BBC Children in Need Main Grants

Overview

Key Information

• Grants may be up to 3 years in length
• Organisations can apply for £10,001 or more, per year
• You can not apply for more than £40,000 per year
• They are highly unlikely to award above £100k in total
• Organisations may only apply for a Main Grants or a Small grant in this round, not both.

Before applying, they recommend you read Main Grants Application Form Guidance.

You need to meet minimum standards for grantmaking, so please check these before you apply.

Read their A – Z Guidance

Who do they fund?

All of the grants are for organisations who:

• Are not-for-profit
• Are based within the UK
• Meet their Minimum Standards for Grantmaking
• Their Main grants are for organisations who: Are registered with the appropriate regulatory body, such as your nation’s Charity Commission or Companies House

They only fund organisations who can tell them why they are best placed to deliver their work. This means applicants must be able to tell them about:

• Their well-established links with young people
• The skills and expertise they have for the work they are requesting funding for
• Their track record delivering the work they are requesting funding for. This is especially important for applicants for our Main Grants Programme
• How they work alongside other organisations in their local community
• You must also meet Minimum Standards for Grantmaking. Please check these before you apply. Not meeting minimum standards is a very common reason for being declined.

How can I apply for?

Applications can be for £10,001 or more, per year. You can not apply for more than £40,000 per year. They expect the average grant size to be around 30k per year. If you are applying for three years of funding, they are unlikely to award more than £100,000 in total. They expect most awards to be less than this and proportional to the size and capacity of the organisation. Please only ask for what you need to support children and young people at this time. If you want to apply for less than this, please see their Small Grants Programme.

What is funding for?

The scheme gives grants for children and young people of 18 years and under experiencing disadvantage through:

• Illness, distress, abuse or neglect
• Any kind of disability
• Behavioural or psychological difficulties
• Living in poverty or situations of deprivation

Projects they fund make differences in children’s lives that help prevent or overcome the effects of the disadvantages they face. Projects achieve these differences by either working directly with children or seeking to improve their social and physical environments.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have temporarily broadened the types of applications they accept. They are currently offering funding that can be used more flexibly than usual. They encourage applications for:

• Project delivery (Including staffing and salary costs)
• Creative solutions to deliver much needed services
• Organisational costs to support stability and adaptation. (Including the day-to-day running costs of an organisation as opposed to specific project costs)
• All applications will have to show how this funding will make a difference to children and young people’s lives during this crisis.
• Your application is not limited to one specific project and a request can be made for organisational running costs. They are committed to supporting voluntary groups with these types of grants.

Core Principles

BBC Children in Need expects all grant applications to reflect these principles

• Being focussed on outcomes for children and young people
• Addressing disadvantage
• Safeguarding children
• Enabling participation by children and young people
• Avoiding statutory overlap or substitution