Department for Communities: Volunteering Small Grants
Overview
This scheme is a DfC initiative which is being administered by Limavady Community Development Initiative (LCDI) as the lead delivery partner for the following: Association of Independent Volunteer Centres (AIVC: includes Causeway Volunteer Centre, Craigavon & Banbridge Volunteer Centre, Limavady Volunteer Centre, Mid-Ulster Volunteer Centre and Omagh Volunteer Centre); North West Volunteer Centre and Volunteer Now,
To be eligible for grant assistance (minimum award £200 – maximum award £1,200) organisations must not have an annual income exceeding £100,000 per year.
What can be funded?
Examples of grant awards would be for meeting the volunteer out-of-pocket expenses of an organisation, supporting the recruitment of new volunteers, providing travel, training or small running costs like heat or light etc.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for funding, organisations must demonstrate how their proposal delivers on at least two of the programme outcomes set out below.
- Objective 1 – Increase Volunteer activity by groups under-represented in the volunteering population, including people not in paid work.
- Objective 2 – Innovation – Increasing Diversity and Numbers
- Objective 3 – Increase in numbers of new Volunteers
- Objective 4 – Benefit to your local community
When completing your application form please ensure that you consider the following guidance.
Objective 1 – Increase Volunteer activity by groups under- represented in the volunteering population, including people not in paid work.
A major aspect of this programme will be to support volunteering participation from under-represented groups, such as;
- Those not in paid employment
- Over 65’s,
- Under 25’s,
- Those with a disability, and
- Those from an ethnic minority background.
At the outset, each of the applying organisations will identify targets for increase in activity of the volunteers from each group. These targets will be taken into consideration in the assessment and selection process for organisations in their application for funding.
Objective 2 – Innovation - Increasing Diversity and Numbers
Applicants will be asked to demonstrate new innovative methods for the recruitment of volunteers such as radio advertisement, social media usage website appeals etc.
At the outset, each of the applying organisations will be required to identify targets for developing new approached to volunteer recruitment. These targets will be taken into consideration in the assessment and selection process for organisations in their application for funding.
Objective 3 – Increase in numbers of new volunteers
Applicants must demonstrate how they will involve volunteers in a meaningful way within their organisation
At the outset each of the applying organisations will identify how they will meaningfully engage with new/ existing volunteers within their organisation e.g provide training and/or mentoring for volunteers.
Objective 4 – Benefit ot Community
Applicants must demonstrate how any grant will bring benefit to their community.
At the outset each of the applying organisations will identify how they will meaningfully engage with their communities through volunteering e.g provide more trained persons within community. Applicants should also think about how they engage with the wider community increasing knowledge and understanding of the work of the organisation, the role of volunteers and the impact that is gained.