# Calls for £130 million Community First match funding scheme to be repeated

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/06/12/calls-for-130m-community-first-match-funding-scheme-to-be-repeated/
- Published: 2015-06-12T12:20:54+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

UK Community Foundations (UKCF), the umbrella body for the UK’s 48 community foundation
charities, is urging the new government to repeat its successful Community First
scheme, which generated £130 million for grassroots causes in England.

[Community First ran from 2011](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2012/04/30/community-foundation-network-raises-over-17m-endowment-fund/)
with support from the coalition government and closed at the end of March 2015. 
Overseen by UKCF, the campaign matched donations by individuals, companies and charitable
trusts by 50%, with the funding coming from the Office for Civil Society.

## Total income

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UKCF says that the campaign raised £118,952,338.78 from private donations and government
match funds. When you add endowment investment returns accrued over the programme,
the total collective endowment fund is now worth more than £130 mlllion.

## Grants made in stages

So far, Community First has awarded 2,373 grants worth £5.8 million to local causes
across England. These range from mental health support and elderly care, to drug
and alcohol recovery programmes and foodbanks.

Because Community First runs on an endowment model, the money will not be used in
one go. Each year, a portion of each community foundation’s Community First endowment
fund will be given to the local charities that need it most, while the endowments
themselves remain in place forever, ensuring a continual stream of funding.

## Repeating the success

[UK Community Foundations](http://www.ukcommunityfoundations.org) philanthropy director
Mark Greer said that Community First “had demonstrated how brilliantly match funding
schemes can work”.

He added:

> “Now is not the time to let the ball drop and we are urging the new government
> to build on the success of Community First.
> “We must keep up the momentum around Community First and we now want to see a 
> similar scheme backed by the Conservative leadership. The appetite for the scheme
> was undeniable – donors were truly inspired by the official match, seeing they
> could get ‘more bang’ for the bucks they gave”.

He suggested that the devolved administrations should also consider running similar
match funding efforts to help support their local communities.