We try to make it easy for you to access the funding that we have available across our various Funds, via one ‘front door’.
If your charity, voluntary or community organisation is based or working in Surrey and needs financial support, we may be able to help.
Please read our FAQ’s below in the first instance. If you have questions about our processes, join one of our Q&A sessions. You can also contact us using grants@cfsurrey.org.uk.
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Am I eligible for a grant?
Please read our eligibility criteria for full details on who is eligible for a grant. However you should have a management committee of at least 3 unrelated people, a constitution (set of rules), a safeguarding policy and procedure, a financial policy and a bank account in the name of the organisation as a minimum to be eligible for funding.
What are the application criteria?
We are able to support a wide range of activities, awarding grants to support project costs, core costs or capital costs (see eligibility criteria). However, all of our Funds have their own criteria. We ask you to tell us about your project using our Expression of Interest Form and we will let you know if we can invite you to make a full application.
When is the application deadline?
We accept Expressions of Interest for our main grants programme at specific times of the year. Please check the list of deadlines for the upcoming year.
The Strategic Programme accepts applications on a rolling basis with no deadline – submit an Expression of Interest to start your application.
Grants to individuals are processed on a rolling basis with no deadline. Please refer to our grants for individuals page for more information on our Funds for individuals, and for links to each Fund and its criteria.
How much can I apply for?
Our average grant size is around £6,000 – £7,000. We are not able to consider applications for less than £1,500 in our rounds, although some Area Funds may be able to consider smaller amounts. We have no official maximum amount; however, if we invite you to apply we will let you know if there is a maximum for the Fund(s) we have in mind for you. We do award grants above £10,000 on occasion.
What supporting documents do I need to send with my application?
We ask for some supporting documents to carry out a series of due diligence checks. We have created a series of videos to help give more information on what we ask for and why. Click on the links to see the video guides.
- Governing document / Constitution
- Financial Policy
- Most recent Report and Accounts (R&A). If available on the Charity Commission website, you do not need to submit them, but please let us know. If your R&A are older than 12 months, we will require an update on your financial position.
- A recent bank statement, no older than three months; transactions should be redacted for privacy.
- Safeguarding Policy and Procedures
- A quote – if applying for larger capital costs.
We do ask that you ensure your up-to-date documents are submitted via email, by the deadline. This helps us complete the required checks and focus on understanding your request for funding. Without the supporting documents, we will not be able to progress the application.
How do you define the boundaries of Surrey?
Our area of interest is Surrey as defined as the 11 Boroughs/Districts under Surrey County Council. The London Boroughs such as Croydon, Sutton, and Kingston, which may have historical references to Surrey, are no longer part of Surrey. If you are unsure, clarity can be found via the Surrey County Council interactive map.
Can I apply for multi-year funding?
Currently grants are typically awarded for up to one year. However, in some cases Fund-holders will consider an application for multiple years and make an in-principal offer for a second year of funding if the project is able to demonstrate success and funding is available.
How soon can I apply again?
We do not have a time limit on when a successful applicant can apply again but if you have received funding in the past we would require your end of grant monitoring to be up to date. If you have received your first grant we would need to see end of grant reporting information on the outcomes of your grant before you could apply again.
What sorts of projects have been funded?
To see a list of all grants awarded, please visit our who we support page. See our case studies section for more details on some of the projects we have supported.
Expression of Interest Form
We recommend you read the guidance on what we do and do not fund before submitting an Expression of Interest.
Please note that we do not award retrospective grants – be sure to allow plenty of time to go through the grants process. For groups applying we would recommend you allow a minimum of 3 months. The process for individuals can be turned around quicker but please do still allow plenty of time, the process can take up to 2 months.