# What is a community foundation? **Community foundation**: A community foundation is a place-based grant-making charity that pools funds from local donors, companies, public bodies and legacies and gives them out as grants, mostly small, to charities and community groups in its area. UK Community Foundations says members gave over £183 million in 2024-25. - Also called: community foundations, UKCF member, local community foundation - Author: OpenGrant - Updated: 2026-10-26 - Canonical URL: https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/community-foundation A community foundation is a place-based grant-making charity. It raises and holds funds from local donors, companies, public bodies and legacies, and gives the money out as grants to charities and community groups in its area. UK Community Foundations, the membership body, said on 26 October 2026 that its members distributed over £183 million through more than 38,000 grants in 2024-25, and that "grants are distributed according to the particular needs of a neighbourhood or region". It does not award grants itself; applicants go to their local foundation. **Why it matters when applying.** For a small or unregistered group, the community foundation is usually the first realistic funder. Grants are small and local: 360Giving data on OpenGrant's funder pages on 26 October 2026 gave a median recent grant of £2,500 at [Forever Manchester](https://opengrant.co.uk/funders/forever-manchester) and [Cheshire Community Foundation](https://opengrant.co.uk/funders/cheshire-community-foundation), and £9,908 at [The London Community Foundation](https://opengrant.co.uk/funders/london-community-foundation). Many funds accept constituted groups without charity registration. The catch is that each foundation runs many separate funds, each with its own criteria, geography and dates, so you apply to a fund rather than to the foundation. [Local community grants in the UK](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/local-community-grants-uk) explains where they fit. **How they differ from a trust.** A [grant-making trust](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/grant-making-trust) usually spends its own endowment on its own priorities. A community foundation mostly spends other people's money to their instructions, which is why its programmes come and go. Forever Manchester's funding page on 26 October 2026 listed fifteen named funds as not open and asked groups to call before applying. **Example.** A fictional parents' group in Warrington wants £3,000 for a holiday club. It checks Cheshire Community Foundation's live funds, finds one open to constituted groups in its area, and applies to that fund by its closing date rather than writing to the foundation in general. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I find my local community foundation? UK Community Foundations lists its members by region and nation and has a postcode search on its site; it does not make grants itself. Most English counties have one, London has The London Community Foundation, Greater Manchester has Forever Manchester, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have a national foundation. OpenGrant's funder pages list each foundation's live funds. ### How much does a community foundation give? Mostly small grants. On 26 October 2026 the median recent published grant was £2,500 at Forever Manchester and Cheshire Community Foundation and £9,908 at The London Community Foundation, according to 360Giving data on their OpenGrant pages. Individual funds set their own limits, often £500 to £10,000, with some larger programmes delivered for public bodies. ### Do community foundations fund unregistered groups? Usually yes. Their funds are designed for small local groups, and many accept constituted groups with a bank account and a governing document. Forever Manchester's 100 most recent published grants went 38% to unregistered groups or other recipients, and Cheshire Community Foundation's 34%. Each fund's criteria page states the rule. ## Read more - [Grants for charities in London: boroughs, City funders and what closes soon](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grants-for-charities-in-london) - [Grants in Greater Manchester and the North West: who funds what and what is open](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grants-in-greater-manchester-and-the-north-west) - [Trust fundraising prospect research: how to find out who funds charities like yours](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/trust-fundraising-prospect-research) - [Grants for charities and community groups](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/for/charities) - [Community development and employment grants](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/theme/community-development) ## Related terms - [Grant-making trust](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/grant-making-trust): A grant-making trust is a charity set up to give money to other organisations or individuals rather than to run services itself. Most are registered with a UK charity regulator, file annual accounts, and record in the register that they make grants to organisations. - [Rolling programme](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/rolling-programme): A rolling programme is a grant scheme that accepts applications at any time, with no closing date. Decisions are made as applications arrive or at regular trustee meetings, on a published timescale. Garfield Weston Foundation, Trust for London and Awards for All England accept applications all year. - [Funding round](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/funding-round): A funding round is a fixed period in which a grant programme accepts applications, with an opening date, a closing date and a decision date, after which the programme closes until the next round. Rounds let funders compare applications; applicants must plan backwards from the closing date. - [National Lottery Community Fund](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/national-lottery-community-fund): The National Lottery Community Fund is the public body that distributes National Lottery money for good causes to community projects across the UK. Its programmes range from Awards for All (£300 to £20,000, decided in 16 weeks in England) to Reaching Communities England (£20,001 or more). ## Sources and further reading - [UK Community Foundations](https://www.ukcommunityfoundations.org/) - [UK Community Foundations: Our network](https://www.ukcommunityfoundations.org/our-network) - [Forever Manchester: Funding](https://forevermanchester.com/funding/) Full glossary: https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary.md