Funding opportunities for February

Grants are a vital source of income for charities large and small, but trawling through databases for relevant opportunities is a time-consuming task.

Enter Bamboo.

Each month, we scour the internet and highlight a range of funding opportunities from trusts, corporates, and the public sector.

Let’s get into it.

Trust for London

Amount: £1,000 - £180,000
Deadline: March 4, 2024

Trust for London wants to fund organisations fighting for the rights of disabled people. This includes work that strengthens the ability of deaf and disabled people organisations (DDPOs) to engage in campaigning, policy, and advocacy. They're also keen to fund work that contributes to growing, broadening, and diversifying the disability movement.

There are two types of grants available:

• development grants of up to £20,000 for new and small organisations

• larger grants for up to £180,000 over 2-3 years

To be eligible, you must provide services for, or work on behalf of, deaf and disabled people who live in London. And at least 75% of your trustees and 50% of your paid staff must be disabled.

Find out more and apply here.

The Haberdashers Company

Amount: Up to £5,000
Deadline: March 8, 2024

The Haberdashers Company aims to ‘empower young people from every background to fulfil their potential’.

It awards grants to charities that serve the following groups:

• Early Years (0–5-year-olds)

• Young people who experience disadvantage

• Young people with experience of the custody system

• Young people who experience homelessness

Projects must provide inclusive solutions to the challenges faced by these communities in one of the following boroughs/geographical areas.

• The London Boroughs of Bexley, Hackney, Lewisham, or Southwark

• Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire

• The Forest of Dean

• Chertsey, Surrey

• Albrighton, Shropshire (and surrounding areas)

• Wigston, Leicestershire (and surrounding areas)

• Bunbury, Cheshire (and surrounding areas)

Applications from charities with an income of less than £250,000 are actively encouraged to apply. 

Request an application form from grants@haberdashers.co.uk (putting Small Grants Programme in the subject heading).

Be sure to include:

• A link to your entry on the Charities Commission website

• The focus area your charity addresses

• The geographical area your work covers

Gatwick Airport Community Trust

Amount: between £1,000 - £5,000
Deadline: March 31, 2024

The Gatwick Airport Community Trust funds projects targeted towards the development of young people, the arts, sporting facilities, environmental improvement and conservation, improvements to community facilities, volunteering, the elderly and the disabled.

To be considered, your project should benefit people in the areas directly affected by operations at Gatwick Airport i.e. East and West Sussex, Surrey, and Kent.

They occasionally award larger grants for projects that will benefit a significant number of people and make a valuable difference over the long term. 

Check out their featured projects for inspiration.

If you tick all the boxes, apply here.

Regional Capacity Building

Amount: Up to £100,000
Deadline: March 31, 2024

This Government funding is for activities and projects that promote the understanding, management, and conservation of the historic environment.

Eligible projects must help to reduce or avoid risk to the historic environment through one of the following:

• build up the capacity and commitment of local communities to champion the conservation and enhancement of their local historic environments.

• promote best-practice standards for the conservation, documentation, interpretation, and sustainable management of the resources of England's historic environment.

• meet regional-based information needs.

Eligible activities and projects for which there is a lack of alternative sources of funding are the highest priorities for support.

To apply, contact your local Historic England office

The Clothworkers Foundation

Amount: £5,000 - £20,000
Deadline: Ongoing

The Clothworkers Foundation’s Open Grants Programme awards funding for capital projects, which they define as:

• Buildings: purchase, construction, renovation, or refurbishment.

• Fittings, Fixtures, and Equipment: this includes office equipment/furniture, sports/gym equipment, digital/audiovisual equipment, software and websites, garden equipment, and specialist therapeutic (excluding medical) equipment. It does not include equipment for one-off use, or which will be given to service users for personal use on a permanent basis.

• Vehicles: This includes minibuses, cars, caravans, people carriers, 4x4 and boats. They do not provide grants towards vehicle leasing or award funding to organisations whose core activity is community transport.

You must be able to demonstrate that your organisation fits within one or more of their programme areas, and at least 50% of service users benefiting from your project must be from one or more of these groups. 

• Communities experiencing racial inequalities

• Domestic and sexual abuse

• Economic disadvantage

• Homelessness

• LGBT & communities

• Older people facing disadvantage

• Prison & rehabilitation

• Substance misuse & addiction

• Young people facing disadvantage

Want to apply? Take the eligibility quiz and fill out the application form here.

Looking for a trust fundraiser to join your team? We can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 or email us at info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get started.

Return of the Big Help Out

May 8, 2023, saw the launch of The Big Help Out, a national day of volunteering initiated by the Royal Voluntary Service and the Together Coalition.

The event, which took place on the Bank Holiday of the Coronation weekend, was designed to ‘raise awareness of volunteering and provide opportunities for people to make a difference in their communities.’

It’s safe to say it achieved its mission. 

30,000 charities offered volunteering opportunities at 55,000 events, and a whopping 7.2 million people around the UK took part.

Of those 7.2 million, 40% had not done any formal volunteering before, 80% had no prior relationship with the organisation they volunteered for, and 33% have gone on to volunteer again for the same organisation. 

Success story

One of the participating charities, the RSPCA, saw 850 people sign up to become “wildlife friends”. They spent the day litter picking, building hedgehog homes, and creating wildlife-friendly habitats. 

According to the RSPCA, 1,250 new volunteers have joined since the Big Help Out.

Back with a bang

Following the unprecedented success of the inaugural event, the organisers have announced the Big Help Out will return in 2024. But this time, it’ll take place over three days, from 7-9 June, to coincide with the end of Volunteers’ Week.

Catherine Johnstone, Managing Director of the Royal Voluntary Service told Civil Society that extending the event would ‘increase accessibility’ and allow ‘more people to get involved.’  She added that the organisers hope that by including a Friday as one of the days, ‘businesses and schools will be encouraged to take part.’

The value of the Big Help Out

Data from The National Council for Voluntary Organisation’s (NCVO) 2023 Time Well Spent survey revealed that volunteering is at an all-time low in England.

The report shows that, since 2018, the number of people raising money for, or taking part in sponsored events has almost halved, (down from 11% to 6%). And that there’s been a 52% drop in people organising or volunteering at charitable events (down from 14% to 7%).

As a result, volunteer recruitment is a top priority for charities.

Sarah Vibert, CEO of the NCVO said of the report, ‘without volunteers, some charities wouldn’t be able to make the huge differences to people’s lives that they do.

If you’re an organisation that wants to recruit more volunteers, please get involved – it’s a great way to promote your amazing work and the positive impact volunteering makes to local communities.’

Want to take part?

If you want to take part in next year’s event, keep an eye on the Big Help Out website.

Charities will be able to list volunteering opportunities from late January.

In the meantime, if you’re on the hunt for a talented fundraiser, you’re in the right place. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 or email us at info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get the process started.

Has the charity telethon had its day?

BBC Children in Need has become synonymous with the word ‘telethon’ since it first hit our TV screens in 1980. That year, the Terry Wogan-fronted show raised £1m.

Since then, the annual event has raised over £1bn for disadvantaged children and young people.

However, despite the impressive amount raised over the years, the on-the-night total has been declining in recent years. In 2023, it raised £33.5m. This was down £1.5m from 2022 and £5.8m from 2021.

It’s a similar story for Red Nose Day, the BBC’s other annual charity telethon. This year, the on-the-night total was £32m. This was £10m less than 2022.
It’s even more noticeable if you compare this year’s amount to 2015. That year, the event raised £78m (more than double the amount raised this year).

The same goes for viewing figures. 2.9m people tuned in to watch this year’s Comic Relief, compared to 5.9m in 2019.

A downward trend

The data shows a clear downward trend in both donations and viewing figures.

But what’s causing it? A combination of factors.

1. The cost-of-living crisis

For one thing, the cost-of-living crisis is putting increasing pressure on consumers’ disposable income.

2.  An over-reliance on phone payments

Another factor is the reliance on phone payments, despite the growing popularity of digital payment methods.

A recent report by The Phone-Paid Services Authority revealed that charity donations via phone (calls and texts) dropped by 28% over the last year (a fall from £14.1m to £35.9m for both telethon and non-telethon fundraising). Notably, the phone-paid services regulator had forecast a drop of just £5.4m. 

The report goes on to state that charities’ use of digital payment methods, including contactless and digital wallet payment “will become increasingly important if telethon viewership continues to decline”.  

3. Fewer people are watching live television

According to media regulator, Ofcom, linear TV viewing is in a state of “long-term decline” as people are increasingly swapping live TV for streaming services.

The regulator’s latest Media Nations report reveals that the proportion of people watching terrestrial TV channels in a given week has fallen from 83% in 2021 to 79% in 2022; the sharpest fall on record.

This figure is even lower among 16- to 24-year-olds, with just 54% of young people watching any live television.

Diversification is key

The year-on-year decline signifies a clear shift in people’s viewing habits and giving preferences. 

To stay relevant, charities need to adapt. And that’s exactly what Children in Need is doing.

To diversify its income and reach new donors (particularly 16-24-year-olds, who are a key demographic), this year, the charity delivered appeals outside of its annual telethon.

Children in Need’s Commercial Director Claire Hoyle told Fundraising Magazine that the charity has undergone a “strategic shift in thinking” to attract new potential donors, including a focus on younger audiences.

“We know that younger audiences are spending more and more time on social; it’s clear that 16 to 24-year-olds tend to be on TikTok and Snapchat. So, we’ve looked at how can we create the right projects and propositions on the right platforms in the right spaces in a way that’s unique for Children in Need.”

As a result, the charity partnered with TIKTOK Live to launch a series of innovative initiatives including:

Pudsey Games: Some of the platform’s most popular content creators took part in ‘Pudsey Games’, a series of hilarious challenges designed to raise awareness and funds for the cause.

Live gifts: The charity released six limited edition Pusey gifts. Every time a gift was sent online, TikTok made a donation to Children in Need.
In total, 20.9 million gifts were sent, raising £513,000 for the charity.

The Bearpee Challenge: The charity used the platform to launch The Bearpee Challenge. Headed up by Children in Need ambassador, Joe Wicks, the challenge saw schoolchildren across the country take part in a sponsored exercise challenge where they completed 1,000 ‘bearpees’ each day across Appeal Week.

Every pound raised was matched by the Postcode Education Trust, supported by the People’s Postcode Lottery, and 17,000 schools across the UK joined in.

Of the TikTok initiatives, Hoyle said “They’ve given us some good insights to build on, particularly about what works, where the points were during streaming that drove more donations, and which of the creators resonated most with our target audiences. The metrics show you what works and what doesn’t.

We’re keen to build our social media presence and see where it can take us.”

The future of the telethon

Despite the year-on-year decline, telethons remain a powerful fundraising tool.

They drive much-needed awareness and raise tens of millions of pounds for good causes.

But to keep the donations rolling in, they need to move with the times.

Meeting donors where they are (online), enabling digital payment methods, and optimising commercial opportunities on social media platforms are just three ways charities can adapt to re-engage the public and boost income.

Looking to add to your fundraising team? We can help. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get the conversation started.

Katharine House Hospice trials innovative CO2 till displays to promote sustainable shopping

In a recent blog post, we talked about the impact of climate change. We said that global average temperatures are 1.2°C higher than in the pre-industrial era and it’s on track to increase by 2.7°C by 2100.

If this happens, it will render parts of the planet uninhabitable.  

The environmental crisis has global implications and must be tackled collectively for meaningful change to happen.

Regardless of their cause, charities have a vital role to play in promoting the dangers of climate change awareness. 

And that’s exactly what Katharine House Hospice (KHH) is doing. 

Since August 2023, the Stafford-based charity, which provides free palliative care services for adults, has been promoting sustainable shopping in 14 of its charity shops with intelligent till displays that show customers how much CO2 has been saved through their second-hand purchases.

The technology, provided by software company, Eproductive, calculates the average CO₂ required to make items brand new and shows the total sustainability savings made by buying second-hand at the end of the transaction.

One customer, who saved 40.2 kg CO₂ with their purchase, was told that the saving would almost cover a flight from Manchester to London for one passenger in economy, (which uses between 60-100 kgs of CO₂).

They said, “wow, that puts things into perspective. It’s interesting to see that you can save so much CO₂ by shopping second-hand.

It’s a good deal and it helps the environment”.

The charity estimated that buying an outfit of seven items would save about 32.3kg of CO₂, which is just more than the amount of CO₂ used to drive 80 miles in an average car.

Breaking the mould

Katharine House Hospice is the first charity in the UK to show sustainability savings in its shops. And Simon Dodd, the charity’s retail general manager hopes more charities will follow suit.

Of the initiative, he said, “we want to get the sustainability message across to every customer … it’s great that we can show customers how much good each sale is doing and the difference that shopping with us is making. And to be the first in the UK to do it is amazing.

He went on to say he hoped the charity sector “could work together to expand the data for standard CO₂ savings across all departments, including furniture and electronics.”

Final Word

According to the UN, fashion is the second-most polluting industry, behind big oil. It accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions and 20% of wastewater production.

The UK’s 11,000+ charity shops play a crucial role in decreasing the UK’s carbon footprint by reducing waste that would otherwise end up in landfill.

Demonstrating the impact customers are making at the point of purchase is a powerful way to communicate the gravity of the climate crisis whilst encouraging them to choose preloved.

Looking for an environmentally conscious fundraiser to add to your team? We can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 or email us at info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get started.

RNIB launches new audio identity

The classic roar of the MGM lion before a film begins. The unmistakable “ba-da-ba-ba-baaa” at the end of a McDonalds ad. The iconic ‘ta-dum’, as you launch Netflix.

When we hear these short, memorable ditties, we immediately think of the brands behind them.

Therein lies the power of audio branding; ‘the intentional use of sounds, melodies, and jingles to represent and reinforce a brand's identity’.

However, sonic branding isn’t just for corporates.

Leading sight loss charity, RNIB is one of the UK’s first major charities to dabble in audio branding.

In November 2023, the charity launched a new sonic identity, comprising of a sonic logo, a brand track using the same key notes, and a set of 18 radio jingles.

Over the coming months, the assets will be incorporated into their marketing campaigns, social media ads, the RNIB Helpline, and RNIB Connect Radio, the UK's only radio station dedicated to people with sight loss.

Boost engagement

The assets were designed to help the charity ‘better engage with the sight loss community.’ As Martin Wingfield, director of brand at RNIB, explains; “As the UK’s leading sight loss charity, RNIB is ‘of and for’ blind and partially sighted people. We wanted to make sure our brand was completely accessible to people with sight loss, which is why we felt so passionately about creating a sonic identity. Whether someone is listening to RNIB Connect Radio, watching a video, or using one of our audiobooks – we want them to immediately know that it’s coming from RNIB”.

Created with the blind and partially sighted community

To ensure the assets resonate with their audience, the RNIB involved blind and partially sighted community in the audio creation, from the musician, and the people that provided their voices to the spoken elements of the logo, to the Grammy award winning sound engineer.

The charity also ran focus groups with service users to get their reaction to the tracks before creating a final draft.

The result? To quote RNIB, a “modern, contemporary sound featuring a strong, instantly recognisable melody”.

Brand building

The charity hopes its foray into audio branding will encourage other charities to think about how they make their audio communications clear and accessible.

As RNIB Policy Officer Erik Matthies, says, “good audio design is vital for so many aspects of daily life for partially sighted people like me.

I love the fact RNIB now has its own sonic identity as we continue to innovate the way we communicate with our customers and supporters.

Sound plays a key role for many in making sense of a world designed for people with sight.”

Final Word

Considering there are two million people living with sight loss in the UK, it could be argued that audio branding is a must-have, rather than a nice-to-have.

And research shows that audio trumps visuals when it comes to shaping donor perceptions and behaviour. According to a study by PHMG, 60% of people believe music is more memorable than visuals when used in marketing.

Is 2024 the year to build your brand through sound?

Looking for an audio-savvy fundraiser? We can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 or email us at info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get the conversation started.