Oak Foundation

Open or will open again Age Aged 26 - 59 years Arts, culture and heritage Children (0-12) Communities Community and neighbourhood development environment Gender equality and sexual orientation Health, wellbeing and sport Housing and homelessness Human rights and equality Human rights and justice International issues Medical conditions Natural environment and climate Overseas aid and development Poverty and deprivation Refugees and asylum seekers Social welfare and poverty Victims and survivors World issues Young people (13-25) Africa Antrim & Newtownabbey Ards & North Down Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Asia and Middle East Belfast City Causeway Coast and Glens Derry City and Strabane England Europe and Russia Fermanagh and Omagh Great Britain International Lisburn and Castlereagh Mid and East Antrim Mid Ulster Newry, Mourne and Down North America Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Scotland Wales Large (over £60,000) Medium (up to £60,000)

Track grant Notes

Overview

Progamme Areas Include:

Environment
Housing and Homelessness
International Human Rights
Issues Affecting Women
Learning Differences
Prevent child Abuse
Special Interest Grants
Brazil
Oak Foundation Denmark
Zimbabwe

For full details see the website

Oak Foundation has an invitation-only application process and they fund on a rolling basis.

Grant applications are initiated in three ways:

Direct invitation

Programme officers investigate and learn about organisations that fit within their programme strategies. They will then invite organisations working in these areas of interest to submit a concept note and/or complete an application for funding. Read this document for more information on their timeline and process.

Letter of enquiry

Not-for-profit organisations who have not been invited to apply by a programme officer can submit unsolicited requests for funding through their letter of enquiry process. If an organisation believes that strong alignment exists with Oak Foundation’s funding priorities, they encourage it to submit an unsolicited letter of enquiry. They will then invite applications for a grant only if they also find alignment with their funding priorities and if there is available budget.

They encourage you to first read this page and the programme strategies before you submit a letter of enquiry. Please note that only a few submissions are approved each year. This is due to the volume of requests they receive.

Please find the submission form here.

Requests for proposals

they occasionally develop or join initiatives in their areas of interest by issuing calls for proposals on their website or convening policy makers, grantee partners, funders, or practitioners to explore solutions to critical issues.
They post all “Requests for Proposals” on their career page.

Funding Levels

The average award ranges between USD 25,000 to USD 10 million.

They commit multi-year, core support (unrestricted grants) where they can and when it fits within broader efforts. At Oak, core support has increased, from 22 per cent in 2013 to 42 per cent in 2021, and the intention is to continue this upward trend in the coming years. However, sometimes Oak pursues a specific objective within a partner organisation’s broader focus. In those situations, they may explore flexible project support where our priorities align.

General Funding Principles

They support organisations to help people and communities thrive in just societies, where everyone is safe, and has the opportunities to succeed. This also includes safeguarding our natural environment for future generations. They support civil society as a pilar of democracy and believe in the power of collective action in achieving ambitious goals. They believe the best grant-making reflects both careful due diligence and a willingness to take risk. They support their partners’ capacity to assess and measure progress. They invest in visionary leadership and provide resources to strengthen civil society organisations.

They fund initiatives that:

address the root causes of problems
are replicable either within a sector or across geographical locations
include plans for long-term sustainability, including co-funding
strive to collaborate with like-minded organisations
demonstrate good financial and organisational management
value the participation of people and communities

Creating long-lasting change

They believe in providing long-term support to their partners; they also believe that their partners benefit from having diverse funding sources to promote sustainability and to achieve the impact they desire.

Therefore, they generally fund no more than 50 per cent of the costs of any project or 20 per cent of organisational/programme budget. Requests to fund higher amounts should be discussed with the programme officer.

For previous grants made click here