Funding Opportunities

Crowdfunding campaigns have the potential to be hugely impactful in raising funds and awareness of your project and/or organisation. They are most successful when match-funding boosts the value of donations encouraging people to donate. Highlands and Islands Environment Foundation (HIEF) are offering grants of up to £10,000 to be used as matched-funding on the Crowdfunder platform.

HIEF ran a pilot matched-fund crowdfunding campaign with Bute Forest in September 2024. A total of £30,000 was raised for the retention of their Forest Ranger with £10,000 coming from HIEF, £10,000 from the Aviva Community Fund and Employee Giving, and £10,000 from individuals and businesses both locally and further afield.

This funding is for projects that will help people connect more with each other. For the Community Action funding programme, The National Lottery Community Fund define communities as people who share an identity, interest or experience. They also include people living in the same place. They will support projects that are open, inclusive and led by their community.

Greener Spaces, Fairer Places’ - grants up to £500 are available for local faith groups or related organisations working primarily in a small, specific geographic communities to tackle poverty and climate change.

The Craighnish Trust focuses on environmental and human rights issues as well as the particular special interests of the trustees. Previous awards have included grants to organisations working in conservation, refugees, youth, and music. The fund has a Scottish bias but is not exclusive to Scotland.

The Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded, charitable grant-making foundation, which supports a wide range of causes across the UK.

The Esmee Fairburn Foundation is one of the largest independent grant-makers in the UK. They also offer social investment.

As well as making direct investments into organisations seeking to create impact towards their aims, the foundation also invests into impact funds, which are managed by other social investors. They offer loans (secured and unsecured), equity, fund investments and everything else.

Expressions of Interest can be submitted at any time.