In this time of national crisis, CAF has launched this rapid response Fund to help smaller charitable organisations affected by the impact of Covid-19. Grants of up to £10,000 will help them to continue to deliver much needed support to our communities across the UK.   

This is intended as a rapid response fund, and we aim to make payments to selected organisations within 14 days of application.

We anticipate high numbers of applicants and unfortunately it is likely that we will not be able to offer a grant to all eligible applicants.

What can you apply for?

You can apply for unrestricted funding for core costs, staffing, volunteer costs, supplies and equipment, communications or other critical charitable areas.  You must be able to describe how an emergency grant will improve the situation for your organisation and community.  

Please make only one application. Multiple applications will slow the process down and only one grant is possible for any organisation.

Please remember that this is intended as an emergency fund to enable your charitable activities to continue at the moment in whatever way is needed; it is not designed to replace other lost income in the longer term.

What we cannot fund

There are a small number of exclusions to the fund.

We will certainly not be able to fund:

• Individuals, or groups of individuals who have come together recently to provide informal support services to their communities
• Any organisation more than once. Please ensure that only one application is submitted from your organisation.

Plus, organisations that:

• Use the funds to make grants or financial donations to other organisations or to individuals
• Discriminate on the basis of age, race, colour, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, disability or other unlawful basis
• Are religious charities whose activities only promote the furtherance of their religion or only benefit their own religious members
• Are political parties or campaigns.

How will we prioritise grants?

We anticipate that there will be a high level of requests for support now and in the weeks ahead. We will do our best to manage this proactively and provide a rapid response to organisations which need support. However, we are going to have to prioritise grants, and we may need to focus on:

• Charities, and other organisations, whose established charitable activities are at risk of being severely reduced to the detriment of vulnerable groups
• Organisations that are having to deliver core services in fundamentally different or unusual ways in order to respond to the crisis and still reach their beneficiaries
• Organisations that are deeply embedded  with communities and have established networks to deliver their charitable activities
• Organisations experiencing current cashflow problems, rather than concerns that future income will be reduced.

How will we make decisions?

The information you provide will be used by us to confirm that your organisation is eligible for funding, that your activities are charitable and suitable for the CAF Coronavirus Emergency Fund. We will carefully but swiftly review the answers in your application form, check your website/social links and publicly available records. 

Unfortunately, we anticipate that there will be a large number of eligible organisations which we cannot fund. There are a number of other Covid-19 response funds being established throughout the UK for various purposes, and we will endeavour to signpost to other funds where possible.

Timescales

We intend this to be a rapid response fund and have set systems in place to be able to review applications on a continuing basis. We will email you to let you know whether we can offer a grant or not as swiftly as possible.

If your organisation is not a registered charity, it is possible that we will need to make further checks on your organisation, and if so, it may take slightly longer.

We aim for grants to be paid to selected organisations within 14 days of application.