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Benefact launches £1 million small charity fund
Howard Lake | 11 November 2026 | News
Only 8% of UK charity and civic leaders believe charities, businesses, public bodies and communities are working together effectively, according to new research from Benefact Group, which has responded by launching a £1 million unrestricted fund for small charities with The Fore.
The inaugural State of Civic Leadership 2026 report surveyed 427 charity and civic leaders across the UK. It was launched at Benefact Group’s first Civic Leadership Forum in London, with speakers including Dame Susan Langley, charity leader and podcast host Dhivya O’Connor, and Clare Sumner CBE of the Premier League.
Leadership harder, collaboration weak
Three in four (75%) respondents said charity leadership is “harder than it was three years ago”. Yet 67% remain confident that organisations and communities can solve social problems together.
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Six in 10 (60%) named a lack of unrestricted funding as one of the biggest barriers to civic action, and leaders repeatedly called for greater trust, less bureaucracy and more long-term, flexible funding. Some 58% said businesses can create the greatest value through expertise and pro bono support, not funding alone.
Views on the wider health of civic life were split: 46% described civic and community life as healthy, while 38% said it was unhealthy. Benefact says the report will become an annual benchmark.
£1 million for small charities
In response, Benefact Group has launched the Benefact Group Small Charity Impact Fund, delivered in partnership with The Fore. It will provide £1 million of unrestricted funding, alongside wraparound support and training. Charities with an annual income of less than £500,000 will be eligible for grants of up to £45,000, spread over one to three years.
Benefact describes the fund as a first step towards bringing businesses, philanthropists, foundations, investors and civic leaders together around support for small charities.
Application dates for the fund are not yet available.
Mark Hews, Group Chief Executive of Benefact Group, said: “One message came through louder than almost any other. Small charities need trust, expressed through long-term, flexible funding and support. That’s why we’re launching the Benefact Group Small Charity Impact Fund. It’s a practical response to what leaders have told us and the first step in what we hope will become something much bigger.”
Benefact Group is a financial services group owned by the charity Benefact Trust. Its businesses include Ecclesiastical Insurance, EdenTree Investment Management and Ansvar Insurance, several of which serve the charity sector. It says it has donated more than £250 million and supported more than 10,000 charities over the last decade.
- The Fore launches Nature Recovery Fund (9 November 2026)
- Sector bodies call for review of charity infrastructure (2 November 2026)
- Research finds corporate charity support delivers 37x return (15 July 2025)
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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.