Small Grants

Milton Keynes Community Foundation is an independent charity providing grants and encouraging philanthropy across the borough of Milton Keynes.

Our Vision is for a thriving Milton Keynes where everyone contributes to their community. Our Mission is to connect people with resources, skills and ideas to enrich lives and create positive growth for Milton Keynes. We achieve our mission through the themes of:

• Supporting: to support the growth and development of our voluntary community and cultural sector.
• Inspiring: to inspire giving to our communities through philanthropy and other social action
• Leading: to take a lead in connecting and growing sustainable communities.

Our grant making is guided by our Vital Signs research, which aims to collect the most up to date information about the issues affecting Milton Keynes; our impact goals and feedback from the local community, particularly the Voluntary, Community, and Cultural Sector.

A monthly programme for applications between £300 - £3000. Small Grants are approved by an internal panel. The decision is usually known within 2-3 weeks of the deadline date.

For organisations:

Who we can fund:

We can accept applications from constituted, not-for-profit organisations supporting beneficiaries from Milton Keynes, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Local community groups • Voluntary Sector Organisations • Registered Charities • Charitable Incorporated Organisations • Social Enterprises (for start up costs only and in exceptional circumstances in discussion and at the discretion of the Philanthropy Team and final agreement by Philanthropy Director) Must include evidence that Directors are not be paid above a level that would make the provision of grant funding inappropriate, and must have a management committee who provide oversight and strategic guidance, comprised of at least four unpaid, unrelated members, not living at a shared address, to apply. There must be clear, evidenced community benefit. • Sports Clubs • Faith groups where the primary activities to be delivered at the site are community-focussed and not for the promotion of religion, and where potential beneficiaries are not required to participate in religious activities, nor excluded on the basis of faith, religion, or lack thereof, or any other protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010; • Community Interest Companies and Companies Limited by Guarantee (for start up costs only and in exceptional circumstances in discussion and at the discretion of the Philanthropy Team and final agreement by Philanthropy Director) Must include evidence that Directors are not be paid above a level that would make the provision of grant funding inappropriate, and must have a management committee who provide oversight and strategic guidance, Pmprised of at least four unpaid, unrelated members, not living at a shared address, to apply. There must be clear, evidenced community benefit.

For projects:

All applications must be for the benefit of communities in the Unitary Authority Area of Milton Keynes, or individual’s resident in the Unitary Authority Area of Milton Keynes. The Community Foundation may make a rare exception to this rule at the direction of the fund holder whose fund would support the project, where appropriate.

All projects must start within six months of the grant being awarded, or groups may be asked to return the grant if they breach any part of the offer agreement. All grant periods must run for no longer than 12 months (except for those funded by the Large Strategic Grant Programme).