Digital Divide

What

The Access Foundation awards grants to support charities to mitigate the digital divide by making IT facilities, support and learning available to disadvantaged and vulnerable people.

Where

We support charities in the UK, Ireland, Romania, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

How

We invite eligible charities to submit applications for grants through our grant management platform. Applications must be for specific services, activities, initiatives or projects with clearly identified measurable outcomes. Each completed application is assessed by our Trustees. All applications are put into a process where they will be assessed against each other for potential funding. Applications that demonstrate a good return on investment and directly support people in need are more likely to secure a grant.

To help us understand your proposal and make this assessment, our application process asks for detail about your project. This includes detail about how many people will benefit and how. We also ask you to state the expected impact – both quantitively and qualitatively.

If successful, our offer to you will be for delivering the project you propose and our evaluation of the success of your project will also be based on these stated outcomes.

During the application process, we ask you to upload your safeguarding policy and a copy of your latest accounts.

How much

We generally award grants between £20,000 and £50,000. This funding will normally support a project that lasts no more than a year. A 12-month project costing £20,000-£50,000. It most likely to be successful in winning an award.

During the application process we ask you for an itemised budget. This helps us understand how the money will be spent.

We do not fund

• applications for grants from individuals
• applications from Community Interest Companies (CICs)
• applications for an organisation’s general running costs or overheads;
• religious organisations or religious activity;
• animal charities; or
• applications with any political activity (eg lobbying government or campaigning for a change in the law)
• applications for education institutions that are less than 100% SEN (Special Educational Need)

When

There are no application deadlines. We aim to have approved or declined your request within 16 weeks of receiving your completed application. It could be much sooner.

Application Process

Applications are online only at https://theaccessgroupfoundation.com/apply/

We use an application portal where we ask you to create a user profile, an organisation profile and then apply through the platform.

Once you have submitted your application, our correspondence with you will be through the Fluxx platform. We may also send you emails to ask for clarification.

Please be aware that we review all applications for registration manually. This means that there will be a short delay of up to a few days between registering for an account and receiving approval for you to proceed with the application. Once your registration is approved, you can add colleagues to help you with the application process. You can save and return to your incomplete application up until the point when it is submitted. After you have pressed “Submit” further edits are not possible as we will be assessing your application.

The Access Foundation Digital Divide Grant Application Guidance Notes

Please note that the Access Foundation also awards grants to charities nominated by the Access Group as Charity of the Year and to charities nominated by an Access Group employee who have a close connection to the charity. These awards are by invitation only. If you have been invited to apply for an Employee Nominated award or for Charity of the Year please see separate guidance notes.

Grants are restricted to charities or not for profit organisations operating in the same countries as the offices of Access Group companies. These are: the UK, Ireland, Romania, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, USA, Australia and New Zealand. We will ask for evidence of your charitable status.

Applications may only be made by bona fide charities and not for profit organisations but not individuals, nor Community Interest Companies (CICs).

1. Specificity

Applications must be for specific services, activities, initiatives or projects with clearly identified and measurable outcomes. Funding will not be provided for the general overheads or operational costs of an organisation. Grants will, therefore, be given on a restricted fund basis.

2. Due Diligence

The Trustees will undertake any required due diligence ensure that the purpose for which the grant is being given is exclusively charitable for the public benefit according to the laws of England and Wales. Consequently, additional due diligence may be required in respect of potential grant recipients that are not recognised as charities in England and Wales.

3. Grant Value

While there is no definitive maximum or minimum value for the grants we will award, the Foundation will generally award grants between £20,000 and £50,000. This funding will normally support a project that completes within a 12-month period. By exception the Foundation may consider supporting a longer running multi-year project.

4. Reapplication

All applications from previous recipients of grants or from previously unsuccessful applicants will be considered by the Foundation on their own merits.

5. Exclusions

Any grant made by the Foundation shall be made at the absolute discretion of the Trustees. The Foundation will not fund any of the following:

• applications for grants from individuals;
• applications from Community Interest Companies (CICs)
• applications for organisations’ general running costs or overheads;
• religious organisations or religious activity;
• animal charities; or
• applications with any political activity (eg lobbying government or campaigning for a change in the law).
• education institutions unless they are 100% for Special Educational Needs (SEN)

The Foundation reserves the right to decline any application and there is no obligation on the Foundation to provide a reason for its decision. Each decision is final and there is no appeal process.

6. Grant application process

Grant applications should be made using our online application form https://theaccessgroupfoundation.com/apply/

7. Information requirements when making a grant application

Before awarding a grant to any organisation the Foundation requires that the applicant will:

• provide the Foundation with details of the purpose of the application and the way in which the grant would be used including provision of a project budget (as applicable) and expected measurable outcomes to the applicant;
• where the application necessitates an organisation subcontracting work to another organisation, e.g. therapy or training provider; confirm that it has undertaken a full due diligence of all relevant qualifications & processes carried out by the individual or organisation providing it with a service. The Foundation takes no responsibility and accepts no liability whatsoever for assessing the suitability of third-party products or services purchased from funds awarded;
• confirm that it has adequate safeguarding policies and procedures in place that are (a) robust and meet and comply with current law and best practice; (b) proportionate and appropriate for the vulnerability of the applicant’s beneficiaries; and (c) suitable for the context within which the applicant is working. (The applicant may be required to provide additional assurances/documentation in this regard as referred to at paragraph 23 of the Foundation’s safeguarding policy);

• provide the Foundation with a copy of its safeguarding policy. However, the applicant will be asked to acknowledge and accept that this will be for the Foundation’s records only and that the Foundation will be relying on the applicant’s confirmation referred to at paragraph 6.3 above regarding the adequacy of its safeguarding policy and procedures and compliance with current law and best practice etc.

8. Supporting Evidence of Charitable Status

Additional information required for grant applicants that are not registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales, the Scottish Charity Register or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland :

• their country of tax residency;
• their registration number with the relevant tax authority (and the registration number with any other regulator); and
• details of any tax exemptions because of charitable or not for profit status.

9. Assessment process

The Board of Trustees commit to reviewing every application made in full to the Foundation according to the following process:

All grant applications will be subject to initial assessment to ensure they meet the basic criteria for funding. Applicants must be prepared to provide further information as the Foundation may reasonably require in order to assist them in their decision-making and due diligence process. Grants will be considered by the Foundation and the Foundation will aim to write to all applicants informing them of the outcome, or the next requested steps, of their application for funding within 16 weeks.

Applicants should note that, as with many other charitable trusts, the Foundation receives more applications than it has funds to support. Even if an fulfils the criteria and priorities of the Foundation and a detailed assessment has been made, the Foundation may still be unable to award a grant.

The Foundation does not provide feedback and will not be obliged to provide an explanation to the applicant should the applicant’s application be unsuccessful.

Grants are made at the sole discretion of the Foundation.

10. Monitoring outcomes from grants awarded

It is the policy of the Foundation to monitor all grants made. The following principles will be followed to ensure this is enacted.

Before a grant can be confirmed, conditions may be stipulated appropriate to the application and progress may be assessed against agreed targets and/or milestones.

Grantees must hold the grant as a restricted fund.

Grantees will be required to inform the Foundation of any safeguarding concerns or incidents that arise during the grant cycle or in connection with the grant project.

The Foundation will require a report to be written by the grantee in order to identify progress against the objectives of the grant, according to a schedule defined when the grant is offered. This will usually be required 14 months after the award of the grant.

11. Other Requirements

These notes should be read in conjunction with the Foundation’s Privacy Policy. By submitting a Grant Application, the applicant confirms that they have read, understood and agreed to the Foundation’s policies that have been brought to the attention of the applicant.

The Foundation may suspend or withdraw the grant and/or require repayment of all OR any part of the grant if:

• the project or purpose for which it was awarded does not proceed;
• part of the grant remains unused when the activities that the grant was intended to fund have been completed;
• the grant is used for a purpose other than that which has been agreed; or
• any safeguarding concerns or incidents have not been adequately addressed

• in the opinion of the Foundation, the applicant’s organisation may put the Foundation’s reputation at risk.