Applying for an Improving Lives grant for
your organisation
The purpose of these guidelines is to assist organisations considering making an application to our Improving Lives Fund (grants for organisations). We appreciate the time and effort that goes into fundraising, so we hope that this guidance on our funding criteria and application process provides clear and explicit information, enabling you to be as informed as possible in making an application.
If, after reading the guidelines, you are still unsure about your organisation’s eligibility or the application process, you are encouraged to contact the National Benevolent Charity to discuss your proposed application.
Our Organisation Grants Manager, Vicky Oram-Ahern is available to support applicants throughout the process, and can be contacted on vicky.oram@natben.org.uk or via our phone line: 01666 505500.
What is the aim of our grant making?
We aim to support people who are living in poverty or financial hardship by making grants to a wide range of organisations that are working to alleviate poverty and improve lives in Bristol, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire & Swindon.
Please note, that in 2026, whilst our grant programme remains open in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire & Swindon, in Bristol we will continue to support the organisations we’ve partnered with over the past couple of years; so, we will not be open to new applications in Bristol during this period.
What are our funding criteria?
1. Poverty
Organisations need to demonstrate that their primary service users are experiencing poverty and that their funded activity aims to alleviate that poverty. For the purposes of our grant-making we align ourselves with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation definition of poverty: "Poverty affects millions of people in the UK. Poverty means not being able to heat your home, pay your rent, or buy the essentials for your children. It means waking up every day facing insecurity, uncertainty, and impossible decisions about money. It means facing marginalisation — and even discrimination — because of your financial circumstances. The constant stress it causes can lead to problems that deprive people of the chance to play a full part in society."
2. Geographical areas of interest
We focus on geographical areas where we can build our knowledge and understanding of communities, to ensure our grant-making is informed by local needs and priorities. We therefore only support organisations delivering work in (at least) one of our geographical areas of interest: Bristol, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire & Swindon.
3. Priority areas
Through our organisational funding we aim to improve lives and relieve the impact of living in poverty. By supporting organisations working with the most disadvantaged communities, we help ensure people can access what they need to live with dignity – life essentials, household bills, therapeutic support, advice, and training. Our grants contribute to enhanced wellbeing and a greater ability for individuals to participate fully in society. We will fund work that supports outcomes in one or more of the following areas:
i) Supporting people in destitution/ crisis
ii) Opportunities for employment/ education/ training
iii) Strengthening families and/ or communities
iv) Financial resilience
Please refer to our full guidelines for more information on what we mean by these priority areas.
Who can apply?
We only make grants to support activity which is charitable by law. Organisations do not have to be registered charities to apply, however they do need to be a not-for-profit organisation and have an agreed constitution.
We are principally looking to support frontline organisations working with marginalised people and grassroots community organisations. Given our limited funds, national charities are advised not to apply, as preference will be given to local organisations.
Where organisations have had two consecutive years of funding, we ask that they wait 12 months from the end of their grant period before reapplying.
Please see our latest Impact Report for some examples of recent grants to organisations.
How do we fund?
We provide flexible funding. The organisations we support are the experts on the ground and we trust that they will use our funding in the most valuable way to their service users. Therefore our preference is to provide unrestricted funding.
Please note that in 2026, while we carry out our strategic review and pilot a new way of funding, we will be making fixed, one-year, unrestricted grants.
We understand the importance of multi-year grant funding in terms of financial forecasting, work planning, and reducing the administrative burden and anxiety that comes with having to reapply for grants year-on-year.
However, regrettably, whilst we are piloting a new model of funding, in 2026 we will only be able to make fixed, one-year, unrestricted grants.
What don't we fund?
Grant requests which we do not normally support are:
- Projects that exclusively serve religious purposes.
- Political campaigns and legislative lobbying efforts.
- Organisations established solely for the relief or benefit of animals or plants.
- Retrospective or deficit funding.
- One-off conferences or events, except where these fall within a wider context that aligns with our charitable objects.
What is our application process for Bristol?
We are committed to supporting as many organisations as possible while we carry out our strategic review and pilot a new way of funding. This means to continue to work efficiently and use our funds effectively, we have simplified our grant-making.
In Bristol, we will continue to support the 15 organisations we have partnered with on our main grants programme over the past two years, so our main grants programme will not be open to new applications in Bristol during this period.
We will be reopening our small grants programme - date to be confirmed - please check back here for updates. These will be considered outside of our grants panel meetings, so they are not subject to our internal panel deadlines. If this sounds like a better fit for your organisation and you are interested in applying for a small grant, please get in touch on 01666 505 500 or email office@natben.org.uk - we’re happy to talk it through.
What is our application process for Gloucestershire?
In 2026, we will offer in the region of 15 one-year unrestricted grants of £7,500 (fixed amount) to organisations working to relieve poverty in Gloucestershire. We expect to open the fund on Friday 30th January, with planned closing dates on Friday 20th March (for a June outcome) and Friday 24th July (for an October outcome).
Please submit your application online using the Stage One application form at the bottom of this page (this will be made available when the fund opens).
We will be reopening our small grants programme - date to be confirmed - please check back here for updates. These will be considered outside of our grants panel meetings, so they are not subject to our internal panel deadlines. If this sounds like a better fit for your organisation and you are interested in applying for a small grant, please get in touch on 01666 505 500 or email office@natben.org.uk - we’re happy to talk it through.
Where organisations have had two consecutive years of funding, we ask that they wait 12 months from the end of their grant period before reapplying.
What is our application process for
Wiltshire & Swindon?
In 2026, we will offer in the region of 15 one-year unrestricted grants of £7,500 (fixed amount) to organisations working to relieve poverty in Wiltshire & Swindon. We expect to open the fund on Friday 30th January, with planned closing dates on Friday 20th March (for a June outcome) and Friday 24th July (for an October outcome).
Please submit your application online using the Stage One application form at the bottom of this page (this will be made available when the fund opens).
We will be reopening our small grants programme - date to be confirmed - please check back here for updates. These will be considered outside of our grants panel meetings, so they are not subject to our internal panel deadlines. If this sounds like a better fit for your organisation and you are interested in applying for a small grant, please get in touch on 01666 505 500 or email office@natben.org.uk - we’re happy to talk it through.
Where organisations have had two consecutive years of funding, we ask that they wait 12 months from the end of their grant period before reapplying.
What happens next?
We aim to contact all applicants within a few weeks. Organisations that have a good chance of success will be invited to attend a virtual meeting. We will share in advance the areas we wish to discuss, giving organisations time to prepare. Please read our full guidelines for examples of the questions we will ask. Following the virtual meeting, your application will be presented to the grants panel (made up of a selection of our Trustees).
How do we make decisions?
All applications are assessed against the following:
- Eligibility checks
- Stage 1 - Here we focus on three key areas to assess an applicant’s skills and capacity to deliver their work effectively: Purpose, Finance, and People. Our assessment directly correlates to the questions asked in the Stage 1 application form.
- Stage 2 - Here we focus on how your work aligns with our charitable objectives, particularly how it contributes to positive outcomes in our priority areas for relieving poverty. We also ask whether, and how, you work collaboratively with other organisations or partners, for additional information about the geographical areas you serve, and how lived experience informs your work; as this helps us better understand the reach, relevance, and impact of your activities.
Please refer to our guidelines for more information on our assessment framework.
Timescales
- For grants for up to £2,000, we aim to reach an outcome within two months.
- For our larger grants you will receive an outcome three months from the closing date.
What happens once we have made a decision?
All unsuccessful applicants will receive feedback – via email (and phone call should they wish). There is no right of appeal.
If you are successful, we will notify you via email to ensure that we have all the relevant details for electronic banking, and for grants over £2,000 we will also send a grant agreement setting out our standard terms and conditions to accepting the grant.
What reporting do we expect?
We aim for our monitoring and reporting to be proportionate and light touch. We typically ask organisations to let us know when they have produced an annual report and/or impact report and we will use this in place of a more formal written report. Occasionally, we may ask to visit an organisation or for additional information for our own impact reporting.
Please see full guidelines for more details on our application process.
