We receive many applications, some of which are very well put together and which make us want to learn more. Others are much less likely to attract a positive response so here are some pointers:
- Do look at our funding criteria. These are clearly set out on this website and charities which have not looked to see whether they meet our criteria get a polite but firm “no”. This is a waste of valuable time for both sides. Remember that these criteria refer to the type of work we fund and also to location.
- Do communicate with us by email – this is a much speedier way of getting to us. Apart from anything else, charities which send us applications by email have shown that they recognise that this is how we prefer to get correspondence and this means that they are likely to have thought about how we work and our criteria.
- Do think about innovation. We are not a large grant giving trust so we try to make an impact in other ways. We can be fairly quick in making decisions – certainly much quicker than larger trusts which can take up to six months to make a decision. We also like to support innovation. We helped MySI get off the ground. We have supported Next Big Thing through its pilot phases. We helped the Winch kick-start their “Promise Model” – as the Director there has told us “thank you again for the support of The Progress Foundation – it got the ball rolling in the first place, which is often the hardest part.” This additional impact makes us keen to help charities who want to try something new to help young people. Even if your ideas need refining, it is worth getting in touch with us to see if we are interested. New Horizons Youth Centre did this and we worked with them to develop a new work stream.
- We are interested in enterprise. Young people can benefit enormously from running their own business or social enterprise – not just in terms of income, but also in terms of experience and confidence. We like applications which help young people to help themselves.