Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

Place-Based Philanthropy Community of Practice programme

DCMS is appointing a single delivery partner (one organisation, or a consortium with a lead organisation) to establish and run a national Community of Practice for place-based giving initiatives across England and to deliver targeted capacity-building support, including onward revenue grants, to those initiatives. There is one award of up to £997,000 of revenue funding for delivery from November 2026 to March 2029. It forms part of the Government's 'Our Place to Give' plan; examples of place-based giving initiatives include Made in Stoke, North East Roots and Barking & Dagenham Giving. This is a large infrastructure grant for an experienced sector body, not a grant for individual local groups.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: £996,000 – £997,000
Closes in: 21 days left; 8 November
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

A single organisation, or a consortium led by a nominated lead organisation that is accountable to DCMS for all aspects of delivery (financial management, monitoring, reporting and onward grant administration)
Pass/fail rules: the applicant (or consortium lead) must be eligible to receive a grant under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006 as a charitable, philanthropic or benevolent institution, and be eligible for public grant funding; the grant requested in any year must not be more than 50% of the applicant's (or lead's) average annual income over the previous two financial years; and a lead applicant may submit only one bid, though it may be a delivery partner in other bids
Applicants should show significant experience in place-based philanthropy, charitable giving, philanthropy infrastructure, community development or the wider VCSE sector, and the capability to convene diverse stakeholders (particularly philanthropists), deliver learning and capacity-building programmes, administer grants, and provide robust governance, monitoring and evaluation
Delivery is in England only, and DCMS expects proposals to engage place-based giving initiatives from every region of England

What it funds

Revenue funding only, for activity in England between November 2026 and March 2029, split by financial year: up to £330,333 in 2026/27, up to £333,333 in 2027/28 and up to £333,334 in 2028/29 (unspent annual funds cannot be carried forward; all must be spent by 31 March each year).

Eligible activity includes establishing and delivering the national Community of Practice
A programme of capacity-building onward grants to place-based giving initiatives and their administration
Learning, networking and sector convening
Organisational development and capacity-building support
Stakeholder engagement and partnership development
Monitoring, evaluation and learning
Staff costs directly related to delivery (salaries, employer NI and pension, travel and subsistence within agreed parameters)
Communication and marketing (subject to Cabinet Office controls)
Other delivery costs
Administration costs such as rent, utilities, administrative staff, senior oversight and office supplies

The applicant decides how funding is allocated across activities, including onward grants, and must justify the split.

What it will not fund

Capital expenditure
Lobbying or activity intended to influence Parliament, Government or political parties, the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or legislative or regulatory action
Redundancy costs for staff assigned to the funded activities
Using grant funding to petition for additional funding
Input VAT reclaimable from HMRC
Activities of a political or exclusively religious nature
Goods or services you have a statutory duty to provide
Costs reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private grants or funding sources
Contributions in kind
Depreciation, amortisation or impairment of fixed assets
Acquisition or improvement of fixed assets
Interest payments (including finance lease service charges)
Gifts to individuals, other than prize money set out in the budget
Entertaining
Statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties
Liabilities incurred before the funding agreement is issued, unless agreed in writing
Purchase of buildings or land

How to apply

Read the full competition guidance on GOV.UK
Optionally join the virtual information session on Thursday 15 October 2026, 11:30-12:30, by emailing philanthropy@dcms.gov.uk to be added to the invitation list
Send any clarification questions to philanthropy@dcms.gov.uk by 23:59 Friday 16 October 2026 (answers published 22 October 2026)
Download and complete the application form from GOV.UK, keeping to the word limits: Proposal 2,000 words (35%), Experience and Capability 1,250 words (25%), Project management and oversight 1,250 words (20%), Value for Money and Sustainability 1,250 words (20%)
Email the application form and mandatory documents to philanthropy@dcms.gov.uk by 23:59 Sunday 8 November 2026
Stage 1: eligibility sift against the pass/fail criteria
Stage 2: scoring of eligible bids (0-4 per section, weighted) and due diligence checks, including the Spotlight tool and reputational checks, from 9 to 13 November 2026
Outcome notified w/c 16 November 2026, with final confirmation of appointment w/c 23 November 2026; a fraud risk assessment is required before the grant agreement is signed

Late applications are not assessed, and DCMS will not contact you for more information except to separate tied scores.

Text over the word limits, and supplementary documents beyond those requested, are not assessed.

Payments are quarterly in arrears against evidenced spend, and the grant must be shown as restricted funds in your accounts.

Have ready

Completed application form
Evidence (or a link to it, e.g. articles of association or terms of reference) that the lead organisation was established for a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purpose, for Section 70 eligibility
Annual report and audited or certified accounts for the last two financial years (from the lead and every consortium member)
Declaration of any conflicts of interest across all participating partners, where applicable
Project plan with timeframes and key performance indicators for all outcomes and outputs
Realistic and detailed programme budget
Organogram showing the proposed governance and delivery structure
Consortium bids: correspondence from authorised representatives of each partner confirming their involvement

If your last financial year ended more than 6 months ago, DCMS may ask for further accounting information during due diligence.

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