Baring launches £900,000 Strengthening the Voluntary Sector programme
Howard Lake | 28 April 2006 | News
The Baring Foundation has announced the application criteria for its 2006 Strengthening the Voluntary Sector grants programme.
The Programme will distribute up to £900,000 in 15 to 25 grants to voluntary organisations working with people experiencing disadvantage and discrimination. Applicants must be local, regional or second tier organisations with an annual income in the last financial year of between £250,000 and £7 million; national organisations with an annual income in the last financial year of between £1 million and £7 million; or international organisations carrying out the majority of their overseas work in Sub-Saharan Africa with an annual income in the last financial year of between £1 million and £7 million.
The grants programme aims to support organisations to maintain or increase their independence from government and to carry out organisational development activities that strengthen core strategies, structures, systems and skills leading to a significant and lasting improvement in effectiveness. The Foundation’s definitions of ‘independence’ and ‘organisational development’ can be found on the web.
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The Foundation will consider applications from organisations seeking to improve independence themselves or from organisations providing services which help other organisations become more independent. The programme will provide support in a variety of ways, including:
Increasing legitimacy, for example involving users or beneficiaries in organisational review, planning and management for the first time or in a significantly better ways
Building organisational confidence, for example by developing skills and capacity.
Grants can be used in many ways, including: paying for additional staff, providing targeted training and development, meeting the costs of engaging users, making improvements to relevant IT systems, buying in external advice and expertise or supporting the dissemination of good practice.
The Foundation will consider applications for grants for between a total of £20,000 and £100,000. Grants can be for a package of activities spanning up to five years. In addition to making grants, the programme will also provide a range of resources and activities to enable the desired outcomes of the work.
Applications can be completed an on-line or sent by post. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday 30th May 2006.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.