# How to build a trusts and foundations pipeline (with a tracker template)

A trusts pipeline is a dated list of funders at five stages, from identified to decided, sized so that realistic success rates still deliver the income you need. How to build one and the fields to track.

- Author: OpenGrant
- Topic: [Prospect research](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/category/prospect-research)
- Published: 2026-10-26
- Updated: 2026-10-26
- Source sites checked: 2026-10-26
- Canonical URL: https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-build-a-trust-fundraising-pipeline
- Part of: [Trust fundraising prospect research: how to find out who funds charities like yours](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/trust-fundraising-prospect-research)

## Key facts

- Published success rates set the pipeline size: the National Lottery Community Fund funds around one in three Awards for All applications; Esmée Fairbairn reported 5% of expressions of interest in 2025 led to a grant.
- Decision times set the lead time: 16 weeks for Awards for All England, 40 weeks for Reaching Communities England, three to four months at Trust for London, six to eight months in total at Esmée Fairbairn.
- On 26 October 2026 OpenGrant listed 129 schemes closing in November 2026, 78 in December and 58 in January 2027, and 142 rolling schemes among the 407 open to charities and community groups.
- Funders limit reapplication: Trust for London allows one application per organisation a year and asks unsuccessful applicants to wait 12 months.
- A pipeline needs five stages (identified, qualified, approached, submitted, decided), a target month for every prospect including rolling ones, and a value weighted by a realistic probability.

A trusts and foundations pipeline is a dated list of funders at five stages, from identified to decided, sized so that realistic success rates still deliver the income your budget needs. It replaces "who could we apply to?" with "what is due this month, and is the total enough?". This guide gives the stages, fields, arithmetic and calendar.

## Start from the number you need

A pipeline begins with the income target, not the funders. Take the amount your budget needs from trusts and foundations in the next financial year, split it into the projects or cost lines a funder could pay for, and note for each the earliest date the money is needed. A fictional advice charity needing £60,000 might split it into a £25,000 project for twelve months from April, £20,000 of [core funding](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/core-funding) and three smaller sums of £5,000 for equipment and training.

That split determines which funders are prospects. The £25,000 project points at programmes such as Reaching Communities England, which gives £20,001 or more; the £5,000 items point at community foundations and Awards for All England, which gives £300 to £20,000; the core funding points at the smaller group of trusts that fund running costs. [How to find grants for a UK charity](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/charity-grants-uk) describes the five kinds of funder and where each is listed.

## Size the pipeline with real success rates

The pipeline has to be larger than the target, because most applications fail. Use published rates rather than guesses. The [National Lottery Community Fund](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/national-lottery-community-fund) says it usually funds around one in three Awards for All applications. Esmée Fairbairn Foundation reported that 5% of the [expressions of interest](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/expression-of-interest) it received through its website in 2025 went on to a grant. Community foundations commonly report success rates between those two, and small family trusts vary too widely to generalise.

A workable rule: for each pound you need from small and local funders, submit three pounds of applications; for each pound from large national trusts, submit ten. The fictional charity needing £60,000 would plan roughly £40,000 of applications to small funders for its £15,000 of small items and £20,000 project share, and £400,000 of expressions of interest or applications to large trusts for the rest, which in practice means two or three serious large-trust approaches a year and eight to ten smaller applications. The qualified stage should hold two or three times that number, because research removes prospects.

## The five stages

Each prospect sits at one stage, and each move is dated.

1. **Identified.** The funder has appeared in research: a peer's accounts, a GrantNav search, the [peers lookup](https://opengrant.co.uk/peers), a funder directory or a hub page. Record the source and why it came up.
2. **Qualified.** You have confirmed eligibility (legal form, income band, geography, cause), fit against stated priorities and past grants, a realistic amount from its typical award, and the route: open programme, rolling applications, [funding round](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/funding-round) or invitation only. Prospects that fail qualification leave the pipeline with the reason recorded.
3. **Approached.** You have spoken to the funder, as Trust for London asks applicants to do through a call with a grant manager, or submitted a first-stage expression of interest. Record the date and what was said.
4. **Submitted.** The full application is in, with the date, the amount requested, the project and the expected decision date.
5. **Decided.** Awarded, declined or withdrawn, with the amount, feedback, conditions and the earliest reapplication date.

Qualification is where most of the work happens and where the companion guides do their job: [how to use 360Giving data to find funders](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-use-360giving-data-to-find-funders) for the typical award and recipient pattern, [how to read a grant-making trust's accounts](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-read-a-grant-making-trusts-accounts) for trusts with no website, and [which trusts accept unsolicited applications](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/do-uk-trusts-accept-unsolicited-applications) for the route.

## The tracker fields

A spreadsheet is enough. One row per prospect, with these columns: funder name and OpenGrant or register link; programme; stage and date entered; route (rolling, round with closing date, invitation); realistic amount; project or cost line; eligibility notes; typical award and source; contact and last contact date; target submission month; submitted date; expected decision date; outcome, amount awarded, feedback; earliest reapplication date; reporting dates if awarded. [Grant application tracker: what to record and why](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grant-application-tracker-what-to-record) explains each field and the mistakes a missing one causes.

Two columns do most of the work. The target submission month gives every prospect a date, including the rolling programmes that otherwise drift: a [rolling programme](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/rolling-programme) has no deadline, but Garfield Weston's year-round applications still deserve a month. The expected decision date, built from the funder's published timescale, is what tells you whether the money arrives in time.

## Build the calendar backwards from decision dates

Decision times are published and long. Awards for All England decides in 16 weeks and asks you to apply at least 16 weeks before you need the money. Reaching Communities England takes 40 weeks. Trust for London shortlists within two months and takes three to four months to a final decision at the second stage. Esmée Fairbairn replies to an expression of interest within four to six weeks, decides a proposal within three months, and says the whole process usually takes six to eight months. City Bridge Foundation's Economic Justice round closed on 3 November 2026 with stage-two decisions by 11 January 2027 and final decisions by 16 March 2027.

So the calendar runs backwards. Money needed in April 2027 from Awards for All must be applied for by December 2026; from Reaching Communities by July 2026, which has passed, so that project needs a different funder or a later start. OpenGrant's deadline pages list what closes each month: on 26 October 2026, 129 schemes closed in [November 2026](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-11), 78 in [December](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-12) and 58 in [January 2027](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2027-01), and 142 of the 407 schemes open to charities were [rolling](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/rolling). [UK grants closing this month](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grants-closing-this-month-uk) explains how to use those pages, and [alerts](https://opengrant.co.uk/alerts) will tell you when a saved search gains a new scheme.

## Weight the pipeline

Add a probability to each row based on its stage and the funder's rate: perhaps 10% at identified, 20% at qualified, 33% submitted to a small funder, 10% submitted to a large trust, 100% or 0% at decided. Multiply by the realistic amount and total the column. The weighted total is the pipeline's honest forecast; if it falls short of the target, the answer is more qualified prospects or more realistic amounts, not more optimism. Review the weighting monthly and record the actual outcomes, so that next year's probabilities are your own rather than the funders' averages.

## Respect reapplication rules

Funders limit how often you may apply, and a pipeline that ignores this wastes its best prospects. Trust for London allows one application per organisation each year and asks unsuccessful applicants to wait at least 12 months. Many trusts have similar gaps, stated in their FAQs or in the decline letter. Record the earliest reapplication date at the decided stage and let it set the next target month. NCVO's advice on feedback applies here: "Treat it as if it is fair and accurate, even if it feels like it isn't." [What to do after a grant application is rejected](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grant-application-rejected-what-to-do-next) covers the conversation that follows.

## A twelve-month example

The fictional advice charity, in November 2026, has fourteen qualified prospects. It submits an Awards for All England application for £9,000 of training in November (decision March), approaches Garfield Weston for £15,000 of core costs in December, and sends an expression of interest to a national trust for the £25,000 project in January, expecting a decision by summer. Three community foundation applications of £3,000 to £5,000 go in as rounds open between December and March. By April it has two awards, one decline with a 12-month wait recorded, and five decisions pending, and its weighted pipeline for the following year is already half built from the prospects it qualified but did not reach. [How to write a grant application](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-write-a-grant-application) takes over once a prospect reaches the submitted stage.

## Frequently asked questions

### How many trusts should be in a fundraising pipeline?

Enough that realistic success rates deliver your target. If you need £60,000 from trusts, expect to win one application in three at small funders and one in ten or worse at large national ones, and plan for eight to twelve submissions a year spread across both. The qualified stage should hold two to three times the number you intend to submit, because research removes prospects.

### What are the stages of a trust fundraising pipeline?

Five work for most charities: identified, where a funder has come up in research; qualified, where you have confirmed eligibility, fit, amount and route; approached, where you have spoken to the funder or sent an expression of interest; submitted, with the date and amount; and decided, with the outcome, feedback and the earliest date you may reapply. Each move between stages has a date.

### How far ahead should a trusts pipeline look?

Twelve months at least, because decision times run from 16 weeks at Awards for All England to six to eight months at Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and 40 weeks at Reaching Communities England. Money needed next April must be applied for this autumn. Rolling programmes have no deadline but the same waits, so give every rolling prospect a target submission month.

### How do I weight a pipeline by probability?

Multiply each prospect's realistic award by the chance of success at its stage, and add the results. A £10,000 request at the qualified stage might carry 20%, or £2,000; the same request submitted to a funder that funds one in three carries 33%, or £3,300. The weighted total tells you whether the pipeline can deliver the budget; the unweighted total only tells you how hard you are working.

### What should I do with funders that decline?

Record the outcome, the reason if given and the funder's reapplication rule, then decide whether the funder stays in the pipeline for a later date or leaves it. NCVO's advice on feedback is to treat it as if it is fair and accurate even if it feels like it is not. Our guide to what to do after a rejection covers the follow-up.

## Find grants

- [Grants for charities and community groups](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/for/charities) (Markdown: https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/for/charities.md)
- [Grant deadlines in November 2026](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-11) (Markdown: https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-11.md)
- [Grant deadlines in December 2026](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-12) (Markdown: https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-12.md)
- [Grant deadlines in January 2027](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2027-01) (Markdown: https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2027-01.md)
- [Rolling grant programmes](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/rolling) (Markdown: https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/rolling.md)
- [Save grants to track your pipeline](https://opengrant.co.uk/saved)

## Related guides

- [How to write a grant application: a practical UK checklist](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-write-a-grant-application): Plan a grant application around funder fit, community evidence, outcomes, a credible budget and the exact questions asked.
- [Grant application tracker: what to record and why](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grant-application-tracker-what-to-record): A grant application tracker records every funder from first research to final report: stage, route, dates, amounts, outcome, feedback and when you may reapply. The fields that matter and why each earns its column.
- [How to use 360Giving data to find funders](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-use-360giving-data-to-find-funders): 360Giving data records 1.5 million grants UK funders have already made. Four searches on GrantNav and OpenGrant turn it into a shortlist of funders that give to organisations like yours, with typical award sizes.
- [UK grants closing this month: how to find them and apply in time](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grants-closing-this-month-uk): 138 UK grant schemes had October 2026 deadlines and 121 close in November 2026. How to see what closes when, decide which are worth a late application, and avoid the traps.

## Sources and further reading

- [The National Lottery Community Fund: Awards for All England](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/funding-programmes/national-lottery-awards-for-all-england)
- [The National Lottery Community Fund: Reaching Communities England](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/funding-programmes/reaching-communities-england)
- [Esmée Fairbairn Foundation: Applying for funding FAQs](https://esmeefairbairn.org.uk/frequently-asked-questions/3-applying-for-funding/)
- [Trust for London: Apply for funding](https://trustforlondon.org.uk/funding/apply-for-funding)
- [NCVO: After you apply](https://www.ncvo.org.uk/help-and-guidance/funding-income/all-about-grants/after-you-apply/)

All guides: https://opengrant.co.uk/blog.md · Glossary: https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary.md · Agent index: https://opengrant.co.uk/llms-guides.txt