Employee Nominated and Charity of the Year

What

The Access Foundation invites nominated charities in two categories to apply for grants:

• Access Group Employee Nominated charities
• Access Group Charity of the Year

This guidance is for you only if you have been invited to apply under one of these two pillars.

Our funding priorities are to support the most disadvantaged in society and to support projects which positively benefit the natural environment. Your project needs to fall into one of these two categories.

How

Applications must be for specific services, activities, initiatives or projects with clearly identified measurable outcomes. For example, a strong application would state the number of people who will benefit from the grant, the number of hours (or similar) that will be delivered to each person and the expected measurable impact on that person. For example, how many people will receive training and how many are expected to enter education or employment as a result of the project. Or how many trees will be planted or cubic meters of ocean cleaned.

How much

Employee Nominated awards are generally for £5,000 or less.
Charity of the Year nominees will be informed of the amount.
In the application form we ask to see a budget showing how much is needed and what it will be spent on.

When

We aim to have responded to your request within 4 weeks of receiving your completed application. However this timeline may extend for example in a case where there is missing or additional information is required to support due diligence.

Application Process

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

Be prepared and have all information to hand when you make your application using our application form. You will be asked for your safeguarding policy and your budget for the project. You may wish to attach your accounts.

NB. You will be able to save your application and return to it within 30 days. Each time you log on you re-start your 30 days. If you do not log on for 30 days, our system will assume you have abandoned your application and it will be deleted.

You will be asked the following questions:

• under which of the Foundation’s objectives you are applying for a grant;
• organisation details including registered address, registered charity number;
• overview of the charity, its objectives, and activities;
• details on the scale of the charity. This should include current annual funding, number of employees, number of volunteers, number of offices;
• detailed financial accounts and statements for your last financial year;
• how the funds will be used including the intended outcomes and benefits of the funded activity; and
• how the outcomes of the investment will be monitored, measured and reported.

The Access Foundation Digital Divide Grant Application 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, not for profit organisations (including Community Interest Companies (“CICs”) that are limited by guarantee but excluding CICs limited by shares), but not individuals.

1. 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. 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. 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 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).

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.

4. Grant application process

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

5. 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.

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

• 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.

7. 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 12 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.

8. 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.

9. 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 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.

Please note that the Access Foundation also awards grants to charities who apply for funding specifically to bridge the digital divide. Applications under this pillar are open and not by invitation.