The Digital Fund is a new UK wide £15 million funding programme to support charities and community organisations. It is about helping the charity and voluntary sector to use digital tools and approaches to support people and communities to thrive.
The Digital Fund is currently offering two strands of funding. To find the right kind of support for your organisation, choose one of the following options:
We want to use digital to change our work
Digital Fund Strand 1 offers grants of up to £500,000 and a tailored support package. The aim is to help established organisations use digital to take a major leap forward. We expect grants to last from 1 to 4 years.
The Digital Fund is currently offering two strands of funding. To find the right kind of support for your organisation, choose one of the following options:
We want to use digital to change our work
Digital Fund Strand 1 offers grants of up to £500,000 and a tailored support package. The aim is to help established organisations use digital to take a major leap forward. We expect grants to last from 1 to 4 years.
Digital Fund Strand 1 offers grants of up to
£500,000 and a tailored support package. The aim is to help established
organisations use digital to take a major leap forward. We expect grants
to last from 1 to 4 years.
Successful Strand 1 proposals will:
- Demonstrate a firm commitment by organisational leadership to changing the way that the organisation serves people and communities.
- Contain a plan that has been developed in accordance with good digital practices, such as committing to an iterative approach, and making sure that people are in the lead.
- Supply evidence that the organisation has already invested in digital, prior to this proposal.
- Show a commitment to working generously, sharing what you learn and the products or services you produce with others.
We are already highly digital, and want to scale our impact
Digital Fund Strand 2 offers grants of up to £500,000 for newer organisations that have already launched promising services that use digital to achieve scale or impact. We expect grants to last from 1 to 4 years.
Digital Fund Strand 2 offers grants of up to £500,000 for newer organisations that have already launched promising services that use digital to achieve scale or impact. We expect grants to last from 1 to 4 years.
Digital Fund Strand 2 offers grants of up to
£500,000 for newer organisations that have already launched promising
services that use digital to achieve scale or impact. We expect grants
to last from 1 to 4 years.
Successful strand 2 proposals will:
- Have made use of user-centred design.
- Clearly demonstrate either the potential to scale your impact at low cost, or clearly demonstrate potential to use digital to bring substantial benefits to a specific group of people.
- Be driven by teams that combine knowledge of an issue that matters to people and communities, with experience of digital delivery.
- Relate to a product or service that is far enough through its development process that people are currently benefiting from it.
- Provide evidence of impact upon those people.
- Have a theory of change or similar document showing how the product or service will achieve aims that benefit a specific group of people.
- Show an understanding of the challenge of sustaining impact after the ending of Big Lottery Fund support.
Eligibility criteria
The following eligibility criteria apply to
both strands of funding. There are specific criteria for each strand
below this section.
You can apply if you’re a:
- voluntary and community organisation
- registered charity
- social enterprise
- group of organisations, if they are led by a voluntary and community organisations or social enterprise
- community interest companies (with two or more directors).