DCMS Place-Based Philanthropy Community of Practice

Eligibility recorded

Applicants Applicants should demonstrate significant experience of working within the place-based philanthropy, charitable giving, philanthropy infrastructure, community development or wider voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors. They should be able to demonstrate the capability to convene diverse stakeholders, deliver learning and capacity-building programmes, administer grants effectively and provide robust governance, monitoring and evaluation arrangements. The successful organisation will be expected to work collaboratively with DCMS throughout the grant period, providing regular performance, financial and evaluation reporting, sharing learning generated through the programme and contributing to the evidence base for future place-based philanthropy policy development. The programme will run until March 2029 and will seek to create a lasting legacy through stronger peer networks, enhanced organisational capability, greater collaboration across the sector and increased readiness amongst PBG initiatives to attract and sustain philanthropic investment for the benefit of communities across England. Eligibility, criteria, due diligence Applicants may apply as a single organisation or as a consortium (with a lead organisation making the application). Where a consortium application is submitted, a lead organisation must be identified. The lead organisation will be accountable to DCMS for all aspects of grant delivery, including financial management, performance monitoring, reporting requirements and any onward grant administration arrangements. Eligibility Pass/Fail The grant funding will be provided under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006 . To be eligible to apply as a grant recipient, the applicant or lead applicant organisation for a consortium must be able to demonstrate eligibility to receive a grant under Section 70, as a charitable, philanthropic or benevolent institution, and be eligible to receive public grant funding. Pass/Fail Financial eligibility - the value of any grant requested in any given year must not represent more than 50% of the applicant or, in the case of a consortium bid, the lead applicant’s, average annual income for the previous 2 financial years. Pass/Fail Only one bid may be submitted by the lead applicant on the application form. The lead bidder may be included as a delivery partner in other applications by a different lead organisation Mandatory documents For single applications, and the lead organisation for consortium applications, applicants must provide: Completed Application Form Evidence or a link to evidence (e.g. terms of reference, articles of association) that shows that your organisation (or the lead organisation in your consortium application) was established for a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purpose, to ensure you are eligible to receive a grant under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006. Copy of annual report and audited or certified accounts, covering the last two financial years, or similar published information about your organisation if available. For consortium applications, both the lead applicant and each participating member must provide this evidence. Please note: in the event your last financial year end was more than 6 months ago, we may request further accounting information at a later date as part of the due diligence process. Declaration of any conflicts of interest that could compromise the conduct of this particular fund by all participating partners (where applicable). For example, if trustees and directors from multiple organisations within a partnership application are related. Where multiple organisations hold the same address, they will be asked to provide an explanation. Project plan, including timeframes and key performance indicators for all outcomes and outputs outlined in the project. Realistic and detailed programme budget. Organogram showing the proposed governance and delivery structure. Expectations Applicants will be required to demonstrate how they meet the eligibility requirements and assessment criteria set out in this guidance and in the application form. Applications that do not meet the eligibility requirements will not proceed to full assessment. We are interested in proposals that maximise the impact of public funding and contribute to the long-term development of place-based giving across England. Applicants are encouraged to identify any: match funding; leveraged philanthropic investment; in-kind contributions; strategic partnerships; additional resources that will enhance programme delivery; Applicants proposing additional contributions may be asked to provide supporting evidence as part of the application process. Due diligence DCMS does not tolerate fraud, bribery or corruption. To be eligible for this fund, shortlisted applications will be checked against various databases to assess the accuracy of the information provided. Any shortlisted applications which do not satisfy due diligence checks will not be assessed. DCMS will monitor the grant throughout its lifetime and may conduct additional assurance exercises to ensure that funding is being spent correctly. We expect applicants to provide further information, if requested, as the result of due diligence and risk assessment checks. DCMS will conduct its due diligence checks through processes including (but not limited to): the government’s online automated due-diligence tool ‘Spotlight’; manual pre- and post-award checks in line with Cabinet Office’s Guidance for General Grants, including reputational checks such as social media. Examples of issues that arise during due diligence checks - and may preclude applicants from being eligible for funding - include (for the lead organisation or any participating consortium member): non-provision of the mandatory documentation; inaccurate or incomplete information on the Charity Commission register / Companies House register; inaccurate or incomplete budget and cash flow documents; inaccurate or incomplete project plan. Funding The maximum total grant funding available to the successful bidder is up to £997,000 revenue funding across the 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29 financial years. Delivery will take place between November 2026 and March 2029. Up to £330,333 in 2026/27 Up to £333,333 in 2027/28 Up to £333,334 in 2028/29 Applicants are responsible for determining the allocation of funding across programme activities, including any onward revenue grants. Proposals should demonstrate how the proposed distribution of funding will contribute to achieving the programme objectives and intended outcomes. Applicants should provide a clear rationale for their approach and explain how it will deliver meaningful support to participating Place-Based Giving Initiatives while supporting wider sector development, learning and collaboration. All annually allocated funds awarded must be spent by 31 March of each financial year, and any unspent funds cannot be carried forward into future years. There is no funding for capital expenditure Funding may be used to support activities including: Establishment and delivery of the national Community of Practice Deliver a programme of capacity building grants, as set out in the programme’s objectives. Learning, networking and sector convening activity Organisational development and capacity-building support Administration and management of capacity-building grants Stakeholder engagement and partnership development Monitoring, evaluation and learning activity Staff costs, where they directly relate to the delivery of the programme’s activity i.e. salaries, employer’s national insurance contributions, and employer’s contributions to any occupational pension scheme or stakeholder pension scheme and travel and subsistence (within parameters agreed in advance with DCMS) Communication and marketing (subject to Cabinet Office controls ) Other delivery costs incurred by the scheme as appropriate to the proposed delivery methodology, such as learning and development activity Administration costs related to delivering the programme. These costs support the overall business operations and include things like rent, utilities, administrative staff, senior oversight, and office supplies etc. This is not an exhaustive list but an indication of eligible spend. We may consider funding other types of activities as long as they are not listed as ineligible below. The funds may not be used for: capital expenditure payment that supports lobbying or activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, Government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action redundancy costs for any staff assigned to the Funded Activities. For these purposes, redundancy costs mean any statutory redundancy pay entitlement (calculated in accordance with Part XI of the Employment Rights Act 1996) and any contractual redundancy pay entitlement to the extent it exceeds the statutory redundancy pay entitlement using grant funding to petition for additional funding input VAT reclaimable by You from HMRC payments for activities of a political or exclusively religious nature goods or services that You have a statutory duty to provide payments reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private sector grants contributions in kind (i.e. a contribution in goods or services, as opposed to money) depreciation, amortisation or impairment of fixed assets owned by You the acquisition or improvement of Fixed Assets (with “Fixed Asset” defined as an asset that would be capitalised under DCMS’s own capitalisation policy, as set out in DCMS’s annual accounts) by You interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases) gifts to individuals other than prize money as set out in the provided budget entertaining (entertaining for this purpose means anything that would be a taxable benefit to the

Recorded geography: United Kingdom

Applicant types