Grants Criteria

What we do fund

To further test the eligibility of your project try our eligibility quiz.

Successful applications must fall within our open funding priorities and are likely to include one or more of the following characteristics:

• Applications that get to the root causes of problems in our current economy rather than tackling the symptoms of those problems.
• Applications that seek to remove blocks to change in the economy and financial system.
• Applications that are taking a systemic approach to tackle the impacts of the economic system on marginalised groups.
• Applications that are taking a systemic approach to address the negative impact of our economic system on the health of the planet.

For clarity on what we mean by some of these terms please refer to the ‘Terms we use’ page.

What we don’t fund

• Activities outside of the UK.
• Funding for individuals (including PHDs), general appeals, and employability/training programmes.
• Promotion of religion
• Political activity – for example activity targeted at a specific political party or at changing of influencing voting behaviour.
• Pure research (unless commissioned by us) or the rollout of existing ideas.
• Service delivery, such as new community centers, and activities directly benefiting employers or industry.
• Applications that focus on a singular sector of the economy or a single type of intervention/ economic alternative that on its own isn’t sufficient to bring about change. This means that we are unlikely to support applications focused on areas such as social enterprise, business support or employment.
• Applications that focus on the impacts of our system at the individual level – e.g. financial inclusion, relief of poverty for individuals or single communities (rather than addressing the causes of poverty) employment support or training.

Common Reasons for Rejections

Projects may be theoretically eligible for funding but may be rejected due to quality concerns or other reasons outlined here.