Grants FAQs and key documents

Check our Community Grants web page for the latest information on application rounds and closing dates.

Give yourself plenty of time to complete the application and refer to the guidance documents available.

For your organisation to be eligible to apply, the business and the charitable entity must be separately constituted.

The charitable entity will need its own constitution, memorandum of understanding or guiding principles.

The organisation applying for funding must be entirely not-for-profit.

Social enterprises must include an asset lock in their governing documents to ensure profit cannot be paid to directors or shareholders.

We do encourage organisations and groups to work with each other as much as possible. When you apply, one organisation must be the primary applicant.

They will be the organisation named on the funding agreement and the responsibility for fulfilling the grant requirements will ultimately be with them.

Therefore, you should agree between you which organisation will be the lead applicant.

You can name the other organisation you will be delivering within your answers.

You can apply for a grant if you meet the eligibility criteria, but, if successful, you will need to provide a projected breakdown of the income and expenditure for your organisation covering the duration of the project delivery period.

We do not accept bids for capital-only projects.

Capital costs can only be applied for if it directly relates to the project, and only then if it is a small part of the total costs.

No, our grants are designed to fund project delivery which meets the objectives stated in the guidance notes.

We consider a small amount of contingency funding for organisations who are applying for a grant that is longer than 12 months in length.

Contingency funding is placing funding aside in case unforeseen circumstances arise. For example, sudden increased costs.

Contact us if you are unsure if any of your budget items are eligible.

You are eligible to apply as long as the project meets one or both of our grants programme priorities, meets our eligibility criteria and at least 80% of your project’s beneficiaries will be Hackney residents.

You are eligible to apply for funding as long as 80% of your project beneficiaries will be Hackney residents.

Note that we will want you to demonstrate  how your organisation is part of and embedded in Hackney’s community in your application.

The income threshold includes all income, regardless of whether it is restricted or unrestricted.

See the guidance documents for the specific Grants Schemes to see where income restrictions apply.

We try to fund a wide range of diverse organisations undertaking different projects throughout Hackney. We want to help ensure that all communities in Hackney are well supported by organisations meeting the different needs within them.

We recognise that Grants processes can sometimes favour organisations with larger capacities. This is why we have introduced new income limits for our programmes this year to help organisations which might be less likely to receive funding elsewhere have a better chance of accessing council funding.

We encourage organisations to look at our Support for VCS organisations document.

Other Grants support and funders can be found in our Support for VCS organisations document.

The start date for projects must be within the financial year of the funding which begins in April and ends in March. (2023/24).

Different grant rounds will have different start dates, so ensure your project is not due to begin before the start date of the round you are applying for.

If you have questions about your eligibility or the application form, contact the Community Partnerships team who will be happy to help you: communitypartnerships@hackney.gov.uk or 0208 356 4066

There are local organisations who may be able to help you with your applications.

Hackney CVS is an independent voluntary organisation, which provides a range of information, advice and support to VCS organisations in Hackney.

The Hackney CVS Organisational Development team can help proofread applications and the supporting documents and provide you with comments on how to make your applications meet the guidelines and criteria of funders.

The team is also happy to discuss project ideas and help you scope your projects for the application. Book an appointment.

Note that one-to-one appointments is a free service to associate members of Hackney CVS only. If you’re not already a member then sign up to become an associate member.

The East London Business Alliance (ELBA) is an independent voluntary organisation, which works in collaboration with local businesses to provide free business support to VCS organisations in East London.

As part of this, ELBA offer application review support, connecting local community organisations in East London with business volunteers.

If you would like a business volunteer to review your funding application, register your interest.

Whether or not you can apply for more than one grant depends on the specific grant scheme. See the specific guidance documents.

We receive a significant number of applications and we seek to fund a wide spread of organisations both in terms of location and access for residents.

If you do choose to apply for more than one grant, we will take into consideration other funding that has been committed from this grant programme.

The Hackney Community Fund is an entirely separate grant that you can apply for.

Visit Hackney Community Fund to find out more information.

Your application for any of the programs from Community Grants will be unaffected by any application to the Hackney Community Fund.