10 funds for faith-based charities
Faith-based organisations play a huge role in our communities.
They step in to provide large and small-scale responses to the needs they see on their doorstep: befriending lonely people, running foodbanks, debt advice services, youth clubs and toddler groups, often serving people of all faiths and none.
Here at Better Story we’ve worked with many small faith-based charities and have always been impressed by the amazing work they do inspired by their faith. But many of them have found it tricky to win grants, as many funders are wary of supporting charities or activities that might involve religion.
If you are a UK faith-based organisation looking for funding, below are some suggestions of where to start your search…
The following funders do not exclude faith-based organisations but they may stipulate that project activities should not include religious teaching or messaging:
Westhill Endowment
A friendly organisation who provide grants for faith-motivated community transformation projects. They welcome applications from all communities and are actively seeking to fund a diverse range of projects, including those promoting multi-faith activity. What we love about Westhill is their application process. Stage 1 is a simple submission of 100 words about your charity. If the trustees are interested in your project you will then be invited to apply.
Laing Family Trusts
This funder supports a range of organisations who make connections between different faith communities, and reduce the divide between the advantaged and the disadvantaged.
> The Laing Family Trusts | Home
Sir Halley Stewart Trust
A trust supporting innovative and pioneering Social, Medical and Religious projects, to enable human flourishing and to prevent suffering. Grants normally range from one to three years in duration and can be up to £60,000 per project. The Trust is underpinned by Christian values, but welcomes applications from other faith and non-faith projects.
> Sir Halley Stewart Trust | Home
Charles Plater Trust
This organisation provides grants to a wide range of religious and non-religious organisations to enable those who are serving the common good to make an even greater difference.
They fund projects that deliver tangible outcomes to tackle poverty, exclusion, economic inequality and environmental concerns for marginalised people and communities.
Your local community foundation
Don’t rule out applying for grants through your local Community Foundation. They manage funds for lots of different donors, some of whom are happy to fund faith based organisations. Bookmark their webpage and putting a note in your diary to check on a regular basis.
> Find your local Community Foundation | UKCF
Garfield Weston Foundation
Supporting a wide range of projects including including welfare, youth, community, environment, education, health, arts, heritage and faith, they have a straightforward application process and good communication with applicants which makes it well worth pitching an application.
> Home - Garfield Weston Foundation
Trusthouse Charitable Foundation
Allocating grants to charities addressing the challenges of local communities in areas of extreme deprivation, they have a focus on front line organisations working directly with people in need.
> Welcome | Trusthouse Charitable Foundation
National Lottery Community Fund Awards for All (now up to £20,000)
Although some faith groups might decide not to accept Lottery funding for religious reasons, for others Lottery money is a good place to start. The current wording for the National Lottery states “we don’t fund “religious activities” but we can fund religious organisations if their project benefits the wider community and does not include religious content”. So if you are a charity with faith inspiration as part of your values and many of your staff are people of faith, this is not a barrier, as long as your front line projects are open and accessible to people of all faiths and none and there is no direct religious teaching involved.
Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)
From time to time open grants are advertised by CAF - for example, they were particularly active during covid-19. It is worth subscribing to their newsletter so that you are the first to hear about new funds.
UK government funding
Look out for occasional UK government funding. For example, in 2015 a Together in Service Fund was launched funding faith groups to celebrate and link up over their faith-based social action. In 2022 the government launched a “New Deal” fund which resulted in 16 faith groups across the country sharing in £1.3 million funding to help support communities. Search for current open grants at:
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We know that searching and applying for grants is tricky and time consuming. Our specialist team has a track record of securing grants for faith-based charities, so if you would like an extra pair of hands on the case, just get in touch.
