Apply for a grant
The Randal Foundation is committed to supporting innovative projects and initiatives that drive positive, life saving and life-transforming change in communities in the UK and around the world. We welcome applications from organisations and individuals who align with our mission and values.
"Supporting and funding the delivery of interventions which save a life that would otherwise be at risk before we step in to help, is our priority. Actions which save life and transform lives are central to our work, but also being a source of hope, that there are those with helping hands in our world - who can, and will reach out to help catch those who find themselves falling, is just as important to us."
Our approach has four stages
This 4-stage approach is transparent and is comprehensively documented within our grant making process.
Within our application form we will ask for your achievements, governance, compliance, safeguarding and financials. It is also required for any successful grant that the Foundation awards, comprehensive monitoring is carried out and reported to us within the agreed timescales.
This process is typical for the majority of grants made by our Foundation, as attribution can be assessed and can be seen to be direct (as a result of our grant making).
Where we take part in policy influencing and thought leadership, we recognise that attribution may be both indirect and long term. In these instances, calculations are required to estimate impact arising from charitable investment made by our Foundation and the approach to estimation draws on expert independent advice, when needed, with a full record kept of assumptions, calculations and the basis of estimates.
We don’t have any current open calls for grants at the moment.
Our next call will likely focus on organisations based in the UK but delivering impact globally (delivering projects with impact beyond the UK).
Please check back regularly as we will advertise here the date when we will be open for enquiries, and the themes for which we will invite expressions of interest.
Please do not make enquiries or submit applications unless there is an open call for enquiries and you are invited to do so – we will not be able to respond to unsolicited requests for support.
Organisations who have previously received funding from our Foundation will only be eligible to re-apply, in respond to an open call, 3 years following completion of their funded project.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have questions? We have the answers!
Below you’ll find responses to some of the most common enquiries about the Randal Foundation, our grant process and how you can get involved. If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, feel free to contact us directly.
What are the Foundations values and mission?
To see the Foundations values and mission click here
Is the Foundation a registered charity and where can I find out more information about this?
Yes, our Foundation is a registered charity and has a dedicated page on the Charity Commission website, which you can view.
The Charity Commission for England and Wales is the non-ministerial government department that regulates registered charities in England and Wales and maintains the Central Register of Charities.
Our UK registered charity number is 1176129.
How do we define directly saving a life or significantly improving a life?
The number of lives directly saved or significantly improved is collated from the careful and detailed monitoring of data and information provided by the individual charities that have received grants. Please see the definitions below for further clarification on how we define directly saving a life and significantly improving a life:
Lives directly saved: An individual whose life is directly saved is a life that was at serious and credible risk of loss before the provision of grant funding and, as a result of expenditure of the grant funding directly or indirectly for the benefit of the individual, has significantly lowered the risk of loss of life.
Lives significantly improved: A significant improvement in the quality of life of an individual is achieved where grant funded expenditure directly enables a long term or permanent betterment of an individual’s life chances, personal circumstances or physical or mental health.
How do I contact the Foundation?
Please visit our Contact Us page to send your message to us.
What are the Foundations themes and pillars of giving?
Please click here to see our pillars of giving and our themes.
Who is eligible for grant funding?
We usually make grants to UK registered charities, organisations and individuals. We will make exceptions to this from time to time, but we will do so by directly approaching organisations with whom we wish to work.
We do not accept unsolicited enquiries from non-UK based organisations for funding.
Can I apply at any time?
Not any longer. In 2023 we stopped accepting general enquiries for grants – which used to be able to be made via our website at any time.
We have moved to a more focussed approach, where we make ‘calls’ for applications, linked to the themes of interest of our Trustees. This is to ensure that we deliver our strategy for saving and significantly improving lives.
We encourage a high standard of applications in response to tailored calls for funding which the Trustees may wish to distribute.
Where can I find out about your grant funding opportunities?
We make grants across a range of values. When we make a call for grant funding we will indicate the range of funding we expect to receive enquiries/applications for. Often, applicant organisations see a maximum available and apply for this! We understand why that may be the case. However, where we make a range available (e.g. £5,000 – £30,000) our Trustees will expect to make charitable investments across this full range. So in practical terms, a lower figure applied for may increase the likelihood of your application being considered and funded. The strategy for your application is of course a matter for your organisation, but we highlight the expectation of our Trustees so that you can consider this when applying.
Applicants should approach funding requests by stating the exact amount that is needed to enable them to deliver their project
What value of grant funding can I apply for?
We make grants across a range of values. When we make a call for grant funding, we will indicate the range of values we will accept enquires for. Applicants should ensure that their enquiry is specific, matches the call for grant funding made, provides an evidence-based proposal for the grant required and shows the cost effectiveness of the cause.
Applicants should approach funding requests by stating the exact amount needed to enable them to deliver their project.
It is important that organisations applying or enquiring are specific about where funding is lacking and how a grant from our Foundation will enable the charity to continue to carry out its operations or project effectively. We will not provide funding to organisations where they are not able to demonstrate a genuine need for our funding.
What types of grants are available?
We typically fund one-off projects or interventions. Funding opportunities will be advertised on our website.
By invitation only, we may invite organisations from time to time to apply for multi-year strategic partnership grants. Our Trustees will approach organisations for these partnerships, we do not accept unsolicited applications for this funding.
Causes should approach funding requests by stating the exact amount needed to enable them to deliver their project.
It is important that organisations are specific about where funding is lacking and how a grant from our Foundation will enable the organisation to continue to carry out its operations or project effectively. We will not provide funding to organisations where they are not able to demonstrate a genuine need for our funding.
How do I make an enquiry for grant funding?
We no longer invite general enquiries for funding.
Funding opportunities will be advertised on our website and our social media channels, or where we collaborate with Community Foundations (or similar) , our funding will be promoted through our selected partners.
An application form will need to be completed at the time of submitting your request for grant funding, and this may be the Community Foundation (or similar) partner application form, or our application form if the grant is being made by our Foundation directly.
What happens after I have made an application?
Our Board of Trustees meets quarterly. Our decision timing will depend on the point in our meeting cycle that you make your enquiry.
Should the Trustees wish to progress to an application, you may be asked to send additional information. If your application is successful, or if we are not able to fund your application, we will contact you by email.
What information is required on the Application Form?
Please see our Applications page, which has full details on all information required by the Trustees.
What projects do you fund and is my application likely to be approved?
Our Foundation supports causes involved in directly saving lives and significantly improving lives. Our work is focused around key themes which are the interest areas of our Founders and Trustees. For more detail about these areas please visit the Our Work section.
To find out more about our organisation, please see the About us section.
You can also find information on all of the grants, which the Foundation has provided so far in the Grant Giving section, and within our archive. We would note that our Trustees are keen to fund a variety of project types so previously funded project types may not always be considered. We have also implemented a new strategy, commencing January 2024 and in doing so, re-focused our themes – so we no longer fund projects in some areas e.g. those generally tackling social disadvantage.
A summary of our 2024 – 2027 strategy , which guides our work in the coming years can also be found here.
What does the Foundation require from all organisations/charities that receive grant funding?
In addition to a range of information on your organisation and your project we ask applicants to provide clear evidence of forecast impact against our targets – saving lives and significantly improving lives.
Following the completion of the grant funding period, we then ask you to update this information and provide firm evidence of your impact including the actual number of lives directly saved and actual number of lives significantly improved by the grantee organisation, through our funded project/intervention. We also ask for a full report on how all funds were used, and a wider range of impacts and outcomes that you achieved.
Who makes decisions on behalf of the Foundation?
Enquiries are reviewed by our executive team and all full applications are considered by our board of Trustees. You can find more information on our Governance page, which also includes Trustee information.
How does the Foundation monitor grants given?
Organisations receiving a grant from our foundation must undertake to provide monitoring information to us, over the life of their project. For larger projects, or those spanning more than one year, we will ask for twice annual monitoring forms to be completed. All charities/organisations who have received grant funding are also required to complete an end-of-project monitoring form.
Once a completed grant monitoring form is received, it is carefully reviewed to ensure the funds are being utilised for the purpose agreed and in a cost effective manner, as per the agreed Terms and Conditions set out at the time of the grant.
Monitoring information is also used to inform Trustee decisions on whether to request further information from grantees, whether to continue funding (in the case of multi-year grants), or inform decisions to cease/withdraw funding.
What information is requested on the monitoring form?
We request that all causes which have received grants, fully complete our monitoring form(s).
The areas we particularly focus on are clear evidence on how the funds were used, if targets were achieved, if there have been any changes to the project/cause and if these have had any impact on the project. We also ask for grantees to outline any challenges they have faced.
We ask whether any safeguarding concerns arose during the funding period and if the timescales outlined within the original application were achieved (e.g. project completion).
Finally, but importantly, we monitor if the number of lives directly saved and lives significantly improved estimated within the original application aligns with actual impact achieved.
We require high quality, accurate information/ evidence from all grant receiving causes, specifically in relation to the figures provided for the number of lives directly saved and lives significantly improved. This data is used within the charts illustrated on our Home page, and contribute towards the achievement of our goal to directly save and significantly improve one million lives in the UK and around the world.
My project is completed. Can I apply again for funding?
We ask that grantees do not re-apply to us for three years, following the end of a grant funded project. Trustees may approach grantees directly during this period, but no applications will be processed if received from grantees who apply, without invitation, during this period.