquite specific; one of the objects of the ChildwickTrust, <strong>for</strong> example is to support charities <strong>for</strong>people who work or have worked in the miningindustry in South Africa; and the Great BritainSasakawa Foundation exists to support linksbetween Great Britain and Japan.The trustees can also decide on a policy andpriorities <strong>for</strong> their grantmaking (so long as this fallswithin the objects of the trust). So a trust set up <strong>for</strong>the advancement of education might decide togive all its money <strong>for</strong> literacy and numeracy, or asbursaries to young people aged 16 to 18 in orderto encourage them to stay on at school, or toprimary schools to buy computers. You need tocheck to see whether your application falls withinthe trust’s current grant policy and priorities. It isalso worth looking at what grants it has given inthe recent past, since this may help you to identifythe trustee’s preferences – although these canchange from year to year; and just because a trustgave to a particular type of project one year, itmay not intend supporting similar schemes thenext year. It is also possible to misinterpret why aparticular grant was given; funding <strong>for</strong> a churchchoir may have been because the trust supportsmusic, or it may simply support church-relatedactivities, in which case there is little point inapplying <strong>for</strong> money <strong>for</strong> a school music project. Notall areas of charitable work are equally supported;trusts determine their own priorities <strong>for</strong> giving,which may not relate to current needs or issues insociety.9.4 The beneficial areaMany trusts are restricted in where they can givesupport. Some can give throughout the <strong>UK</strong>, oreven throughout the world. Many can only givelocally.9.5 Finding trusts and foundationsThere are numerous sources of in<strong>for</strong>mation withdetails of trusts and foundations. <strong>Local</strong>ly the bestsource of in<strong>for</strong>mation will be your local communityfoundation.9.6 Community foundationsCommunity foundations work in a specificgeographical area to provide grants <strong>for</strong> localcharitable activity. They have been active in the<strong>UK</strong> since the 1980s, although the idea originatedin America in 1914. Community Foundationsoperate in two main ways:By building an endowment of capital given tothem by companies, trusts and individuals intheir area, and from legacies. The incomefrom this is then used to make grants.They work with other donors to help themdistribute their money more effectively.Donors can direct their funds to a favouredcause or within a specified geographical area.Themed funds can address a particular issue,such as crime prevention, and projects can besupported with donations from severalsources.Community foundations are being promoted,supported and trained by the CommunityFoundation Network. This is how they describetheir role:‘Community Foundation Network (CFN) aims topromote the concept of community foundations inthe <strong>UK</strong>, stimulate and support their growth andbest practice, and give support to individualcommunity foundations and their networking withothers.CFN’s objective is to ensure a network of thrivingcommunity foundations throughout the <strong>UK</strong>, eachone able to strengthen their local communitythrough strategic grantmaking and excellentservice provision to donors.Community trusts are growing in importance, andat an impressive rate. In 1999 – 2000 there were29 fully operational community foundations. In2007 CFN claims a membership of approximately60, which <strong>for</strong> the year 2005-06 gave out grantstotalling £70million. They can be key funders oflocal work, and may also give advice on raisingmoney to obtain further funding; a national trust islikely to react more positively to your application ifyou can demonstrate that you have alreadysuccessfully raised money locally.Details of your local community foundation can befound at:
page 9 of 13www.communityfoundations.org.ukDirectory of Social Change books can be found inyour local library and are a great source oflocalised funding.http://www.dsc.org.uk/HomeThey also have a great website, but bewarebe<strong>for</strong>e you start spending money onsubscriptions. Ask yourself ‘Who else has accessto this? Can they run a search <strong>for</strong> me? If youdesperately want to keep control of it yourself askyourself how often you are going to use it. Is itcost effective to spend £250.00 on a subscription<strong>for</strong> a small one off fundraising campaign?The NCVO has recently launched a free accessdatabase site of over 4,000 sources of funding.This is available athttp://www.fundingcentral.org.uk/default.aspxGuidestar:http://www.guidestar.org.uk/ and theCharity Commission:http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/can also be a great source of in<strong>for</strong>mation.Please note: As with all Trusts and Foundationsfundraising remember your major competitorwhen writing and asking <strong>for</strong> support are otherScout Groups/Districts and Counties. Be<strong>for</strong>e youmake any approaches make sure you havefollowed P.O.R. If you have the County shouldhave a database of approaches and outcomeswhich will assist with your targeted applications.Good Luck !!!!!!Websites such as:
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