Community Foundation for Surrey

Crisis Funding

Emergency grants, typically around £10,000, to bridge a short-term cash flow gap for a Surrey charity in urgent financial difficulty. It is deliberately narrow: only registered charities and CIOs the Community Foundation for Surrey has previously funded can apply, and only where the crisis is a temporary gap rather than an ongoing problem. The Foundation will not award anything if there is no strategy in place to improve financial sustainability, and expects to see that income diversification or savings — up to and including redundancies — have already been attempted. There is no form: you email the grants team to discuss your situation.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: Up to £10,000; no fixed round
Deadline: Rolling; apply any time
Effort: Light; short form, little evidence needed

Who can apply

Registered charities and registered CIOs only, and in either case only organisations which have previously been funded by the Community Foundation for Surrey
Applicants must be able to demonstrate that the funding will make a material difference to their ability to continue operating; that they have already taken steps to diversify income and/or made savings cuts up to and including redundancies; that they have a clear plan for sustainability and securing future income; and that the crisis is a temporary funding gap rather than an ongoing financial issue
Priority goes to charities and CIOs that can demonstrate the impact of their work in terms of need and disadvantage, where the loss of the organisation would have a wider impact on other organisations and their beneficiaries, and where there is no credible alternative provider in their market

What it funds

Limited emergency support to bridge a short-term cash flow gap so an organisation can keep operating while it develops long-term sustainability.

What it will not fund

Organisations with no strategy in place to improve financial sustainability — the Foundation states it cannot award a grant in that case
An ongoing financial problem rather than a temporary funding gap
Organisations the Community Foundation for Surrey has not previously funded
Organisations that are not registered charities or registered CIOs

How to apply

Check you meet the criteria — in particular that the Community Foundation for Surrey has funded you before and that you have a sustainability plan
Email the grants team as soon as possible to discuss your situation; there is no application form
The team assesses case by case, prioritising where funding will do most to stabilise the organisation

applications are judged on evidence that income diversification or cuts have already been attempted, so have that evidence ready

Have ready

Evidence that the funding will make a material difference to your ability to continue operating
Evidence of steps taken to diversify income and/or of savings cuts made, up to and including redundancies
A clear plan for sustainability and securing future income

the Foundation asks for these as part of the discussion rather than as a document checklist

More like this

Other grants open to organisations like yours.