Application guidance This page provides guidelines on how to complete your application for funding for your charitable project from the Heart of Experian Charity Fund. Is your project eligible? Your projects/organisation must meet the mandatory criteria detailed below. If these criteria are met, we will assess your application on its merits. When assessing an application, we also have regard to the extent to which: (1) your application fits with our priorities, as detailed below and (2) you meet the organisation expectations detailed below. The decision as to whether or not to make a donation, and the conditions of any donation, is entirely at the discretion of the Charity Fund. Mandatory conditions Your organisation, and project, must meet these conditions: You must be a school, a charity or a community group, but not a national charity. Your project must require funding of 5,000 or less from the Charity Fund. Your project must have a charitable purpose. If you are unsure if you meet this condition, see www.gov.uk/government/publications/charitable-purposes Your project must benefit the community as a whole and not support individuals. If we make a donation, it must make your organisation, or the project itself, more sustainable. You must agree to provide a report on your project within 6 months of the completion of your project. Your project We look for the following when assessing grant applications: Projects whose aims relate to financial inclusion, financial education, entrepreneurship or developing skills useful in business. Projects that have a long- term benefit for the community. Projects for which the organisation has secured match funding or resources from elsewhere, to either (a) reduce the amount applied for here or (b) pay for other project costs. Projects that have a clear approach or strategy for attracting future funding or otherwise ensuring the continuation of the project. Projects that can demonstrate that they have a project manager with appropriate experience to be able to successfully deliver the project. For established projects, any donation that will be used to extend the project beyond its existing boundaries in terms of scope, number of beneficiaries and/or time frame. We do not tend to award grants to cover salary costs, unless the group has a clear strategy for its future sustainability. Groups that have not received funding from the Charity Fund in the previous 12 months. Your organisation We also take into account whether your organisation meets the following: Your organisation: had a gross income of 500,000 or less in the most recent full financial year; has a written constitution and a management committee; has its own bank account; has its accounts available on the Charity Commission website or you have provided a copy with your application; has unrestricted reserves that are less than 6 months running costs.
1 Contact Information Group details Group name Main contact details Please provide details of the person you wish us to communicate with Name Address Email Telephone number Telephone number Address Fax number Website Postcode Charity number This is registered number which will enable us to check your accounts and organisation on the Charity Commissions Register Group details This information advises us on the nature and make up of your organisation Company/Social Enterprise number This is the number you are given have once registered with Companies House. For information on social enterprises: www.ssdtrust.co.uk/pdfs/socialenterprise.pdf Have you applied for a Heart of Experian grant before? Please give details of the previous application, including date and result (if you have applied for a grant from us within the last two years you will be ineligible to apply again at this time) Number on Management Committee Number of paid full time employees Number of paid part-time employees Number of volunteers Only including those people whom you are directly working with, how many people use the organisation each year? When did your group start?
2 Financials We ask you to provide details of your annual income and expenditure as well as the reserves your group holds. This helps us to gain an insight into the size of your organisation and range of activities. We would not normally ask you to provide copies of you accounts as we can usually obtain these from the Charity Commission website. Are you part of a larger organisation? If Yes, what is the larger Group Name You need to tell us whether you are part of a larger organisation. Later in the application you should tell us exactly what your relationship with this group is, especially in relation to funding and accounts. Annual income should be less than 500,000. Your unrestricted reserves must be less than six months running costs. What was your annual income as detailed in your last audited accounts? The below information advises us if your organisation meets our legal and preferred requirements. Does your group have public liability insurance? What was your annual expenditure as detailed in your last audited accounts? Has your group achieved a recognisable quality standards award? If yes, which quality award? What free reserves does the group hold as detailed in your last audited accounts? Does your group hold a certificate of registration with Ofsted? If no, are you working towards a quality award and if so which one? Does your group have a Child Protection Policy? Will your accounts be available if requested by the Grant Approval Panel? Does your group have a Vulnerable Adults Policy? Are your staff and volunteers CRB checked in accordance with government legislation? If no, why are CRB checks not required?
3 Your Project Project details Please give details of your project. 250 words max We need to know what outputs your project will deliver 250 words max You should outline what outputs your project will deliver. Project outputs should be outlined as SMART objectives. This means that they should be: Specific: outline specific goals rather than general ones, detail exactly what will be delivered and how this will be done To deliver crisis support, advocacy support and financial literacy training to disabled adults living in Birmingham and Solihull who are experiencing debt/money management issues. Measurable: your project must include concrete criteria for measuring progress To deliver the project to a total of up to 40 beneficiaries over a one year funding period. Of the 40: 40 will receive advice and support in crisis situations, 25 will undertake our financial literacy training courses and up to 10 will receive more sustained advocacy support. Achievable: the goals and outputs identified must be realistic and achievable; it should be stretching but not unachievable The outputs are based on numbers that can be supported using a seven hour a week post and volunteer. Relevant: outputs should matter to the project and its aims and help to meet the needs of the target community A key way to record and measure the success of our interventions is by how many beneficiaries come back to us for repeat crisis support after attending one of our training courses. We believe, based on current experience, only 25% of beneficiaries will require further crisis support and 75% will be able to effectively manage their money after engaging with our project. Time Bound: goals for outputs should be given a specific time frame with clearly defined target dates One year funding period to enable us time to make a positive mi pact on the financial literacy of disabled people. Due to health matters, family issues etc. We envisage some beneficiaries may need to start and stop their engagement with the project, and re-join our training sessions at a later date. Within a year, we expect to have engaged and supported 40 disabled people towards greater financial literacy.
4 Your Project Audience Please tell us who will benefit from your project and how you have identified their needs 500 words max You should include: Details of demand for your activity (user requests, waiting lists etc) Evidence of need in the area or amongst the community targeted this could include statistical evidence or evidence from previous activity that you have conducted. Explain why this project is the answer to the problems you have identified- how will it meet the need/demand outlined? Details of other provision in the area and evidence that your project fills a gap that other provision cannot fill or that service users cannot get this service elsewhere Approximately, how many people are going to benefit directly from your project and how have you arrived at this number? 50 words max How many individuals will directly benefit from the project i.e. how many service users, clients or recipients of your service? Please explain how you arrived at these figures, being clear as to how you calculated them. Approximately, how many people are going to benefit indirectly from your project and how you arrived at this number? 50 words max Detail how many people will indirectly benefit from your service or project this could include for example family members oft hose directly benefiting from your services, or the wider community. Please explain how you arrived at these figures, being clear as to how you calculated them.
5 Looking Ahead We need to know what effect your project will have on these people. Please describe the difference it will make to them. Delivering the service is only a starting point. We would like to know what impact this project will have on people. For example; If your output is to run 10 workshops, the impact would be what difference this makes to their daily lives and future such as; life skills, decision-making capacity, improved well-being). If this is a long term activity, how will you secure resources for future delivery? 250 words max If you intend for project activity to continue beyond the period of Heart of Experian funding, please explain what strategy or approach you will use to attract future funding or otherwise ensure the continuation of activity. Please be as specific as you can. Project Manager qualifications Please outline any relevant qualifications or training held by the Project Manager. This information should help us to understand why the Project Manager identified is the right person for the job. Trainer experience (not applicable if training is not involved) Please outline any relevant experience in the area of delivering personal money management training.
6 Other Funding Applications Have you applied for funding anywhere else for this activity? If yes, who with and what was the outcome? max 150 words If no, why haven t you applied elsewhere? max 150 words Please give details as to any other applications for funding that you have made, whether successful or unsuccessful including who the application was made to, amount applied for and the outcome. If you have not yet heard the results of your application(s) please give details of when you expect to hear the outcome. Matched funding We would like to see Groups make a contribution towards their project. This can take the form of a monetary contribution or a contribution in kind. Such as administrative services, use of a room or other facilities. Cost of utilities, transport etc.
7 Project Funding Breakdown Total cost of activity Please outline the total costs of your proposed activity in full: How much funding from The Heart of Experian Charity do you require for your activity? Please specify the amount of funding you are asking for from the Heart of Experian Charity. We have a limit of 5,000 per application. If the total cost of the project is over 5,000 please state which budget item/s you would like us to support. We would not normally support the cost of IT equipment such as laptops and computers or salaries. To give us an understanding of how we re helping, please breakdown the costs of the overall project by adding them below. Please provide a detailed breakdown of the costs associated with your project explaining how each cost item has been calculated. Please detail each cost item on a separate line providing information on the makeup of each. Item Cost Details Room hire 100 2 hours hire for 5 sessions @ 10 per hour Other organisations involved in the project (please provide names and websites where possible): The Heart of Experian Charity encourages partnership working as a way of ensuring that people benefiting from the project get the best possible service. By working with other organisations you can ensure that activity in your area is as joined up as possible, and not duplicating existing provision, meaning that it is also cost effective. Please give details of any other organisations that you will be working with in the course of this project. This might include organisations that refer users to your project (referral organisations), organisations that provide training or support to your users or staff, organisations that provide in-kind support such as meeting room space or organisations that have provided other types of support for the project.
Additional Information What happens next? We will review your application form, and may ask you some questions. Applications that may meet our mandatory criteria will be taken to the next quarterly funding committee meeting, if received in time. Ahead of each meeting, applications are circulated to the funding committee for review. At these meetings, each application is discussed in detail and a decision is taken. It is entirely at the discretion of the funding committee as to whether to grant funding. During the application process, you may have reason to speak to the Experian Community team that supports the Charity or to trustees. Please be aware that any view that the Community team or trustees give to you on your application is their personal view only, and not that of the Charity. Please note that any decision about Experian Limited staff volunteering at your group is a decision of Experian Limited, and is completely separate from the decision of the Charity funding committee about funding. If the Community team discuss Experian staff volunteering, they do so in their capacity as Experian Limited staff. Any offer of Experian staff volunteers does not mean that the Charity will grant you funding.